You can rent a line from an internet service provider and use their network, or you can connect the devices with various wireless technologies, like cell phone towers or satellites. The fact that you are reading this article means you have access to a WAN: the Internet!Ī WAN connection is generally harder to set up than a LAN, and there are many creative ways to do so. What You Need To Know About Wide Area Networks (WANs)Ī Wide Area Network (WAN) connection occurs in large environments and is available from house to house, city to city, and country to country.

LANs are accessible via Wi-Fi or ethernet cable and are limited in range. Ideal Usage: Interconnect computers within a limited area such as a residence, school, laboratory, university campus or office building. Once out of those ranges, the network is unavailable. Additionally, you can see LANs being utilized over Wi-Fi, or you can use Wi-Fi in conjunction with standard Ethernet connections to create a LAN available to all kinds of devices, whether it be a smartphone or a desktop computer.Īll of the above points us to the major disadvantage of a LAN, namely its locality. These networks are only as good as the length of your Ethernet cable or the scope of your Wi-Fi signal. All you need are some Ethernet cables and a network switch, and you are all set. A LAN, therefore, can operate up to 30x faster than a WAN.Ī LAN connection is also cost-friendly and easy to set up. According to PacketWorks, for example, if you were to download all 3,816,000 English articles off of Wikipedia it would take just over 13 hours to do so the same task on a WAN would take 16 days. A LAN can operate at great speeds, and it isn’t uncommon to see technology ready for 1Gbps (1 gigabit per second). What You Need To Know About Local Area Networks (LANs)Īs per the name, Local Area Networks (LAN) connections operate in a local area, not any bigger than your house, or a single floor in your office building. Tribus Computer can help you save time and money, both of which are at a premium like never before. Be sure to also check out our Ultimate Guide To Picking The Best IT Services Management. Let’s take a look at LAN vs WAN so you get a better idea of how either can meet the needs of your business. Contact Tribus Computer today to discuss how either can be optimized for your company’s needs. In any discussion regarding LAN vs WAN, it’s important to weigh the pros and cons, as the respective advantages and disadvantages can affect your business’ productivity significantly.

However, there are enough differences between the two to make them two separate acronyms. Local Area Networks (LAN) and a Wide Area Network (WAN) are similar in many ways.

Local area connection vs ethernet