Examples of a LAN and a WAN

I know that this is a really basic question and may reveal just how dumb I am, but here goes:

I have 2 routers in a lab connected by a DTE/DCE cable. The LAN attached to Router A is 192.168.0.0/28, the Serial link is 192.168.0.16/28 and the LAN attached to Router B is 192.168.0.32/28. RIPv2 is enabled and I can ping between a host attached to Router A and a second attached to Router B.

I have a similar setup but have the networks 10.0.0.0/8, 172.16.0.0/16 and 192.168.0.0/24 as the Router A LAN, Serial link and Router B LAN respectively, I can ping between the hosts attached to each LAN.

The questions:

Is the first setup regarded as a LAN or a WAN? What about the second setup?

My "gut" feeling is that the first is a large 192.168.0.0/24 network subnetted into the various segments so it is a LAN but the second would be regarded as a WAN because it has three completely unrelated networks for the three segments.

Apologies if this is a school-boy question!

The questions:

Is the first setup regarded as a LAN or a WAN? What about the second setup?

My "gut" feeling is that the first is a large 192.168.0.0/24 network subnetted into the various segments so it is a LAN but the second would be regarded as a WAN because it has three completely unrelated networks for the three segments.

Apologies if this is a school-boy question!

Hi,

Physical Distances, Protocols, & Connections between devices are some of the characteristics that would define if a network is Local Area, or a Wide Area, I think.

Say, multiple devices in a single room, wired and/or wireless may be considered as a Local Area.

Say, devices in building-1, connected to devices in building-2, distance separating between the buildings may be considered Wide Area, i.e connected Local Area Networks.

Now, what about networks that run WAN Protocols, but are geographically next to each other? Can the network be described as a Local Area Network?

Let's wait and see how other Firewall members describe what constitutes a LAN and a WAN.

What I'm keen to try (after our 2 week Easter break) is use of network assessment tools. As far as I know, they only work on a LAN (no, I don't want to do anything illegal!). I suppose the most straightforward is nbtstat which I've used in a P2P setup with 2 PCs connected via a cross-over cable. I want to see if I can use it in a larger situation.

There are other LAN based monitoring tools, such as LANTool and Look@LAN, but I need to get the concept of a LAN as I can set it up in the lab situation. I know that the college where I go uses such monitoring tools and I'm sure that they uses routers to break up the network because they're looking after >1500 client PCs, printers etc.