LAN = Computer parlance for "Local Area Network".
I assume that this means that we are talking about networked PC games where you play against live opposition (rather than the PC which Microsoft have programmed to have 20:20 hindsight and a superior aeroplane to yours!).
Sorry to allow a slightly serious note to slip into the thread.
It does remind me of a mate of mine at primary school who had somehow got hold of an old USAF flying helmet and mask (sort Sabre vintage type thing) and he used to connect the oxygen mask hose to an old washing up liquid bottle as his "oxygen tank".
Now, your average Fairy liquid bottle does not contain a great deal of oxygen and maybe the lack of said O2 accounted for some of his strange behaviour. I wonder if Mickey Dawson was ever aware of how much of his formative years were spent suffering from the effects of Hypoxia?