Access network

An access network is a section of telecommunications or internet network which connects users or devices to their immediate service provider. When referring specifically to Internet Service Provider (ISP) or other service provider infrastructure, they are commonly referred to as "last mile" networks that connect ISP distribution infrastructure to end users, such as a consumer, business, or organization. Access networks contrast with regional networks, which connect access/local networks to each other and/or to core or backbone networks, which connect major network regions and facilitate high-bandwidth traffic between hubs in an organization, larger network, or the internet.

In some parlances, the access network may be further divided between feeder lines/distribution networks and service drops/edge networks. Edge networks connect end users to centralized aggregation points, while distribution networks take these aggregated signals/infrastructure to central offices, exchanges, or switching equipment. An example of this exists in passive optical networking, where fiber internet is delivered to many homes or businesses by splitting a single fiber connection into multiple daughter connections using passive splitting and signal amplification. Bandwidth to each end user is managed by means such as time-division multiplexing and time-division multiple access for downstream and upstream connections, respectively. In this way, connections to multiple endpoints are aggregated together, and may join some or many other aggregated links destined for ISP infrastructure.

Access networks can also define networking infrastructure within local networks designed to connect devices to more centralized routing infrastructure, such as networks of wired connections or wireless access points providing network connectivity (e.g., wired ethernet or Wi-Fi) to devices.