What is LAN 10/100/1000 used for?

[krs000a]

When I bought my computer, the listed specs did not mention any type of wireless connection. I also asked the salesman whom specifically answered it comes with no wireless adapter, but can only connect to the internet by cord.
Yet on the side my computer it says that the processor has intergrated LAN 10/100/1000. What does that mean? Does that have anything to do with the ethernet? If so, why would they refer to it as LAN and not ethernet?
Thanks in advance and sorry if it's a dumb question.

 

[Ravi Gagan]

10/100/1000 Ethernet refers to internet connection speed in Mbps. Ethernet is a frame based computer networking technologies that is exercised in local area networks. Ethernet has greatly improved to include higher bandwidth and improvedmedia access control methods.

To understand this , I will give some examples using a fictional character, named Joe, as a computer user of varying tech savvy. For the first example, Joe is an average computer user that only uses the internet to check email and surf the web. In this case, a 10 Megabit connection would be fine since this (forgive my pun) average Joe doesn't even know what a network does. In this second example, Joe is a typical office worker. A 100Megabit connection may be all Joe needs. His typical use of the network is in sharing documents and doing research. Occasionally, IT may need to utilize his connection for remote support or to push software updates to his computer. In these instances, more bandwidth is needed because there are larger number of office Joe's using the network at the same time. The "power user Joe" or a very large corporation may need a 1000Megabit connection because of theneed to transfer large files across the network. Also a typical use of a large bandwidth connection is streaming multiple live video streams or audio streams inside a large building.

 

[Novuake]

Local Area Network is a generalised term for any connectivity that does NOT have WAN or Internet access.

Ethernet is a standard SPECIFICALLY related to copper twisted pair wiring that computers use.

So LAN can be wireless too. 10/100/1000 refers to the speed of the Ethernet wires and adapters used. 10Mbps/100Mbps/1000Mbps.

 

[krs000a]

Thanks for your answers! Now I understand what it is.