What is a met­ro­pol­it­an area network (MAN)?

A met­ro­pol­it­an area network (MAN) is a network that enables com­mu­nic­a­tion across a large area. It is bigger than a local area network (LAN) and smaller than a wide area network (WAN).

What is a met­ro­pol­it­an area network (MAN) and what is it used for?

A met­ro­pol­it­an area network (MAN) is a network that connects multiplecomputers located in a par­tic­u­lar geo­graph­ic­al area. The area that the network can cover is larger than a local area network (LAN) and smaller than that of a wide area network (WAN).

By using various, in­di­vidu­al resources to create a com­pre­hens­ive network, a met­ro­pol­it­an area network is able to serve the requests of multiple devices that would otherwise have to rely on numerous local area networks. This type of network can serve a few buildings, different branches of a company (provided they are re­l­at­ively close to each other), a town or single city, or even several neigh­bour­ing cities.

Despite its name, a met­ro­pol­it­an area network doesn’t have to be located within a city or connected to one. The name simply refers to the potential scope of the network. MANs can reach up to 100 kilo­metres, making them suitable for rural areas as well.

In­ter­na­tion­al telecom companies have relied on the found­a­tion­al prin­ciples behind met­ro­pol­it­an area networks since the 1990s, using them as an al­tern­at­ive to con­ven­tion­al telephone networks. MANs can be combined at both a national level within a wide area network (WAN) or even in­ter­na­tion­ally in a global area network (GAN).

How do met­ro­pol­it­an area networks work?

Met­ro­pol­it­an area networks are generally an ag­greg­a­tion of different local area networks, connected to each other using backbone fibre optic cables. Typically, unlit fibre lines (commonly referred to as dark fibre lines) are used to connect the different networks. These are pre­vi­ously unused fibre optic cables that are capable of trans­mit­ting data, enabling high data through­put rates.

In addition to telecom companies, more and more municipal providers are setting up MAN tech­no­logy and renting out the networks to private internet providers at a cost. Uni­ver­sit­ies also use the tech­no­logy to connect campus buildings that are spread across a city.

MAN tech­no­logy ensures better net­work­ing and is con­sidered to be sig­ni­fic­antly more durable than al­tern­at­ive options. It also offers high trans­mis­sion speeds for data traffic. Using a met­ro­pol­it­an area network is generally more cost-efficient than using numerous different local area networks, par­tic­u­larly for high data volumes.