What are WAN telecommunication connections?
The size of a network is limited due to size and distance constraints. However networks may be connected over a high speed communications link (called a WAN link) to link them together and thus become a WAN. WAN links are usually: Dial up connection Dedicated connection – It is a permanent full time connection. When a dedicated connection is used, the cable is leased rather than a part of the cable bandwidth and the user has exclusive use. Switched network – Several users share the same line or the bandwidth of the line. There are two types of switched networks: Circuit switching – This is a temporary connection between two points such as dial-up or ISDN. Packet switching – This is a connection between multiple points. It breaks data down into small packets to be sent across the network. A virtual circuit can improve performance by establishing a set path for data transmission. This will shave some overhead of a packet switching network.
