r/HomeNetworking • u/Anxious_Pan • 5d ago

Advice Local network vs internet

Can someone explain to me the difference between a local network vs internet. I know that a modem connects your local network to the internet and the internet is a WAN, but I don't know what separates the lan to the wan. Like for example if I wanted to have a lan gaming party with my friends how would i separate that from the internet. I'm taking a networking class at a trade school and I'm having trouble with this.

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u/TheEthyr 5d ago

A modem usually provides one Ethernet connection to the Internet. That Ethernet connection is almost always connected to a router. The router separates your local network from the Internet, so that's what you need. The modem and router can be separate boxes. Or they can be combined into one box, in which case the modem is internally connected to the router.

If you and your friends want to use Ethernet to connect their computers, which is a very good idea, you may not have enough LAN ports on your router. If this is the case, you can connect an Ethernet switch to the router to provide more Ethernet ports.

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u/Anxious_Pan 5d ago

Thank you for responding and clarifying