What's the difference between Wi-Fi and LAN (Local Area Network) if there is one?

Question

What's the difference between Wi-Fi and LAN (Local Area Network) if there is one?

Answer 1

Wi-Fi is a wireless connection, while LAN is a wired connection between computers.

Answer 2

I would like to add onto msb56's answer:

Wireless connectivity is just one of many mediums that connect devices to The LAN.  As wireless access points/routers are just bridging the wired medium (ethernet) to a wireless medium (WiFi), but they are all apart of the same LAN.  So to me, WiFi is a standard applied to a type of medium (wireless in this case) that can be used on a LAN.

Answer 3

LAN is a LOCAL area network... local to a house or a building or even a part of a building opposed to a WAN (wide area network) which may span different office locations of a single company, different sectors within a city too.

If a LAN is constructed by connecting the computers with wires it is a wired LAN. If LAN is constructed using the wireless link between computers and hub/router, it is called wirelss LAN or "wifi" network.

So, wifi is a wireless LAN. wifi is a type of LAN essentially.

Answer 4

Unfortunately, many folks who sell computers at your corner store don't understand what certain terms really mean.

I suspect you heard this from someone trying to identify wired vs wireless networks.

However, the previous two folks are correct.  a LAN (local area network) was originally a non-routed and non-bridged group of nodes on a network, regardless of the connection type.  The LAN could be an ethernet LAN, an ARCnet LAN, a Token Ring LAN, etc.  The term later grew to be a group of nodes connected in a network (routed or bridged no longer being a consideration) that did not qualify as a WAN (wide area network).  Strangely enough, a WAN used to be two LANs (put a router between them and you got a WAN).  Now a WAN has a broader definition.

So, to answer your question;

The LAN is the network, and the WiFi is just the media you are using in the LAN.

However, be aware that there are folks out there that will tell you LAN is the wired network, and WiFi is the wireless network.  This may come from the ISP facing port on many routers being labeled the "LAN port".

For more information, (here is a surprise) wikipedia has a pretty good definition of both LAN and WiFi including some quite accurate history for both.

Trivia:

The internet began as a large number of modem-to-modem connections between government computers.  This was designed to reduce the possibility of a complete lose of connectivity in case of a nuclear strike by the USSR.  The resulting EMP (Electromagnetic Pulse) would kill communications in a good sized area surrounding the blast (even if the nuke detonates in the atmosphere, which really was the threat) It began in the 1950s.  It got so big that when drawn on paper, it looked like a giant spider web with hundreds of point-to-point links and each computer could route traffic between any of their numerous modem connections.

Isn't networking grand?

Have a great day!

Les