  A linear unsaturating magnetoresistance at high perpendicular magnetic
fields, together with a quadratic positive magnetoresistance at low fields, has
been seen in many different experimental materials, ranging from silver
chalcogenides and thin films of InSb to topological materials like graphene and
Dirac semimetals. In the literature, two very different theoretical approaches
have been used to explain this classical magnetoresistance as a consequence of
sample disorder. The phenomenological Random Resistor Network model constructs
a grid of four-terminal resistors, each with a varying random resistance. The
Effective Medium Theory model imagines a smoothly varying disorder potential
that causes a continuous variation of the local conductivity. Here, we
demonstrate numerically that both models belong to the same universality class
and that a restricted class of the Random Resistor Network is actually
equivalent to the Effective Medium Theory. Both models are also in good
agreement with experiments on a diverse range of materials. Moreover, we show
that in both cases, a single parameter, i.e. the ratio of the fluctuations in
the carrier density to the average carrier density, completely determines the
magnetoresistance profile.
