Alternative methods

It is perfectly feasible to hire a digital data line to create a Wide Area Network (WAN), but it may be worthwhile considering other methods that may offer the same service for lower cost.

For example, two tall buildings that can see each other from their rooftops want to share their networks - what are the alternatives?

Microwave link:

This is a good solution which is quite widely used by businesses.

Microwaves work by line-of-sight and so the two buildings could set up a link to join their LANs together to form a WAN.

The problem with this though, are that the microwaves are only moderately directional, so it is fairly simple for someone to ‘tap’ into the information flow. This is why encryption would have to be used in order to keep the data safe.

Another problem is that the radio spectrum is very strictly controlled and so a licence from the authorities would be required.