What is Local Area Network (LAN)?

Local Area Network (LAN) Explained

Local Area Network (LAN) is a type of network that interconnects a countable number of devices that are connected in a fairly small area, such as homes, offices, small groups of buildings, and so on. Its relatives, the World Wide Web (WWW) and Wide Area Network (WAN) consist of thousands or rather millions of LANs, it's like the building blocks of the Internet.

A Local Area Network is made up of multiple components that need to work together to correctly send and receive data from and to your device, this process of giving and receiving data is mostly handled by routers, switches, access points, and modems through connected wires or Wi-Fi.

Example of a Home/Office LAN

LAN vs WAN and WWW

LANs are quite different from Wide-Area Networks (WANs) and the World Wide Web (WWW). They only cover a small geographic area and typically don't connect more than a couple of buildings, usually one single building.

WAN, on the other hand, is simply a LAN but on a wider scale, says its name (Wide Area Network), it covers a considerable zone that spans cities and even countries, often by connecting multiple LANs across.

WWW is the father of all the Internet. When you access a URL, sometimes you see WWW at the beginning of the URL, and that's it. The World Wide Web is a global information system that interconnects documents and resources via the Internet; it's the core of the Internet. It conveys information using the rules of HTTP.

It's important to note that LAN is not part of the WWW, and WWW and WAN are not the same concept. These are separate networking concepts with different scales and purposes.

LAN Connectivity

LANs typically connect devices using:

• Routers: Direct network traffic between different networks (e.g., your home network and the internet).
• Switches: Manage communication between devices within the same local network by forwarding data to the correct device.
• Access Points: Extend the network wirelessly, allowing devices to connect via Wi-Fi.
• Modems: Connect your network to your internet service provider (ISP) by converting signals (digital to analog and vice versa).

Devices can connect via Ethernet cables, Wi-Fi, or in some cases, other wireless technologies. The fastest way that connect the internet together is a wire type called fiber optics.

Conclusion

LAN has many advantages that make it superior, it's very fast in transferring data within it, and since it's relatively small, it's pretty easy to set strong security measures and manage its cost by sharing resources from printers/computers and files in a small area. Thanks to the technology and the people who helped it flourish, we're now more advanced than ever.