6 Advantages and Disadvantages of Wide Area Network | Limitations & Benefits of Wide Area Network

What is WAN ?

Wireless Area Network (WAN)

is a network type which provides

transmission of videos, images, data and voice covering large geographical areas. It is made up of LAN and MAN combinations. In order for carrying out the transmission it gets the help of modems, routers, hubs and switches.

What is the use of WAN ?

It is one such powerful business tools that assists large organizations to communicate internally more faster and efficient. With these types of benefits, users might think that WAN would be flawless. However that is not the case. WAN has their own pros and cons that cannot be neglected. Like other types of technological tools, you need to use WAN in the right way to acquire their benefits. 

 

In this article, let's look at the 6 Advantages and Disadvantages of Wide Area Network | Limitations & Benefits of Wide Area Network. From this post you will know the pros and cons of using WAN network.

Let's get started,

Advantages of Wide Area Network

1. Area Coverage

WAN generally covers geographical areas of large proportions (1000kms or more than that). Probably if your business offices are located at different locations, then without an effort all the branches can be communicated through WAN. For this purpose Internet Service Providers (ISPs) can provide leased lines.

2. Centralized Data

Using WAN means that you can share the data connected to all the devices in the respective network. For an example you can setup head office server and share the data among all the office branches. Hence, there is no need to purchase separate emails, files and backup servers. Instead you can get all the backup and support from the head office server.

3. Updated Files

From WAN users can get updated files and data from the servers. Companies can work to update files from the servers so that all the connected devices can receive them. That too in a fraction of seconds.

4. Message Exchange

With the advancement of Internet of Things (IoT) and LAN, a sudden growth of WAN based devices can be seen. From this communication through messages can be done fast with the help of popular applications such as messenger and whatsapp.

5. Increased Bandwidth

In order for forming a backbone of a respective network, corporate LAN often often uses leased lines. Using leased lines means that there are more bandwidths compared to a standard broadband connection. Ultimately business improvement in productivity can be seen.

6. Assured Uptime

Another biggest plus of WAN is that they offer guaranteed uptime. WAN providers offer uptime weekly, quarterly or annually. It is a part of the SLA. It doesn't matter what the industry is the uptime can be assured.

Disadvantages of Wide Area Network

1. Security

Since WAN has more technologies combined to each other, it faces more security issues comparing to LAN and MAN. This can open a security gap which paves the way for malicious attacks and identity thefts. Besides that WAN posses wide coverage which can be used negatively by people of different computers.

2. Need of Security Solutions

As mentioned earlier WAN frequently faces security issues. Probably as a result of the data transfer that can be easily accessed by the hackers. Hence, in every PCs, firewall needs to be enabled. And there are chances where malicious attacks can take place. Therefore, Antivirus software also needs to be installed.

3. Installation Costs

WANs are on default complicated and complex basically because of their geographical coverage. Hence, they are expensive to setup. Setting up a WAN requires purchasing of routers, switches and security solutions.

4. Disconnection Problems

In some areas especially in remote locations, there is no proper electricity supply or line structure. Due to this customers often face disconnection issues more frequently. For getting rid of this customers are required to purchase a dedicated line from the ISP.

5. Troubleshooting Issues

Troubleshooting WAN issues is a difficult task and requires more time. If there are issues in the network, it is difficult to pinpoint the exact cause due to their broad coverage of geographical areas. Moreover wires of the WAN goes under the sea. In case if those wires gets broken, it can be challenging to fix them since it involves lots of resources.

6. Maintenance Issues

Maintaining WAN is a difficult task to carry out. Especially maintaining a data center that operates 24/7 is the biggest challenge out of all. It is full time job that needs assistance from network administrators and technicians.