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Local Area Network (LAN)
A computer network that spans a relatively small area. Most LANs are confined
to a single building or group of buildings. However, one LAN can be connected
to other LANs over any distance via telephone lines and radio waves. A system
of LANs connected in this way is called a wide area network (WAN)
MAC Address
Short for Media Access Control Address and in a hardware address that
uniquely identifies each node of a network.
NAT
Short for Network Address Translation, a routing protocol that allows global IP
Addresses to be translated into multiple private IP Addresses for use on
internal LAN networks. The explosion in the use of the Internet has created a
critical problem for the Internet Assigned Numbers Authority (IANA) which is in
charge of assigning IP Addresses to Internet users, ISPs etc.. NAT is a
technology that has been introduced to help maximize the utilization of
assigned IAN and global IP Addresses.
Network Protocol
Network protocols encapsulate and forward data packets from one interface to
another.
PAP/CHAP ISP
Short for Password Authentication Protocol and Challenge Handshake
Authentication Protocol. Most ISPs use either one for user identification. If your
ISP doesn’t support these two protocols, contact your ISP for an authentication
script.
PPP
Short for Point-to-Point Protocol, a communications protocol for transmitting
information over standard telephone lines between devices from different
manufacturers.
PPPoE
Short for PPP over Ethernet, relying on two widely accepted standards,
Ethernet and the Point-to-Point Protocol. It’s a communications protocol for
transmitting information between devices from different manufacturers over an
Ethernet.
PPTP
Short for Point to Point Tunneling Protocol, PPTP encapsulates the packet for
transmission over the Internet. It is similar to creating a private “tunnel” over a
large public network and has almost equal security to a private network without
