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Glossary

10BaseT - Physical Layer Specification for Twisted-Pair Ethernet using Unshielded Twisted Pair wire at 10Mbps. This is the most popular type of LAN cable used today because it is very cheap and easy to install. It uses RJ- 45 connectors and has a cable length span of up to 100 meters. There are two versions, STP (Shielded Twisted Pair) which is more expensive and UTP (Unshielded Twisted Pair), the most popular cable. These cables come in 5 different categories. However, only 3 are normally used in LANs, Category 3, 4 and 5. CAT 3 TP (Twisted Pair) cable has a network data transfer rate of up to 10Mbps. CAT 4 TP cable has a network data transfer rate of up to 16Mbps. CAT 5 TP cable has a network data transfer rate of up to 100Mbps.

Access Point - A device that is able to receive wireless signals and transmit them to the wired network, and vice versa - thereby creating a connection between the wireless and wired networks.

Ad Hoc - An ad hoc wireless LAN is a group of computers, each with LAN adapters, connected as an independent wireless LAN.

Adapter - A device used to connect end-user nodes to the network; each contains an interface to a specific type of computer or system bus, e.g. EISA, ISA, PCI, PCMCIA, CardBus, etc.

Auto-Negotiation - A signaling method that allows each node to define its operational mode (e.g., 10/100 Mbps and half/full duplex) and to detect the operational mode of the adjacent node.

Backbone - The core infrastructure of a network. The portion of the network that transports information from one central location to another central location where it is unloaded onto a local system.

Base Station - In mobile telecommunications, a base station is the central radio transmitter/receiver that maintains communications with the mobile radiotelephone sets within its range. In cellular and personal communications applications, each cell or micro-cell has its own base station; each base station in turn is interconnected with other cells' bases.

BSS - BSS stands for "Basic Service Set". It is an Access Point and all the LAN PCs that are associated with it.

CSMA/CA - Carrier Sense Multiple Access with Collision Avoidance

DHCP - Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol. This protocol automatically configures the TCP/IP settings of every computer on your home network.

DNS - DNS stands for Domain Name System, which allows Internet host computers to have a domain name (such as www.smc.com) and one or more IP addresses (such as 192.34.45.8). A DNS server keeps a database of host computers and their respective domain names and IP addresses, so that when a domain name is requested (as in typing " www.smc.com" into your Internet browser), the user is sent to the proper IP address. The DNS server address used by the computers on your home network is the location of the DNS server your ISP has assigned.