What exactly does an ISP do?

Hi, as I understand it an Internet Service Provider simply provides access to the internet for consumers/businesses. They don't host websites themselves or facilitate the hosting of websites do they? This is done by separate entities right?

Thanks

Excellent question...  I've always wondered not "what" they do, but "how" they provide access, so I'm afraid I can't answer your question.  Best I can do is point you to where I always start when looking for answers: "Wikipedia".

See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Internet_Service_Provider.

Whether it's cable, DSL, or dial up, an ISP connects users to a central point where it is connected to a very high speed, generally commercial only, internet service back bone.

Some ISP's do provide content but most don't have very much content.

An ISP can be huge like Comcast or Quest, or it can be a small rural operation servicing only a handful of customers.

[Web moderator]

They don't host websites themselves or facilitate the hosting of websites do they?

Many do.

Many do an excellent job of overcharging for their services.   

They don't host websites themselves or facilitate the hosting of websites do they?

Some will offer "personal" webspace, meaning they allow you some space on a web server for a personal website.  They usually do not offer web hosting for business-oriented websites.  When creating a personal website or web page, usually done using an ISP provided online web page editor, the URL to your web page will probably something like http://soybean/embarqspace.com or http://www.embarqspace.com/soybean/index.htm, where embarq is the ISP. 

But, if you want your own domain name such as www.mysite.com, then you usually need to look elsewhere for a hosting service.  And, you need to register your domain name so that you can truly have your own URL, not a web address tacked onto your ISP's domain.

See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Internet_Service_Provider.

As stated in that article, the main services of an ISP are Internet access and email.

Aegis, totally right.
Here's an example:
zomg
120 euros a month for 100 Mbps down and 5 Mbps up.. rofl.

It's weird you still don't know what an ISP does? It connects you to the Internet to view web pages, download files, chat, and post stuff online.

It's weird you still don't know what an ISP does?

The original poster was just looking for some clarification.