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Cisco CCST Networking 1.3 CompTIA Network+ 1.6 CompTIA A+ Core 1 2.7 Cisco CCNA 1.2
InteractiveNetworkFree

LAN or WAN?

Is each one a LAN or a WAN? Sort them, then see why.

⚑ Complete this interactive to capture a CTF flag worth 5 points.

About this interactive

A **LAN**, a local area network, is the devices that reach each other directly in one place: a home, an office floor, a classroom, one network inside a building. It ends at the router. A **WAN**, a wide area network, joins LANs that are far apart, router to router: headquarters in Seattle, a campus in Chicago, offices in New York and a factory in Texas, in the lesson's example. Its 11 LANs, interconnected, make one WAN. The internet joins networks all over the world. One site can hold several LANs (servers, users, guests), and each is still a LAN. Distance alone does not decide it: the question is whether it is one local network or the links between networks.

What you'll learn

Aligned to

Cisco CCST Networking
1.3 Differentiate between LAN, WAN, MAN, CAN, PAN, and WLAN
CompTIA Network+
1.6 Compare and contrast network topologies, architectures, and types.
CompTIA A+ Core 1
2.7 Compare and contrast Internet connection types, network types, and their features.
Cisco CCNA
1.2 Describe characteristics of network topology architectures

Key terms

Local Area Network
LAN
A network that connects devices within a limited geographic area such as a home, office floor, or building, where all devices share the same broadcast domain and communicate at high speeds with low latency. A router defines the boundary of a LAN by separating it from other networks.
Wide Area Network
WAN
A network that spans a large geographic area, connecting multiple local area networks.
Router
A network device that forwards data packets between networks based on IP addresses.

Topics

Local Area Network Wide Area Network Router Interactive Categorize

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