Wide area network

The term „wide area network“ is used to describe a network that spans multiple geographic locations. Consider an example. A company has two offices, one in London and one in Berlin. Both offices have a LAN. If the company connects these two LANs together using WAN technology, a WAN is created.

 

The key difference between LANs and WANs is that the company usually doesn’t own WAN infrastructure. A company usually leases WAN services from a service provider.

 

Frame Relay, ATM and X.25 are different types of WAN technologies. The Internet can also be considered a WAN.