LAN - PAN - WAN

LAN - PAN - WAN

1. LAN - Local Area Network

   • A LAN covers a small area such as one site or building, eg a school or a college
   • Can be found in schools/small businesses/universities.
   • All of the hardware used by LAN is owned by the organisation that uses it
   • LANS are either wired (ethernet cables) or wireless (WI-FI)
   • Lots of homes have LAN to connect various devices , such as PCs, tables, smart TVS and printers

2. WAN - Wide area network

   • A WAN covers a large geographical area
   • Most WANs are made from several LANs connected together.
   • The biggest example of a WAN would be the internet
   • E.g: A business with offices in different countries would need WAN for all their devices to connect
   • WANS can be connected using telephone lines, satellite links or radio links
   • WAN is very expensive

3. PAN - Personal Area Network

   • Connects devices over a very short range
   • Normally centred around a single user.
   • Often used to transmit between wearable/mobile devices (e.g headphones/smart-watches/smart phones)
   • Don't require any additional hardware.
   • You can use PAN when you're out and about.