Appendix A: Glossary
802.11a
- An IEEE wireless networking standard that specifies a maximum data transfer rate of 54Mbps and an
operating frequency of 5GHz.
802.11b
- An IEEE wireless networking standard that specifies a maximum data transfer rate of 11Mbps and an
operating frequency of 2.4GHz.
802.11g
- An IEEE wireless networking standard that specifies a maximum data transfer rate of 54Mbps, an
operating frequency of 2.4GHz, and backward compatibility with 802.11b devices.
Access Point
- Device that allows wireless-equipped computers and other devices to communicate with a wired
network. Also used to expand the range of a wireless network.
Adapter
- This is a device that adds network functionality to your PC.
Ad-hoc
- A group of wireless devices communicating directly with each other (peer-to-peer) without the use of
an access point.
Bandwidth
- The transmission capacity of a given device or network.
Bit
- A binary digit.
Bridge
- A device that connects two different kinds of local networks, such as a wireless network to a wired
Ethernet network.
Broadband
- An always-on, fast Internet connection.
Browser
- A browser is an application program that provides a way to look at and interact with all the
information on the World Wide Web.
DDNS
(Dynamic Domain Name System) - The capability of having a website, FTP, or e-mail server-with a
dynamic IP address-use a fixed domain name.
Default Gateway
- A device that forwards Internet traffic from your local area network.
DHCP
(Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol) - A protocol that lets one device on a local network, known as a
DHCP server, assign temporary IP addresses to the other network devices, typically computers.
Domain
- A specific name for a network of computers.
DSSS
(Direct-Sequence Spread-Spectrum) - A type of radio transmission technology that includes a redundant
bit pattern to lessen the probability of data lost during transmission. Used in 802.11b networking.
Dynamic IP Address
- A temporary IP address assigned by a DHCP server.
Encryption
- Encoding data to prevent it from being read by unauthorized people.
Ethernet
- An IEEE standard network protocol that specifies how data is placed on and retrieved from a common
transmission medium.
Firmware
- 1. In network devices, the programming that runs the device. 2. Programming loaded into read-only
memory (ROM) or programmable read-only memory (PROM) that cannot be altered by end-users.
Gateway
- A system that interconnects networks.
