What is the main difference between wpan wlan wnan wman and wwan?

Answer 1

In each case, the 'W' stands for wireless, but these connections can be wired as well. The difference is in the range or size of the network:

'PAN' stands for 'personal area network,' and refers to any network with a range of about 5m, such as Bluetooth, etc.

'LAN' stands for 'local area network.' This refers to any network infrastructure belonging to the same segment of a network. A home network would be an example of a LAN.

'NAN' stands for 'near-me area network.' This refers to a network that deals with devices in relatively close proximity to one another, although the data path of the network may not necessarily be short. This network type isn't as widely used as the others, so it is often overlooked, but an example would be a messaging service that broadcasts to others in the same area.

'MAN' stands for 'Metropolitan Area Network.' This refers to a network infrastructure that has the range of a city. It is a little bit like a long-range LAN. An example would be a network belonging to a company with offices in different parts of the city. The main distinction is that a MAN is within the size of a metropolitan area but too large to be considered a LAN.

'WAN' stands for 'Wide Area Network.' Generally, any network used to transmit data over long distances, or between localized networks such as LANS, is considered a WAN. An example of a WAN would be an ISP, connecting many home networks to the internet.

There are other network types (such as CAN for Campus Area Network or BAN for Body Area Network), but PAN, LAN, NAN, MAN, and WAN are the most common.