And installing it, each of us dealt with LAN and WAN connectors. They are designed for different purposes, but are used together, which often causes confusion. Let's see what they are, what is the difference between them.
Through the WAN socket, connect the Internet cable, through the LAN - local devices
What is LAN
This type of connection will allow you to combine a certain number of computers located at a short distance from each other into a local environment.
When buying a router, you may notice four identical sockets of the same type on the back of it. All of them are designed to connect multiple PCs in one access point.
A LAN port is needed if you want to create a group to connect all the equipment inside the house to the Internet. Thus, it is possible to create a network that will cover an area of a couple of kilometers, for which they buy a cable with a high bandwidth.
What is WAN
With this type of connection, an external network is created, which is a large number of groups, users, regardless of their location. The main difference is that the previous format is intended for internal connection of several PCs, and this type of connection is external.
There are many global networks, but the most famous and commonly used is the World Wide Web. It is she who is preferred by most customers at different distances, since she is not territorially limited, created through telephone wires and more modern technologies.
You probably saw a WAN-type connector when buying and installing a router - a cable from the provider is connected to it. The joint work of both ports is that one of them transmits a signal, which is then distributed to devices connected to the router.
Technical points
The main differences between these formats:
- The first type helps to create an internal network, WAN is used to globally connect users.
- The local group has a limit on the number of clients, as well as the territory, the global one does not.
- The ports have different data transfer protocols - Ethernet and 802.11 for local and PPP, HDLC, Frame Relay for external.
Today we will talk about what constitutes the WAN port of the router. How to set WAN port? How is it different from a LAN port? Let's try to figure it out ... This solution is actively used to connect routers and routers to the Internet. The correct channel configuration can ensure stable operation of the equipment.
Sequencing
Let's deal with the WAN port settings. First of all, you need to connect the router to the network. Using a network cable, which is usually included in the kit, you need to connect the LAN port of the router to the network card of a laptop or desktop computer. After that, you can turn on both devices. Wait for the PC to finish loading. Now open a web browser window. Here you will need to enter the IP address of your router. You can check the IP address value in the user manual. After that, press the Enter button. The WEB-interface of the equipment will start loading. When it completes, you will need to perform some actions in the browser.
Working with an Internet browser
To configure the WAN port, you will need to enter a username and password. This will allow you to access the settings of the router. Open WAN menu. It may also be called Setup or Internet in some cases. Here you will need to fill in all the fields of the proposed table. Select the type of data transfer protocol, such as L2TP or PPTP.
Specify the encryption type. This is required if your ISP supports this feature. Enter the IP of the Internet server or access point. Fill in the "Login" and "Password" fields. This information can be obtained from your Internet Service Provider. Check the box next to the item used to automatically obtain the DNS server address. If you need to enter a static IP address for the router, you need to fill in the Static IP column.
Save settings
To activate the DHCP, NAT and Firewall functions, you need to check the boxes next to the corresponding items. You may choose not to use some options if you do not plan to connect more than one PC to the equipment. In order to configure the WNA port, you need to click "Save". After that, reboot your router. For this purpose, you can use a special function in the menu or simply restart the device. After that, connect the cable from the provider to the WAN port and check the operation of the device. Now you can launch the browser and open several pages in it.
What is the difference?
Well, here we are with the setup. Now let's check the difference between a WAN port and a LAN port. Typically, a router has one port of the first type and several ports of the second type. They look exactly the same. To ensure the correct operation of the device, it is important not to confuse these two types of ports. A WAN refers to a connection to a wide area network that spans many computer systems around the world, while a LAN is a regular local connection that includes several more personal computers.
Thus, the difference between these two ports lies in the purpose. WAN is used to connect to an external network. Its participants interact with each other taking into account the speed of information transfer. The Internet is by far the most well-known WAN network. It is for this reason that on routers today it is quite common to find a port with such an abbreviation. The LAN port is used to connect to the local network. When using a LAN connection, a direct topology is used. The WAN is built on a mixed hierarchical topology. Also, these channels differ in the data transfer protocols used.
Today, many users search the Internet for such information: LAN - what is it and why is it needed? Of course, a very simple and short definition can be found on the World Wide Web. It sounds like this: LAN is a local area network. That's all.
But this decryption gives absolutely nothing, especially if a novice user has to deal with it. For some reason, many authors of articles on the Internet believe that if you throw in a lot of incomprehensible phrases, then people will immediately read the entire article and consider the site on which it is posted to be very authoritative and important.
