What are the Types of Computer Networks?

What is a Computer Network?

                          A computer network is a digital telecommunications network which allows nodes to share resources. In computer networks, computing devices exchange data with each other using connections (data links) between nodes. These data links are established over cable media such as wires or optic cables, or wireless media such as WiFi.

1. Personal Area Network (PAN)

                           - is a computer network for interconnecting devices centered on an individual person's workspace. A PAN provides data transmission amongst devices such as computers, smartphones, tablets and personal digital assistants. PANs can be used for communication amongst the personal devices themselves, or for connecting to a higher level network and the Internet (an uplink) where one master device takes up the role as gateway. A PAN may be carried over wired computer buses such as USB.

            Wireless Personal Area Network (WPAN)

                           -is a personal area network in which the connections are wireless. IEEE 802.15 has produced standards for several types of PANs operating in the ISM band including Bluetooth. The Infrared Data Association has produced standards for WPANs which operate using infrared communications.

•  Bluetooth

                            -uses short-range radio waves. While historically covering shorter distances associated with a PAN, the Bluetooth 5 standard, Bluetooth Mesh, have extended that range considerably. Further, long range Bluetooth routers with augmented antenna arrays connect Bluetooth devices up to 1,000 feet. Uses in a PAN include, for example, Bluetooth devices such as keyboards, pointing devices, audio head sets, printers may connect to personal digital assistants (PDAs), cell phones, or computers.

                            A Bluetooth PAN is also called a piconet (combination of the prefix "pico," meaning very small or one trillionth, and network), and is composed of up to 8 active devices in a master-slave relationship (a very large number of devices can be connected in "parked" mode). The first Bluetooth device in the piconet is the master, and all other devices are slaves that communicate with the master. A piconet typically has a range of 10 metres (33 ft), although ranges of up to 100 metres (330 ft) can be reached under ideal circumstances. With Bluetooth mesh networking the range and number of devices is extended by relaying information from one to another. Such a network doesn't have a master device and may or may not be treated as a PAN.

• Infrared Data Association

                           -Infrared Data Association (IrDA) uses infrared light, which has a frequency below the human eye's sensitivity. Infrared in general is used, for instance, in TV remotes. Typical WPAN devices that use IrDA include printers, keyboards, and other serial communication interfaces.

2. Local Area Network (LAN)

                    -is a computer network that interconnects computers within a limited area such as a residence, school, laboratory, university campus or office building. By contrast, a wide area network (WAN) not only covers a larger geographic distance, but also generally involves leased telecommunication circuits.

                               Ethernet and Wi-Fi are the two most common technologies in use for local area networks. Historical technologies include ARCNET, Token ring, and AppleTalk.

            

       Ethernet

3. Metropolitan Area Network (MAN)

                        - is a computer network that interconnects users with computer resources in a geographic area or region larger than that covered by even a large local area network (LAN) but smaller than the area covered by a wide area network (WAN). The term MAN is applied to the interconnection of networks in a city into a single larger network which may then also offer efficient connection to a wide area network.It is also used to mean the interconnection of several local area networks in a metropolitan area through the use of point-to-point connections between them. 

4. Wide Area Network (WAN)

                                   - is a telecommunications network or computer network that extends over a large geographical distance/place. Wide area networks are often established with leased telecommunication circuits.

Business, education and government entities use wide area networks to relay data to staff, students, clients, buyers, and suppliers from various locations across the world. In essence, this mode of telecommunication allows a business to effectively carry out its daily function regardless of location. The Internet may be considered a WAN.

Related terms for other types of networks are personal area networks (PANs), local area networks (LANs), campus area networks (CANs), or metropolitan area networks (MANs) which are usually limited to a room, building, campus or specific metropolitan area respectively.

Source: Wikipedia