Glossary
Wi-Fi
Wi-Fi, popularly known as an acronym for wireless fidelity, was originally a brand
licensed by the Wi-Fi Alliance to describe the embedded technology of wireless local
area networks (WLAN) based on the IEEE 802.11 specifications. Use of the term has
now broadened to generically describe the wireless interface of mobile computing
devices, such as laptops in LANs. Wi-Fi is now increasingly used for more services,
including Internet and VoIP phone access, gaming, and basic connectivity of consumer
electronics such as televisions, DVD players, and digital cameras.
Source - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wi-Fi
WEP
Wired Equivalent Privacy (WEP) is a scheme to secure IEEE 802.11 wireless networks.
It is part of the IEEE 802.11 wireless networking standard. Because wireless networks
broadcast messages using radio, they are susceptible to eavesdropping.
Source - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wired_Equivalent_Privacy
WPA – Enterprise Version
Wi-Fi Protected Access
(
WPA
and
WPA2
) is a class of Settings to secure wireless
(Wi-Fi) computer networks. It was created in response to several serious
weaknesses researchers had found in the previous Setting, Wired Equivalent
Privacy (WEP). WPA implements the majority of the IEEE 802.11i standard, and
was intended as an intermediate measure to take the place of WEP while 802.11i
was prepared. WPA is designed to work with all wireless network interface cards, but
not necessarily with first generation wireless access points. WPA2 implements the full
standard, but will not work with some older network cards. Both provide good security,
with two significant issues:
Source - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wi-Fi_Protected_Access
DHCP
is a set of rules used by communications devices such as a computer, router or
network adapter to allow the device to request and obtain an IP address from a server
which has a list of addresses available for assignment.
DHCP is a protocol used by networked computers (
clients
) to obtain IP addresses and
other parameters such as the default gateway, subnet mask, and IP addresses of
DNS servers from a DHCP server. It facilitates access to a network because these
settings would otherwise have to be made manually for the client to participate in the
network. Many company networks do not use DHCP, while most of the private home
networks
Source - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dynamic_Host_Configuration_Protocol
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