In fact, this approach to business only complicates the whole situation. Therefore, we will try to explain what LAN is in simple terms, so that even a child can understand it.
If you still do not understand something, write about it in the comments, we will be happy to answer all your questions. So let's start with a simple theory.
Theoretical page
So, LAN stands for Local Area Network. It really translates as. To put it simply, a LAN is a number of interconnected computers and other devices that can connect to a network. And they are interconnected either with the help of cables or with the help. In Figure 1 you can see a rather striking example of a local area network.
Rice. 1. LAN example
As you can see, here the main element of the network is a router that is connected to the Internet (WAN). Remember this abbreviation, we'll talk about it later.
For now, let's take a look at the diagram above. On it, the network segments are indicated by numbers, namely:
3. DVD player connected to the router with a cable. To do this, the router has special LAN connectors, which are usually marked in yellow. In most cases, there are 4 such connectors.
As we said above, a LAN connector is used to connect to the router via cable. We can see this in Figure 3.
Rice. 3. Router - rear view
As you can see, everything is standard in this model - 4 LAN connectors, but there is one more and it already has a blue color. Actually, this is the WAN (remember, we said that this concept needs to be remembered?). To more accurately understand what a LAN is, you can compare it with this same WAN.
By the way: Both LAN and WAN are connected through the most common cable with an RJ45 tip, shown in Figure 4. Above, we said that, for example, segment No. 3 in Figure 1, that is, a DVD player, is connected to a router with cable. This cable is a normal twisted pair cable with RJ45 lugs on both ends. It's that simple!
Rice. 4. RJ45 tip
Compare LAN and WAN
Let's start with what a WAN is. Again, to put it simply, it's the internet. That is, this is the same network, but not local, like LAN, but global. It includes all devices and millions of local networks. WAN stands for Wide Area Network. Through this same network, each user can access the resources of another computer or other device that can be connected to the network.
By the way: This information is stored on servers. To put it simply, this is a huge number of large-capacity disks assembled into one large device that can give out this information.
Rice. 5. Example of a working server
Differences between LAN and WAN:
- Dimensions. Typically, a local area network covers small areas, for example, an apartment or some kind of industrial premises. But the global network extends over the entire surface of the globe.
- Number of users. Of course, many more people can connect to the global network than to the local one. There, much more powerful equipment is used, and in general, a lot of people usually connect. This is the calculation.
- Services type. Local networks have their own services, such as a file access service, a printer service, and so on, in general, everything you need for a small network. But in the global network, for example, a routing service is used (determining the route of information along the network nodes) and much more, which is necessary for working in large networks.
As for the distance or area that these two types of networks can cover, we have already said above that the global network extends over the entire surface of the globe. Accordingly, it can also work on distant spacecraft, if they are connected to any device within this network.
So, it is interesting that local networks can also reach quite large sizes. The largest such network to date had devices located 14,000 km apart. These were space stations and orbital centers. Although usually the local area network covers the same offices, houses, firms or a small group of buildings.
Hello dear readers! This article is the first in the "Smart Home" section. The task of the new rubric is to describe in simple terms the basics of interaction with modern devices in our home.
For example, take modern TVs. Nowadays, it is already quite difficult to find a TV without Smart TV technology, and even more so, it is almost impossible to find a TV without a LAN connector or a wi-fi module.
This is where the question arises: why do we need all these bells and whistles? Since you have to spend money on them, maybe it’s worth at the same time and learn the benefits of these innovations? The answer is simple: “Of course it is!”.
Obviously, the LAN connector is used so that the TV can be connected to the home network via a network cable. This is done so that network technologies can be used, whether with or without Internet access.
So, let's briefly talk about the network technologies used in TVs. There are two of them. These are Smart TV and DLNA.
Smart TV technology
This technology allows you to connect the TV to the Internet, for example, via the LAN connector, which we are talking about in the article. Once connected, the TV can play streaming video from the Internet, and there are also a number of additional features, such as installing applications that will expand the functionality of the TV.
Here's a simple example for you. Connect your TV to the Internet, install an application to watch movies and TV shows. As an option - Amediateka (this is an online cinema). After that, you have access to a huge number of different films and series in a very decent quality. You can forget about cinemas :)
DLNA technology
If the TV is older and does not support Smart TV technology, it still most likely has a LAN connector. Let me explain why you need it.
