What Is the Difference Between Wireless WAN and Wireless LAN?

By Staff WriterLast Updated March 25, 2020

A wireless local area network, or LAN, does not use wired Ethernet connections and usually covers a small geographical area like a school or office building; a wireless wide area network, or WAN, covers a greater geographical area, like a town or city. As long as users are within the range of a WLAN or WWAN, they can access various network services like Internet connection and file sharing.

Another major difference between a wireless WAN and a wireless LAN is the technology used. WLAN relies on Wi-Fi, which has a relatively short range and cannot be used to cover a large area. Instead, wireless WAN utilizes mobile communications such as 4G and 3G networks, that are better suited for covering large geographical areas.