Network Types
Local Area Network LAN: A group of microcomputers or terminals located in the same general area and connected by a common circuit (2-20 Mbps).
Backbone Network BN: A large central network that connects all the terminals, microcomputers , mainframes, local area networks, and other communication equipment on a single company or university site (10-150Mbps).
Metropolitan Area Network MAN: A network Spanning a geographical area that usually encompasses a city or country area (typically span 3-30 miles) (64 Kbps-5 Mbps).
Wide Area Network WAN: A network spanning a large geographical area (cities, states or countries) (often rented from AT&T, MCI, Sprint etc.) (typically hundreds of thousands of miles) (64 Kbps-2Gbps)
distinctions between different types of networks are becoming blurry