A wide area network or WAN is a computer network covering a broad geographical area. Contrast with personal area networks (PANs), metropolitan area networks (MANs) or local area networks (LANs) that are usually limited to a room, building or campus. The most well-known example of a WAN is the Internet.

    source - Wide area network. (2006, August 30). In Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Retrieved August 31, 2006, from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wide_area_network

While the Internet is certainly the largest WAN, we often refer to VPN (Virtual Private Network) connections as forming a WAN. Hautspot fully supports industry standard IPSec VPN technologies to allow roaming users to connect securely to office networks.