(I) LAN -Local Area Network:

1. Range:

Upto 10 Km.

2. Location:

Refers to same office, same building, same company and in same schools.

3. Speed:

Upto 10-100 Mbps.

4. Advantages:

Low Cost, Resource Sharing, Security.

5. Disadvantages:

Area Covered Limited. When number of nodes increases, performance decreases.

(II) MAN – Metropolitan Area Network:

1. Range:

10 to 15 Miles.

2. Location:

MAN is a network designed to extend over an entire city.

3. Speed:

Upto 5-10 Mbps.

4. Advantages:

Wider than LAN.

5. Disadvantages:

Data rate is slow compared to LAN and Cost is higher than LAN.

(III) WAN – Wide Area Network:

Range: Above 1000 Kms.

1. Location:

It Span entire countries and continents.

2. Speed:

Upto 256 Kbps to 2 Mbps. 

Advantages: 

Large geographical Area.

3. Disadvantages:

Complicated and Complex, High Cost, Requires high Performance Devices, Low security, Cost is higher than LAN.

(IV) PAN – Personal Area Network:

1. Range:

Upto 100 meters.

2. Location:

Used for shorter distance, controlled by a single person within a single building.

3. Speed:

Upto 250 Kbps.

4. Advantages:

Efficient, Cost effective and convenient. Controlled by a single person. Hotspot may connect upto 8 devices.

5. Disadvantages:

Shorter distance upto 10 meters only. Data rate is low compared to other network.

(V) CAN – Campus Area Network:

1. Range:

Upto 5 Kms.

2. Location:

Larger than LAN, but smaller than MAN. University, school or small business, enterprise.

3. Speed:

40 Kb/s to 1 MB/s

4. Advantages:

Cost effective,Wired or Wireless Network, High Bandwidth Multi-departmental Network access.

5. Disadvantages:

Difficult to manage

(VI) WLAN – Wireless Local Area Network:

1. Range:

Upto 50 Kms

2. Location:

Ranges from a single room to an entire campus: Uses Wi-Fi or Bluetooth, Radio waves.

3. Speed:

1 Mbps to 54 Mbps

4. Advantages:

Portable Installation is quick and easy.

5. Disadvantages:

Low Bandwidth due to interference.