What are a LAN, WAN, MAN and PAN?
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They describe scope. A PAN covers a few meters around one person (Bluetooth, USB). A LAN covers a building or campus, is owned by the organization and runs fast and cheap (Ethernet, Wi-Fi). A MAN spans a city, often metro Ethernet or dark fiber rings. A WAN connects sites across cities or countries over links you usually lease from a provider: MPLS, internet with VPN or SD-WAN, leased lines, LTE and 5G.
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Comparison
| Type | Typical span | Who owns the links | Examples |
|---|---|---|---|
| PAN | A few meters | The user | Bluetooth headset, USB |
| LAN, WLAN | A floor, a building, a campus | The organization | Ethernet switches, Wi-Fi |
| CAN | Several buildings | The organization | Campus fiber between buildings |
| MAN | A city | Provider or the organization | Metro Ethernet, dark fiber |
| WAN | Countries and continents | Mostly providers | MPLS, internet VPN, SD-WAN, leased lines |
What actually changes with scope
Cost per bit, latency and who you call when it breaks. LAN bandwidth is cheap, so you overprovision. WAN bandwidth is expensive and slower to upgrade, so you use QoS, compression and caching. A SAN is a separate idea: a storage network (Fibre Channel or iSCSI), not a size class.
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Is the internet a WAN?
It is the largest network of networks. Companies use it as WAN transport by building VPN or SD-WAN overlays on top of it.
Traps
- Defining them only by distance. Ownership and cost model matter more in practice.