A wireless metropolitan area network (WMAN) is a form of wireless networking that has an intended coverage area — a range — of approximately the size of a city. A WMAN spans a larger area than a wireless local area network (WLAN) but smaller than a wireless wide area network (WWAN). WMANs are point-to-point or point-to-multipoint networks with individual links that not only can span distances of up to 30 miles, which is important for backhaul applications, but also can provide last-mile connectivity in metropolitan environments. WMANs can employ vendor-specific proprietary equipment and associated technologies or they can be manufactured according to IEEE standards.
A WMAN is typically owned by a single entity such as an Internet service provider (ISP), government entity, or large corporation. Access to a WMAN is usually restricted to authorized users or subscriber devices. WiMAX is the most widely used form of WMAN.