In addition to Internet access, you can also set up access to your home network. Let's say you have a media server at home. I mean a computer that stores a lot of multimedia information (movies, music). By properly setting up the home network, we can make sure that the TV can access the folders with the content of this media server.
This procedure will help us watch movies and music downloaded from the Internet through an intermediary (media server) on the TV.
Obviously, to connect the TV to the network, we need a LAN connector. That is, even if the TV cannot be connected to the Internet, the presence of a network connector is still justified.
Conclusion
In the following articles, we will talk in more detail about Smart TV technology, and about DLNA, and about setting up a home network and media server. Subscribe to site updates so as not to miss new interesting articles.
I also have a small request for you. Please write in the comments if you would be interested in reading articles about the basics of organizing a smart home system in your home. Perhaps the audience of this site is not so interested in technologies that are at the forefront of progress. Or are you interested? ;)
Thank you for your attention and see you soon!
If you want to know what WAN is, or how WAN differs from LAN, then you have come to the right place. Now we will try to figure out what kind of technology, connectors, connections, what they are for and what is the difference.
Hello! Perhaps the question in the title of the article seemed a little strange to you, but still there is a semantic load in it. Surprisingly, questions like these have bothered some of my readers and have come up to me several times in various forums. Progress and competition in information technology a few years ago laid the foundation for the production of smart TVs. Many modern models (depending on the line) have a LAN connector on board, but after buying a TV, some consumers get from this network connector not what they expected. So why is there a LAN connector on the TV?
Depending on the answers to these questions, we will determine the cause of the problem.
The computer does not see the connected LAN cable
In this case, when the network cable is connected, no messages and activity from the latter appear. The network connections icon is crossed out in red, and if you hover over it, the message “No connection” will appear. Everything looks exactly the same as if the cable was not connected at all.
| Average cost of a typical USB connector | 350,00 rub. |
| Average cost of a typical LAN connector | 350,00 rub. |
In the window Configuring an interface for an Ethernet connection in field use connector specify one of the LAN ports (in our example LAN1) that will act as the WAN port.
USB- (from the English Universal Serial Bus - "U-S-B") - The Universal Serial Bus is a serial data interface for medium-speed and low-speed peripherals in computing.
The USB tree block diagram is symbolized by geometric figures (large circle, small circle, triangle and square) located at its ends.
Four-wire USB cable (4 copper conductors). The cable uses two twisted-pair conductors for receiving and transmitting data, and two power conductors. Thanks to this, peripheral devices can be connected without their own power supply.
USB has 3 modes of operation:
To check the health of the network card, you need to go to the "Device Manager" of your computer. To do this, follow the following procedure:
You may call it something else. If there is an exclamation mark next to it, then it is not working properly. Try reinstalling the driver. You just need to download from the manufacturer's website and start the installation manually, and not through the task manager. It may also be that the LAN connector does not work on the router.
Important: if your laptop's LAN port does not work, do not jump to conclusions. There are a lot of possible options: from incorrectly configured software and a router to bending the cable or damaging the network card.
Connection without Internet access (yellow triangle with an exclamation mark)
The problem looks like this:
Connection status "Without internet access" as it speaks for itself, the Internet does not work. But, there is a connection to the router. As a rule, this error may appear due to the router. When there is no internet connection. There is a detailed article on this subject.
And installing it, each of us dealt with LAN and WAN connectors. They are designed for different purposes, but are used together, which often causes confusion. Let's see what they are, what is the difference between them.
Through the WAN socket, connect the Internet cable, through the LAN - local devices
What is LAN
This type of connection will allow you to combine a certain number of computers located at a short distance from each other into a local environment.
When buying a router, you may notice four identical sockets of the same type on the back of it. All of them are designed to connect multiple PCs in one access point.
A LAN port is needed if you want to create a group to connect all the equipment inside the house to the Internet. Thus, it is possible to create a network that will cover an area of a couple of kilometers, for which they buy a cable with a high bandwidth.
What is WAN
With this type of connection, an external network is created, which is a large number of groups, users, regardless of their location. The main difference is that the previous format is intended for internal connection of several PCs, while this type of connection is external.
There are many global networks, but the most famous and commonly used is the World Wide Web. It is she who is preferred by most customers at different distances, since she is not territorially limited, created through telephone wires and more modern technologies.
Greetings, dear readers of the blog site! Today we will talk about different types of networks, such as local area networks (LANs), examples of which can be found in organizations, campuses or even homes, wide area or regional networks (WANs), the most striking example here is the Internet, network complexes or interconnected networks, i.e. combining, for example, several local networks into a larger regional network. You will also learn what an intranet is and become familiar with network representations.
