Just as many households use home computer networks, businesses and enterprises of all sizes rely on networks to support their daily operations. Residential and business networks use many of the same underlying technologies. However, business networks (particularly those of large enterprises) include additional features, security parameters, and usage requirements.

Small office and home office (SOHO) networks typically operate with one or two local area networks (LANs), each controlled by its own network router. These are similar to typical home network designs.

As businesses grow, their network layouts expand to include ever-increasing numbers of LANs. Companies that are located in more than one location establish internal connectivity between their office buildings. This connectivity is called a campus network when the buildings are close together, or a wide area network (WAN) when it spans cities or countries.

Businesses are enabling their local networks for Wi-Fi or wireless access. However, larger companies often wire their office buildings with high-speed Ethernet cabling for greater network capacity and performance.