A WAN spans a large geographic area, such as a
state, province or country. WANs often connect multiple smaller networks, such
as local area networks (LANs) or metro area networks (MANs).
Expensive things (such as printers or phone lines
to the internet) can be shared by all the computers on the network without
having to buy a different peripheral for each computer.
For home routers the port the router connects to your Internet
connection is often labeled as a WAN, Networkor Internet port,
since it is what allows your home network to communicate with the Internet
network. In the below picture, is an example of the Internet port on the back
of a home router, next to four standard Ethernet ports.
Numerous WANs have been constructed, including public packet
networks, large corporate networks, military networks, banking networks, stock
brokerage networks, and airline reservation networks. Some WANs are very
extensive, spanning the globe, but most do not provide true global coverage.
Organisations supporting WANs using the Internet
Protocol are known as Network Service Providers (NSPs).
These form the core of the Internet.
Messages can be sent very
quickly to anyone else on the network. These messages can have pictures,
sounds, or data included with them (called attachments).
