Area networks play a fundamental role in connectivity – enabling communication, collaboration and access to information and devices across homes, offices, cities and worldwide.
This comprehensive guide will explain the four primary area networking technologies:
| Network | Scope | Use Cases | Key Technologies |
|---|---|---|---|
| LAN – Local Area Network | Homes, Offices, Buildings | Device connectivity, Printer/Resource sharing | Ethernet, Wi-Fi |
| WAN – Wide Area Network | Cities, Countries, Global | Interconnect branches/locations | MPLS, Cellular, Satellite |
| PAN – Personal Area Network | Personal devices | Headphones, Fitness devices, Input peripherals | Bluetooth, NFC |
| MAN – Metropolitan Area Network | Metropolitan Regions | Institutional connectivity, Municipal services | Fiber, 5G, WiMAX |
Delving into the background, capabilities and real-world applications of each area network delivers valuable perspective on the infrastructure enabling connectivity.
The Evolution of Networking: Key Milestones
Networking capabilities have progressed enormously since the early days of computing:
From humble beginnings leveraging telephone lines, each breakthrough – from the introduction of Ethernet and Wi-Fi standards to fiber optic backbones, 5G and mesh networks – has drastically expanded capacities to transmit data across space and time.
Understanding this trajectory helps contextualize the present day standing of networking.
Local Area Networks
Local Area Networks (LANs) facilitate connectivity within homes, offices or groups of nearby buildings – enabling communication and resource sharing:
Early LANs relied on coaxial cables, before Category 5 twisted pair copper cabling and fiber became widespread in commercial buildings, while Wi-Fi delivered unwired connectivity.
Key Technologies
Ethernet defines common standards for high speed data transmission over cabling and wireless. Fast Ethernet delivers 100Mbps, Gigabit Ethernet offers 1Gbps, while multi-gig and 10 gigabit speeds are emerging.
Wi-Fi enables wireless connectivity using the 802.11 protocol family:
| Standard | Year | Max Speed | Frequency | Typical Range |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 802.11b | 1999 | 11 Mbps | 2.4 GHz | 35m indoors |
| 802.11g | 2003 | 54 Mbps | 2.4 GHz | 38m indoors |
| 802.11n | 2009 | 600 Mbps | 2.4/5 GHz | 70m indoors |
| 802.11ac | 2013 | 6.93 Gbps | 5 GHz | 35m indoors |
| 802.11ax (Wi-Fi 6) | 2019 | 9.6 Gbps | 2.4/5 GHz | 40m indoors |
With each iteration, Wi-Fi speeds, frequency support, signal encoding and number of streams have improved significantly.
Switches connect wired network segments together, forwarding packets to intended destinations based on MAC addresses. Routers route traffic between networks using logical IP addresses.
Use Cases
Typical applications include:
- Home/Office connectivity between computers, printers, servers, smartphones
- Networked appliances like smart TVs, DVRs, security cameras, thermostats
- Network attached storage and local file/media sharing
- Multiplayer gaming traffic isolation through VLANs
- Small business system connectivity with remote access capability
LAN adoption is nearly ubiquitous thanks to convenience and constantly improving speeds.
Wide Area Networks
Wide Area Networks (WAN) connect Local Area Networks across broader geographical areas through:
Early long distance networking relied on satellite links and leased telephone lines. Today dedicated high speed fiber and smart MPLS infrastructure form backbones for robust data networking.
Cellular technology enable mobility, while encrypted VPN tunnels traverse the internet securely. Redundant failover links improve reliability for mission critical needs.
Enterprise WANs see over 80% of traffic heading to cloud services as on-premise infrastructure is displaced.
Use Cases
WAN connectivity facilitates:
- Interconnecting regional corporate offices
- Linking retail branch sites to central HQs
- Streaming globally from webscale data centers
- Delivering residential internet access nationwide
- Enabling secure remote access to enterprise networks
- Supporting network infrastructure for smart cities
Business demands for bandwidth continue growing over 60% annually, fueled by video, IoT and cloud adoption according to Cisco. The capabilities of affordable connectivity hence race to keep up.
Personal Area Networks
Personal area networks (PANs) connect our everyday devices using protocols like Bluetooth and NFC:
Bluetooth debuted in 1999 for wireless personal area connectivity and now serves over 5 billion devices globally. Versions have continually improved speeds:
| Version | Year | Max Speed | Range |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1.2 | 2003 | 1 Mbps | 10m |
| 2.0 | 2004 | 3 Mbps | 60m |
| 3.0 | 2009 | 25 Mbps | 60m |
| 4.0 | 2013 | 25 Mbps | 60m |
| 5.0 | 2016 | 50 Mbps | 240m |
| 5.2 | 2019 | 50 Mbps | 240m |
Meanwhile, NFC allows devices to establish radio communication when touched together, enabling use cases like contactless payments.
Key applications include:
- Streaming music to wireless speakers
- Connecting smartphone to wearables
- Syncing wireless keyboards/mice to PCs
- Controlling smart home appliances
- Sharing files across devices
Over 5 billion Bluetooth devices will be shipped annually by 2026 projects Forecast Reports, highlighting the scale of PAN adoption.
Metropolitan Area Networks
Metropolitan area networks (MANs) provide data connectivity across entire cities or regions:
Carrier-grade fiber optic infrastructure often forms MAN backbones interconnecting institutional networks across metro areas. 5G wireless technology now delivers gigabit access speeds to compete with cable internet.
Key use cases include:
- City-wide free public Wi-Fi connectivity
- Smart transit, traffic and infrastructure monitoring
- Interconnection of agency networks e.g. police, utility and schools
- Broadband connectivity for businesses and residents
Metro-scale network connectivity fosters efficiency, improves competitiveness and enables next generation smart city innovation across sectors like healthcare, education and mobility.
Cisco projects global managed MAN services alone to reach $15 billion by 2027, indicating the value such networks deliver.
The Outlook for Area Network Advancements
As innovations like augmented reality, autonomous vehicles, AI and quantum computing emerge, next generation area networks will need to keep pace by delivering:
- Multi-gigabit wireless speeds
- Reduced latency for real-time needs
- Expanded coverage across fiber and cellular footprints
- Improved reliability via meshing and redundancy
- Enhanced security through encryption
Ongoing improvements across wired, wireless and software defined infrastructure seek to meet these demands – enabling the underlying connectivity fabric to continue upholding unprecedented levels of technological progress.
Conclusion
From early telephone based networks to the multi-gigabit fiber optic backbones and 5G connectivity fueling life today, each breakthrough in networking gear has helped expand our capabilities to generate, compute and communicate information.
As key enablers underlying technology usage now deeply interwoven into business operations as well as daily life, local area networks, personal area networks, metro area networks and wide area networks play a truly vital role across homes, enterprises, smart communities and virtually every aspect of the economy.
By learning about the background, capabilities and emerging advances across these key area networking pillars upholding connectivity, we better appreciate the physical foundations enabling our increasingly digital world.
