A LAN is a network of connected computers in a room or building that transfers data at high speeds. It uses a hub or router to connect computers, and TCP/IP is the most common communication protocol. Users can share files, play games, and connect to the Internet with only one router. Setting up a LAN is straightforward with contemporary operating systems.
A local area network, or LAN, is a network of connected computers in a room, building, or collection of buildings. These networks have existed since the beginning of computer use. A LAN is defined as a user network where data is sent at high speeds between people located relatively close to each other. They usually do not use leased communication lines, but only use a communication medium provided by the network installer.
The Internet is a wide area network, or WAN, distinct from a LAN. In contrast to the term Internet, local area networks are often called intranets, although this term sometimes refers to a group of LANs associated with a particular business or organization but not connected to the larger Internet. This type of network uses a hub or router to connect computers to each other, usually with an Ethernet cable or WiFi® wireless technology. These technologies offer data transfer rates between 10 and 10,000 Mbit/s.
The largest and most important LANs have redundant lines or other backup protocols. In networked computers, the most common communication protocol is TCP/IP. Smaller LANs can be temporary and used among friends to play networked computer games. Users can share files, view files, make changes to data on other computers if allowed, play movies or music on multiple computers simultaneously, chat with instant messengers, email each other, play games and so on. All the benefits of the Internet apply, although they only include others over the LAN, and data transfer speeds are fast.
Perhaps the most frequent use of a LAN is to connect users to the Internet with only one router connected. In modern times, people often use cable or DSL broadband modems to connect to the Internet, and it would be clumsy to have a modem associated with every computer. It is usually more efficient to connect the modem to a router and connect the router to several computers with Ethernet cables. Setting up a LAN can be intimidating at first, but contemporary operating systems have programs that do most of the necessary configuration automatically, so setting one up is pretty straightforward.
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