A network, from fcit.usf.edu, consists of two or more computers that are linked in order to share resources, exchange files, or allow electronic communications. A network of computers can be linked though different ways like cables, lines, radio waves or infrared light beams (Instructional Technology, 1997). On compnetworking.about.com, a local area network, or LAN, is used for computers that are in close proximity to each other, like a school. It’s useful to share different applications for instance, files and printers (Mitchell, 2012).
A WAN as from compnetworking.about.com, unlike a LAN, spans over a large area, like a state, province and even a country. WANs are often consisted of LANs, and metropolitan area network (MAN). WANs use different and more expensive equipment than LANs. A good example of a WAN is the Internet (Mitchell, 2012). The internet, according to dictionary.reference.com includes commercial, educational, governmental and other networks (Collins, 2009).
A MAN, www.erg.abdn.ac.uk, covers a larger area than LAN. Like a building and sometimes even a city; though it is smaller than a WAN. Moreover, it isn’t usually owned by one corporation organization, it is made up of different users and maybe even a single network. A MAN often acts as a high speed network to allow sharing of regional resources. It is also frequently used to provide a shared connection to other networks using a link to a WAN (Fairhurst, 2001).
A campus area network or CANs, www.freewimaxinfo.com, used to inter-connect networks in limited geographical locality like university campus, military bases. A CAN, is similar to a WAN, since it can be made up of multiple LANs. But like a MAN, it is smaller than a WAN and larger than a LAN. These networks are designed for the particular place that hits the highest point level (wimaxinfo, 2012).
A Home area network or HAN, www.centerpointenergy.com, is a network within a home that connects a person’s digital devices, from multiple computers and their peripheral devices to telephones, VCRs, televisions, video games, fax machines and other digital devices that are wired into the network (Centerpoint, 2012) A HAN is the smallest network out of the five networks discussed. There are five types of home area networks, which are either wire connections are wireless connections. These include direct cable connection, traditional Ethernet, AC network, phone line network or radio free network (Rouse, 2005).

References

CAN - What is CAN - Campus Area Network - How CAN works. (n.d.). Wimax - What is Wimax Technology - How it works. Retrieved November 26, 2012, from http://freewimaxinfo.com/campus-area-network-can.html

Energy, C. (n.d.). Home Area Network (HAN) products and solutions. CenterPoint Energy. Retrieved November 26, 2012, from