Which type of network typically experiences the lowest transmission delay?
LAN
Transmission (propagation) delay is strongly influenced by the physical distance a signal must travel and by the number of intermediate devices it passes through. As a rule, the smaller the geographic area a network covers, the shorter the propagation path and the lower the delay.
Among the given network types, a LAN (Local Area Network) has the lowest transmission delay because:
- It spans a small area — a room, building, or campus (up to a few kilometres) — so signals travel very short distances.
- It uses high-speed links (commonly 1 Gbps or more) with few intermediate hops, keeping latency down to the order of microseconds.
Ranking the options from lowest to highest delay:
The relative delays can be summarised as:
| Network | Coverage | Typical delay |
|---|---|---|
| LAN | Building/campus | Lowest (~microseconds) |
| MAN | City-wide | Moderate |
| WAN | Country/global | High |
| Satellite | Earth-to-orbit-to-Earth | Highest (~250 ms one way for GEO) |
So the MAN covers a whole city and the WAN spans nations, both giving larger delays than a LAN, while a satellite network has the worst delay of all because a geostationary link forces the signal roughly 36,000 km up and back, adding about a quarter of a second each way. The LAN, with the shortest distances, is the clear answer.
Similar Questions
Which of the following best describes packet switching in computer network?
What does PPP stand for in Wide Area Network (WAN) communication?
Important Questions from Computer Networks
Match List I with List II
LIST I
(Layers of OSI Model)
LIST II
(Function)
A.
Physical layer
I.
Responsible for the delivery of a message from one process to another
B.
Transport layer
II.
Responsible for dialog control and synchronization
C.
Session layer
III.
Responsible for the movement of individual bits from one node to the next
D.
Application layer
IV.
Responsible for providing services to the user
Choose the correct answer from the options given below:
The ______ layer is the lowest layer in the OSI Model
A network in which the host computer controls different nodes which further control other nodes, is known as:
Which is not the type of 'Switching Technique among the following?
Which is not the type of Network based on Area?
