The increasing demand and use of computers in universities and research labs in

the late 1960s generated the need to provide high-speed interconnections between
computer systems. A 1970 report from the Lawrence Radiation Laboratory detailin
g the growth of their "Octopus" network[2][3] gave a good indication of the situ
ation.
Cambridge Ring was developed at Cambridge University in 1974[4] but was never de
veloped into a successful commercial product.
Ethernet was developed at Xerox PARC in 1973 1975,[5] and filed as U.S. Patent 4,0
63,220. In 1976, after the system was deployed at PARC, Metcalfe and Boggs publi
shed a seminal paper, "Ethernet: Distributed Packet-Switching for Local Computer
Networks."[6]
ARCNET was developed by Datapoint Corporation in 1976 and announced in 1977.[7]
It had the first commercial installation in December 1977 at Chase Manhattan Ban
k in New York.[8]
Standards evolution
The development and proliferation of personal computers using the CP/M operating
system in the late 1970s, and later DOS-based systems starting in 1981, meant t
hat many sites grew to dozens or even hundreds of computers. The initial driving
force for networking was generally to share storage and printers, which were bo
th expensive at the time. There was much enthusiasm for the concept and for seve
ral years, from about 1983 onward, computer industry pundits would regularly dec
lare the coming year to be the year of the LAN .[9][10][11]
In practice, the concept was marred by proliferation of incompatible physical la
yer and network protocol implementations, and a plethora of methods of sharing r
esources. Typically, each vendor would have its own type of network card, cablin
g, protocol, and network operating system. A solution appeared with the advent o
f Novell NetWare which provided even-handed support for dozens of competing card
/cable types, and a much more sophisticated operating system than most of its co
mpetitors. Netware dominated[12] the personal computer LAN business from early a
fter its introduction in 1983 until the mid-1990s when Microsoft introduced Wind
ows NT Advanced Server and Windows for Workgroups.
Cabling
Early LAN cabling had generally been based on various grades of coaxial cable. S
hielded twisted pair was used in IBM's Token Ring LAN implementation, but in 198
4, StarLAN showed the potential of simple unshielded twisted pair by using Cat3
cable the same simple cable used for telephone systems. This led to the developmen
t of 10Base-T (and its successors) and structured cabling which is still the bas
is of most commercial LANs today.
Fiber-optic cabling is common for links between switches, but fiber to the deskt
op is uncommon.
Wireless
As well as traditional cabling, many LANs are now based partly or wholly on wire
less technologies. Almost all of today's smartphoness, tablets and laptops have
wireless support built-in so a wireless local area network, or WLAN, gives users
the ability to move around within a local coverage area and still be connected
to the network. Wireless networks have become popular in domestic homes due to e
ase of installation, and in commercial complexes to offer easy network access to
their staff. Visiting guest are often offered internet access via a hotspot ser
vice.
Technical aspects

Network topology describes the layout of interconnections between devices and ne

twork segments. At the Data Link Layer and Physical Layer, a wide variety of LAN
topologies have been used, including ring, bus, mesh and star, but the most com
mon LAN topology in use today is switched Ethernet. At the higher layers, the In
ternet Protocol (TCP/IP) has become the standard, replacing NetBEUI, IPX/SPX, Ap
pleTalk and others.
Wi-Fi certification
See also: Wi-Fi Alliance
The IEEE does not test equipment for compliance with their standards. The non-pr
ofit Wi-Fi Alliance was formed in 1999 to fill this void
to establish and enforc
e standards for interoperability and backward compatibility, and to promote wire
less local-area-network technology. As of 2010, the Wi-Fi Alliance consisted of
more than 375 companies from around the world.[24][25] The Wi-Fi Alliance enforc
es the use of the Wi-Fi brand to technologies based on the IEEE 802.11 standards
from the IEEE. This includes wireless local area network (WLAN) connections, de
vice to device connectivity (such as Wi-Fi Peer to Peer aka Wi-Fi Direct), Perso
nal area network (PAN), local area network (LAN) and even some limited wide area
network (WAN) connections. Manufacturers with membership in the Wi-Fi Alliance,
whose products pass the certification process, gain the right to mark those pro
ducts with the Wi-Fi logo.
Specifically, the certification process requires conformance to the IEEE 802.11
radio standards, the WPA and WPA2 security standards, and the EAP authentication
standard. Certification may optionally include tests of IEEE 802.11 draft stand
ards, interaction with cellular-phone technology in converged devices, and featu
res relating to security set-up, multimedia, and power-saving.[26]
Not every Wi-Fi device is submitted for certification. The lack of Wi-Fi certifi
cation does not necessarily imply that a device is incompatible with other Wi-Fi
devices. If it is compliant or partly compatible, the Wi-Fi Alliance may not ob
ject to its description as a Wi-Fi device[citation needed] though technically on
ly certified devices are approved. The Wi-Fi Alliance may or may not sanction de
rivative terms, such as Super Wi-Fi, coined by the US Federal Communications Com
mission (FCC) to describe proposed networking in the UHF TV band in the US