← Back to Issue 5

Packet Journey

What happens when you type a URL and press Enter?

Interactive companion to Issue 5: The Connected World

DNS Browser Router 1 Router 2 Internet The Cloud Router 3 Server DNS Query Click "Go!" to start the journey example.com Hello, World!
Layers
Application
HTTP
Transport
TCP
Network
IP
Ready to send a request
Enter a URL above and click "Go!" to watch your request travel through the internet. You'll see every step — from DNS lookup to the final rendered page.
Phase 0 / 7
1x
Packet Inspector

Journey Complete!

⏱ This entire journey happened in ~200 milliseconds
🌐 Your request crossed through ~15 routers on average
📡 Every YouTube video, every email, every web search makes this exact journey
🔒 HTTPS means every packet was encrypted — even the routers couldn't read it