-- Posted by DaveH at 4:12 am on May 17, 2008 Hello, I've got to write about networks at college, i've done several ones and they are all correct, however my last one isn't. I've looked on the net and can't find much use. so I've written a bit that i thought could be a "personal area network (PAN) PAN - Personal Area Network A PAN is unlike any of the other networks, the size is much smaller. The network doesn't actually connect to other computers like the LAN and WAN networks. The network is usually shared by different users however they since its only a single PC so only one user at a time, it's great for a family network, and it's also fast and reliable, since the users will be using the same hardware they can easily swap files. An example of a WAN is a home computer having multiple user accounts for each member of the family, each having there own private area on there. Can anyone help us out? i'd give you some cookies and points!!!   -- Posted by britishguy at 12:56 pm on May 17, 2008 I'm not entirely sure wht you're asking - you weren't exactly clear, but if you want to know what a PAN is then I can tell you because I use one all the time. A PAN is a very small network that is basically used by one person - hence the name "Personal Area Network." It basically just links devices together. I use a PAN with my mobile (cell) phone, my Palm PDA, my printer and my PC. All of them are linked either by bluetooth or USB and can communicate with each other easily and exchange information. So if I want to to print straight from my PDA or send a text from my PDA via my mobile phone then I use the PAN to do that. However if I want to connect to the internet or the LAN in my apartment then I would have to uplink from the PAN to (e.g.) the LAN. So basically it's a personal network of devices for one person to use over a very small range usually determined by the means of communication. In most cases you're talking bluetooth, infrared or USB, since ethernet or WiFi tends to mean you're moving into a LAN. So for that reason you're usually looking at about 10 meters max.