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networking > network types > Wide Area Network

Wide Area Network (WAN)

A Wide Area Network (WAN) is - as its name suggests - geographically large: it might stretch across a state, a country or even overseas. A national chain of retail stores, for example, might create a WAN by interconnecting the LANs at each of its branches with Virtual Private Networking (VPN) using the Internet, leased ISDN landlines, or satellite links.

VPN is a way of connecting remote computers across the Internet using encrypted "private" channels over the Internet. It is far cheaper than leasing expensive ISDN lines, and is becoming increasingly popular.

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