glossary.
This glossary contains common terms for wired and wireless networking.
802.11, 802.11b A family of
802.3The
access point See wireless access point.
ad hoc network A solely wireless
adapter See network adapter.
base station A device (also known as a router or gateway) that acts as a central point for networked devices, receives transmitted messages, and forwards them. Microsoft Broadband Networking base stations can link many computers on a single network, and can share a secure Internet connection with wired and wireless devices.
broadband connection A
broadband modem A device that enables a broadband connection to access the Internet. The two most common types of broadband modems are cable modems, which rely upon cable television infrastructure, and DSL modems, which rely upon telephone lines operating at DSL speeds.
cable modem See broadband modem.
CAT 5 cable Abbreviation for “Category 5 cable.” A type of Ethernet cable that has a maximum data rate of 100 Mbps.
client Any computer or program that connects to, or requests the services of, another computer or program on a network. For a local area network or the Internet, a client is a computer that uses shared network resources provided by a server.