Wide Area Networks (WANs) are a network infrastructure that spans a wide geographical area. WANs are typically managed by service providers (SP) or Internet Service Providers (ISP).
Specific features of WANs include:
- WANs interconnect LANs over wide geographical areas such as between cities, states, provinces, countries, or continents.
- WANs are usually administered by multiple service providers.
- WANs typically provide slower speed links between LANs.