Wide-Area Network

                           Wide-Area Network

A wide area network is a data communications network that operates beyond the geographic scope of a LAN. There are three major characteristics of LANs. They connect devices that are separated by wide geographical areas. They also use the service of carriers such as cell phone companies or cable companies, satellite systems, and network providers. Typically, the customer equipment will use various types of serial connections to connect to the wide area network.

The Internet could be seen as the WAN of whims, it covers all requirements and major characteristics, however, the term WAN is often referred to and used in private networking scenarios. In other words, for connectivity between offices and branches of the same organization. To the service provider, it is the backbone of sources of revenue not only for connectivity to customers but also for additional services like internet access, office-to-office connectivity, and voice transmissions among others