WAN (Wide Area Network)

A WAN (Wide Area Network) links separate local networks across long distances using leased lines, MPLS, fiber or the public Internet. The Internet itself is the largest WAN.

Why it matters

Businesses use WANs to connect branch offices to headquarters and to cloud services. Because WAN links cost more and have higher latency than a LAN, bandwidth planning and traffic prioritization matter. Modern designs often replace private circuits with SD-WAN or VPN tunnels over ordinary broadband. On a home router, the WAN port is the one connected to the modem.

Example

Office A LAN --router-- WAN (fiber, 20 ms) --router-- Office B LAN

Transfers between the offices are limited by the WAN link's bandwidth and its 20 ms delay, not by the faster local networks at each end.

Common mistakes

• Confusing the router's WAN IP, assigned by the ISP, with its LAN IP.
• Sizing a WAN link by bandwidth alone and ignoring latency.
• Sending sensitive branch traffic over the public Internet without encryption.

Related

• LAN
• VPN
• Router
• BGP

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