LAN

Local Area Network

In plain language

The network inside your own office that connects your computers, printers and Wi-Fi to each other.

The metaphor

Like the hallways inside a building: everyone in the building can walk between rooms without going out to the street.

Going deeper

How it works

Computers connect by cable or Wi-Fi to a switch or router.
Devices on the LAN can find shared printers and file storage.
Traffic only leaves for the internet through the router or firewall.
A weak LAN setup lets one infected computer reach every other device inside.

What can go wrong (example scenario)

A six-person office let guests, printers and the file server share one flat network. A visitor's infected laptop scanned the LAN and found the file share open to everyone.

How WILDCARD handles it

Network covers the firewall and switch that define your LAN and keep guest and staff traffic apart.

In practice

A dental office keeps X-ray equipment on its own section of the LAN.
A retailer keeps the card terminal away from customer Wi-Fi.
A law firm puts its file server where only staff devices can reach it.

A question owners ask

Is everything on my office network safe from everything else?

Not automatically. By default, devices on one LAN can talk to each other, which is why guest Wi-Fi and sensitive equipment should be separated.

Where WILDCARD handles this

Network

Firewall managed and monitored
Switches kept current
On-prem Active Directory auth

Start with Network

Related terms

Something here sounds like your problem?

Every WILDCARD card exists to solve one named problem. Find yours.

Pick your problem →