Devices such as laptops, smartphones, games consoles, and video doorbells are usually linked together to form a network. They can then share files and resources, such as printers and an internet connection.
You need to understand the differences between…
- LAN (Local Area Network)
- WAN (Wide Area Network)
LAN (Local Area Network)
A LAN covers a small geographical area on a single site (such as in a house, a school, or a business).
All networking hardware is owned by the organisation or household that uses it.
It can be a wired network (Ethernet or fibre optic), wireless (Wi-Fi), or a combination of both.
WAN (Wide Area Network)
A WAN covers a large geographical (such as a business with offices in multiple cities).
All hardware is leased from various telecoms companies.
It can connected by phone lines, optic fibre, or satellite links.
A WAN may be thought of as a network of different networks.
The Internet is a WAN – the largest in the world!
