ITPEC IP April 2021 Question 34

A network that links distant sites, such as a head office and branch offices, over a network operator's service — that is a WAN (Wide Area Network).

A LAN covers one site, a building or a campus, over cables the organisation lays itself. Sites far apart cannot be wired privately, so a WAN connects them over lines and services provided by a telecommunications carrier: leased lines, IP-VPN, wide-area Ethernet.

Answer (c)

Why not others:

• •(a) — a virtual private network over the Internet is an Internet VPN, one way to build a WAN, not the definition of a WAN
• •(b) — a WAN is defined by linking distant sites, not by crossing borders; it may lie entirely within one country
• •(d) — the brand the Wi-Fi Alliance grants to IEEE 802.11 devices tested for interoperability is Wi-Fi

Key rule: LAN: within one site, over the organisation's own cables; WAN: between distant sites, over a carrier's network service.

Networks · AI-written, may contain errors