If you are running a business, you know the importance of communication. Business operations cannot be carried out properly if effective communication is not present. Therefore, it is very important to have effective management and communication when growing your organization with numerous branches.
And because of this remote working culture, businesses prioritize a strong working infrastructure that will enable all of their teams to remain in constant communication and increase productivity.
Most business owners who want to expand their business globally look for internet WAN to create a reliable infrastructure.
What is WAN?
WAN (Wide Area Network) is an IP-based network that helps connect any number of business locations worldwide. You can share your intranet, computer devices, and internal information seamlessly and securely when implementing this network. To put it another way, WAN can be described as a collection of local area networks (LANs).
What is the difference between WAN and LAN?
A local area network (LAN) is an easy-to-install network restricted to a single structure or a small area. Your home’s WiFi network, which is only available within a certain radius, is the best example of LAN.
While WAN is a collection of Local Area Networks (LANs) and is not restricted to a specific place, it is utilized to transmit data used within LANs.
Types of WAN connections
Dedicated connections and switched connections are the two main types of WAN connections. Based on your company’s demands, you must select the appropriate connection type before implementing a WAN network.
Dedicated connections
Dedicated connections provide constant connectivity to distant locations because of their set bandwidth point-to-point nature. And these types of connections are stable and provide permanent connections.
However, dedicated connections come at a high cost in terms of fees and support costs. And following are some of the types of dedicated connections.
- Leased Line
- Digital Subscriber Line (DSL)
- Multi-protocol Label Switching (MPLS)
- Asymmetric Digital Subscriber Line (ADSL)
- Wireless WAN (LTE, 3G, 4G, and 5G)
Switched connections
A switched WAN connection connects many end nodes over a single WAN network. The three types of switched connections are listed below.
- Circuit-switched connection
- Packet-switched connection
- Cell-switched connection
How does WAN work?
Switched WAN connections steer traffic between endpoints and the dedicated WAN connections functions by routing the data with IP addresses on shared media. And most WAN providers implement VPN (Virtual Private Network) to connect geographical locations and devices with complete security.
Why is WAN important to enterprises?
Secure and seamless communication is essential for any business that needs to collaborate across numerous sites, and wide area networks provide it. For example, if a business does not have an internet WAN, it has to install every single mile of hardware to connect to the LANs, which is very expensive.
Your business must have a secure network when sharing sensitive data between several business locations because data theft can occur anytime when sharing information digitally. Implementing WAN in your business makes you more secure over all the business operations.
Most importantly, WAN enables your company to have a centralized IT infrastructure, eliminating the need for you to purchase a file server or email server for each site. Consequently, allow your company to spend less money on a solid infrastructure.
You can get things done quickly with WAN because WAN doesn’t use broadband connections. And it lets you have faster uploads and unlimited data transfer, and the commands can be made in real-time.
If you have a WAN, you can manage all operations as your firm grows smoothly and securely. So now you know what WAN is and why it’s great for business. WAN is cost-effective, and at the same time, it provides complete security to your business.
