What does LAN stand for? It stands for local area network, a group of computers, phones, printers and other devices linked together inside one limited space, such as a house, an office floor, a classroom or a store. The key word is local: everything on a LAN sits close together and shares the same equipment.
If you have a router at home, you already run a LAN. Your laptop, your smart TV and the printer in the hall all join it, and they can talk to each other even before any traffic leaves the building for the wider internet.
Quick facts
Stands for
Local Area NetworkType
Acronym, usually said as one wordCovers
One home, office, school or buildingLinks by
Ethernet cables, Wi-Fi or bothBigger cousins
MAN (metropolitan area network) and WAN (wide area network)Wireless version
WLAN, a wireless local area networkNot to be confused with
The internet, which links many networks across the world
What does LAN stand for? The letters decoded
Read the name one piece at a time and it describes the setup:
| Letter | Word | What it tells you |
|---|---|---|
| L | Local | The devices are near each other, often in one building |
| A | Area | The network covers a defined space, not a whole region |
| N | Network | The devices are connected so they can share data |
Most speakers pronounce it like a word, rhyming with fan, which makes it an acronym. Some IT staff spell it out as L A N, and either is fine. Our page on acronym vs abbreviation covers why the label differs, a detail that matters to word nerds and to almost no one else.
How a local network actually works
A typical small LAN has a few pieces of hardware:
- A router that hands out local addresses and connects the LAN to your internet provider. Read about those addresses on the IP page.
- A switch, often built into the router, that moves data between wired devices.
- Ethernet cables for desktops, game consoles and other gear that stays put.
- A wireless access point for phones and laptops that join over Wi-Fi.
When you send a file from your laptop to the printer down the hall, that data never needs to leave the building. It travels across the LAN only. When you open a website, the router passes the request out to your ISP and on to the internet.
LAN, WLAN, MAN and WAN compared
| Term | Stands for | Typical size |
|---|---|---|
| PAN | Personal area network | A few feet, like earbuds paired to a phone |
| LAN | Local area network | One home, office or school building |
| WLAN | Wireless local area network | Same as a LAN, but over radio signals |
| MAN | Metropolitan area network | A city or a large campus |
| WAN | Wide area network | Many sites across states or countries |
The internet is the largest WAN of all, built from countless smaller networks. A company with offices in three cities might run a LAN in each office and link them with a private WAN or a VPN.
Where you will see the letters
The word turns up in more places than a server room:
On the back of a router: four yellow ports marked LAN 1 to LAN 4 and one port marked WAN or Internet. Plug your computers into the LAN ports. The modem cable goes into the WAN port.
- Game settings: a "LAN game" lets players on the same network play together without going through an online server.
- LAN party: friends bring computers to one place, connect them to a shared network and play for hours.
- Job listings: "LAN administrator" is a person who keeps an office network running.
- Computer settings: "LAN settings" or "local network access" controls whether apps can see other devices at home.
Using LAN in a sentence
- "The printer is on the office LAN, so you can print from any desk."
- "Plug the console into a LAN port for a steadier connection than wireless."
- "Our school runs a separate LAN for student laptops."
- "We set up a small LAN party in the basement on Saturday."
- "The IT team traced the slowdown to a bad switch on the second floor LAN."
Keep all three letters uppercase, without dots. Because it is said like the word "lan," use "a LAN," not "an LAN."
Common mix-ups
LAN vs Wi-Fi: Wi-Fi is one way to connect to a LAN, not a separate network. A home LAN can be all cables, all wireless, or a mix.
LAN vs internet: your LAN can work even when the internet is down. You can still stream a movie from a home media server or print a page, because that traffic stays inside.
LAN vs Ethernet: Ethernet is the cabling and signal standard most wired LANs use. People sometimes say "Ethernet" when they mean the wired part of a LAN. For more network terms like DNS, see the tech acronyms hub.
Questions people ask
Is a home Wi-Fi network a LAN?
Yes. A home network built around one router is a LAN. When it is wireless, people sometimes call it a WLAN, but it is still a local area network.
What is the difference between LAN and WAN?
A LAN covers one small area, such as a building. A WAN links networks over long distances, such as offices in different cities. On a router, the WAN port connects to the outside world and the LAN ports serve devices inside.
How do you pronounce LAN?
Nearly everyone pronounces it to rhyme with man and can. Spelling it letter by letter is also fine and is common in some offices.
What is a LAN cable?
It is an everyday name for an Ethernet cable, the kind with a wide plastic clip on each end. It connects a computer, console or TV to a router or switch.
What does LAN mean in gaming?
It means playing with others on the same local network. A LAN game or LAN party usually has lower lag because the data does not travel over the internet.