Local Area Networks (LAN)
Network infrastructures can vary quite significantly in terms of:
- Network coverage
- Number of connected users
- Number and type of services available
Typically spans a single geographic area, providing services and applications to people within a common organizational structure, such as a single enterprise, campus, or region. This type of network is called . A LAN is usually administered by one organization. The administrative control that governs security and access control policies is exercised at the network level.
Regional (Global) Networks
When a company or organization has multiple locations that are separated by large geographic distances, it may need to use a telecommunications service provider (TSP) to connect LANs located in different locations to each other. Telecom service providers operate large regional networks that can span long distances. Traditionally, TSPs carried voice and data on separate networks. Now, increasingly, these providers are offering services to their customers.
Individual organizations typically use leased connections to a telecommunications service provider's network. These networks that connect LANs at geographically separated locations are called Regional or Wide Area Networks (WANs). Although the organization maintains all policy and administration of LANs on both sides of the connection, the policies within the communications service provider's network are controlled TSP.
WANs use specially designed LANs that connect LANs to each other. Because of the importance of these devices to the network, configuring, installing, and maintaining these devices are essential skills for an enterprise network.
LANs and WANs are very useful for individual organizations. They connect users within an organization. They provide services including email exchanges, corporate training, and other resource sharing.
Internet - Network of Networks
While there are benefits to using a LAN or WAN, most of us need to interact with resources on another network outside of our local organization.
Examples of this type of communication include:
- Sending emails to a friend from another country
- Accessing news and products on the website
- Getting a file from a neighbor's computer
- Exchange with a relative from another city
- Follow your favorite sports team on your cell phone
Network Complexes (Network Associations)
The global web of interconnected networks (network complexes) serves. Some of these interconnected networks belong to large public and private organizations, such as government agencies or industries, and are intended solely for their use. The largest well-known and widely used public interconnected network is the Internet.
The Internet consists of interconnected networks that are owned by Internet Service Providers (ISPs). These ISP networks connect with each other, providing access to millions of users around the world. Assurance across this diverse infrastructure requires the use of consistent and recognized policies, as well as the cooperation of multiple network administration agencies.
intranet
Term intranet often used to refer to a private connection of LANs and WANs belonging to the same organization, which are designed to be accessed only by members of that organization, workers, and other authorized users.
Note: The following terms may be used interchangeably: internetwork (network complex, network interconnection, complex of interconnected networks), data network, and simply network. The connection of two or more data networks forms an interconnected network - a network of networks. It is also common to refer to the internetwork as a data network—or simply a network—when considering communications at the highest level. This use of the terms is context dependent and the terms may therefore be used interchangeably.
Network Views
When transporting complex information, such as when providing a network connection and operating a large internetwork, it is useful to use visual representations and graphics. Like any other language, the language of networks uses a well-known set of symbols (notations) to represent various , and . The ability to recognize logical representations of physical network components is critical to being able to represent the organization and operation of a network.
In addition to representing networks through special notation, special terminology is used when discussing how each of these devices and connections connect to each other. It is important to remember the following terms:
Network Interface Card(English Network Interface Card or NIC) or LAN adapter, provides a physical connection to the network of a computer or other device hosta. , plug directly into network interface cards (NICs).
Our short article today will be devoted to such an element of routers, which is called WAN. We will try to answer the questions of what it is and what functions it performs.
It is very likely that once you tried to set up a router yourself and turned to some forum for help. And it is even more likely that in such a situation you were advised there to connect the cable to WAN connector or go to the WAN tab and set the correct settings there.
As you might have guessed, there are two things on the router of the so-called WANs at once. Firstly, this is a connector that is located on the router case, into which it is actually connected internet via cable, padded internet provider. Using the example of different manufacturers, the back panel may look different:
In another way, such a connector is also called RJ-45. Often WAN connector on routers it is colored blue. We have already dealt with the first WAN.
Under the second meaning of the word WAN hides nothing more than an item in the router settings. You probably already know how to enter the control panel from our previous publications. By the way, for some models of routers, in particular for TP-LINK, tab WAN called simply "Internet".
The settings that are actually in it and allow the router to connect to the Internet. I would even call it the most important point in the router settings. Therefore, very carefully enter the data given to you by the provider. Quite often, at this stage of configuration, mistakes are made, and then questions arise why the router does not function fully.
