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In this section of the course,

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we're going to discuss wide-area networks.

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At this point,

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it's time for us to start moving outside

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of our local area networks

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by using routers and switches

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and connecting to a larger wide-area network.

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You see, so far we've covered switching

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within our local area networks,

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and we introduced the concepts of routing,

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which allowed us to leave that local area network

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and connect to other networks or subnets,

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but we really haven't discussed

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how we actually connect to those other networks

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and communicate over longer distances,

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and that is exactly what a wide-area network connection

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or a WAN connection is going to be used for.

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Now, let's take a quick look back

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at computer networking over time,

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because back in the early 1990s,

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we had this thing that we talked about

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called the Pareto Principle or the 80/20 rule.

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Now, the Pareto Principle

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actually comes from the business world,

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but as we apply it to networks,

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it used to be said that 80% of your traffic

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stayed inside your local area network,

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and only 20% went out to the WAN or the wide-area network.

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Now for that reason,

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it was really common for a large organization

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to only have a small external connection,

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something in the range

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of 1.44 megabits per second, for example,

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and that would have been plenty for their needs.

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After all, if only 20% of their network traffic

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had to cross the wide-area network

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to reach another network or service,

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we could use a slower and cheaper

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low bandwidth WAN connection

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and still meet the needs of our business and its end users.

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Today, though, that Pareto Principle

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has really been flipped on its head.

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These days, it's more like 80% of your traffic

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goes out of your network

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and only 20% stays within the local area network.

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Let's consider your daily use of a computer at work,

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at school, or at home.

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Are you using things like cloud?

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Well, are you using something like Google Drive and Dropbox,

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or Google Docs, and Office 365?

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All of these are cloud-based applications

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that exist outside of your network,

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and you're probably spending a large portion of your day

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doing things like watching online videos,

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scrolling your newsfeed on Facebook,

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or even making voiceover internet protocol calls

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to your family and friends.

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All of these things require us to leave the LAN

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and then send data over the WAN.

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So in this section of the course,

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we're going to discuss wide-area networks

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with a singular focus on Domain 1: Networking Concepts.

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We're going to be focused on

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just one objective here, Objective 1.5,

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and this states

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that you must be able to compare and contrast

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transmission media and transceivers.

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Now first, we're going to discuss fiber optic connections

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and how those are used in wide-area networks.

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Then, we'll discuss cable or DOCSIS connections

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that are used in our wide-area network connections.

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Next, you're going to learn about an older technology

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called a DSL or digital subscriber line,

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that was very popular back in the late 1990s

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and kept this popularity until fairly recently.

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Now it's still used heavily in a lot of parts of the world,

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so we're still going to cover it here in this section.

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After that, we'll talk about satellite connections

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and how they work,

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including more traditional

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geosynchronous orbital satellites,

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and the newer lower latency,

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low earth orbit satellites

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used by companies like Starlink.

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Then, we'll discuss the different types

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of cellular connections that we can use

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as a wide-area network connection,

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including those in our smartphones, tablets, hotspots,

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and fixed cellular home internet devices.

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Next, we'll explore microwave connections

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and how they're used in business parks, campuses,

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and metropolitan areas to provide a high-speed,

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point-to-point connection

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between two different networks.

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After that, we'll look at the different types of lease lines

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that you may choose to use

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in your wide-area network connections.

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Then, we'll cover MPLS connections,

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which stands for the Multi-Protocol Label Switching.

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Now, we'll talk about how MPLS is used

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for wide-area network connections

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by your internet service providers

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to move your data across the internet much more efficiently.

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After that, I'm going to do a quick demonstration to show you

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the different kinds of wide-area network connections

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that you may see when you're working out in the field

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and servicing a small office

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or home office environment.

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Finally, we'll take a short quiz

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to see what you learned during this section of the course,

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and review your answers

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to ensure you know why the right answers were right

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and the wrong answers were wrong.

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So if you're ready,

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let's get started with our coverage

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of wide-area networks in this section of the course.