1. Local area network features: The local area network is generally owned by a department or unit. It is relatively easy to build, maintain and expand the network, and the system has high flexibility. Its main features are: the geographical coverage is small, and it is only inlined in a relatively independent local area, such as one or a concentrated building group; the network is networked using a specially laid transmission medium, and the data transmission rate is high (10Mb/s～10Gb/s); the communication delay time is short and the reliability is high; the LAN can support multiple transmission media. There are many types of LAN. If classified according to the transmission medium used by the network, it can be divided into wired network and wireless network; if classified according to the network topology , it can be divided into bus type, star type, ring type, tree type, hybrid type, etc.; if classified according to the access control method used by the transmission medium, it can be divided into Ethernet, token ring network, FDDI network and wireless LAN . Among them, Ethernet is currently the most widely used LAN technology.
2. Features of WAN: The data transmission rate of WAN is higher than that of LAN, but the signal propagation delay is much larger than that of LAN. The typical speed of WAN is from 56Kbps to 155Mbps. There are already WANs with 622Mbps, 2.4Gbps or even higher rates, and the propagation delay can range from a few milliseconds to hundreds of seconds. Adapt to large-capacity and sudden communication requirements; use integrated business service requirements; open device interfaces and standardized protocols; perfect communication services for network management; WAN links to devices that are far apart, these devices include routers-provide various services such as LAN interconnection and WAN interface.
LAN and WAN ranges are different. A local area network is a closed computer group built by more than two computers using network cables and other network equipment in a fixed geographical area, with a range of several kilometers; a wide area network is a collection of networks with a very large geographical span, ranging from tens of kilometers to thousands of kilometers; IP addresses are set differently. The LAN must have a unique IP address on the network. This IP address is unique. In another LAN, this IP address can still be used. Each dedicated computer or other network equipment on the WAN has one or more WAN IP addresses, which cannot be repeated; the connection methods are different. LANs are connected by switches, while WANs are connected by routers.