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Appendix E: Glossary
Dual-Band Wireless Access Point
Appendix E: 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.
(Draft)
802.11g
- A proposed 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.
Backbone
- The part of a network that connects most of the systems and networks together, and handles the
most data.
Bandwidth
- The transmission capacity of a given device or network.
Beacon Interval
- The frequency interval of the beacon, which is a packet broadcast by a router to synchronize a
wireless network.
Bit
- A binary digit.
Boot
- To start a device and cause it to start executing instructions.
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.
