A LAN, or local area network, connects computers and devices in a limited geographic area such as a home, school, office building, or group of buildings. Key characteristics of a LAN include:
- Covers a small physical area, such as a building or group of buildings. Distances are typically less than 2 kilometers.
- Uses high-speed connections to connect nodes. Common technologies are Ethernet and Wi-Fi.
- All nodes can communicate directly with all other nodes on the same LAN through hardware addressing (MAC addresses). Broadcasts reach all nodes.
- May use bridges or switches to segment the LAN into multiple collision domains for improved performance and administration, but all segments are part of the