6. Types of network: Explaining networks. Giving reasons. Types of network system. A network is a set of devices that connect together to share resources or information. This can be as simple as your PC connecting to a printer, or as complex as the entire internet.
Networking is a deep and multi-layered (no pun intended!) topic with a lot of complexity. For the everyday home user, the acronyms and technical jargon can be overwhelming. Here we’ll walk through five common types of networks and break them down for those who have never looked at networks before.
A LAN is a network of devices connected across short distances, all located within a single, defined area. For example, this could be the network within a household or a business, or even cover an area as diverse as a college campus.
The LAN in your home could consist of several smart and IoT devices, like smart light bulbs and a WiFi video doorbell, even your smart TV, plus all of your traditional devices including PCs, laptops and smartphones.
The network hardware required to facilitate a LAN will be simple, often consisting of only a single ISP-provided multi-purpose device serving as a router, perhaps with some switching capabilities.
A wireless local area network can be considered a subcategory of regular local area networks. By definition, in order to be within range of a wireless access point, a device must be local to that access point. Wireless networks differ, though, in that they use the air as a shared hub through which they transmit data as opposed to discrete cabling. We know this, of course, as WiFi.
Whilst you’d have a single physical local area network, you can configure multiple WLANs within a small area by using separate sub-bands of frequencies. These are known as ‘channels’ and can be chosen within your router settings. If you’ve ever tried changing the channel on which your home WiFi is broadcasting, at the recommendation of an online ‘improve home internet speeds’ guide, this is what you’ve been doing.
The network hardware required to create a WLAN will be much the same as for a typical LAN, but here wireless access points will be essential.
