Glossary, Wi-Fi, WPA Enterprise Version

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

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.

Source - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dynamic_Host_Configuration_Protocol

SSID

In Wi-Fi Wireless LAN computer networking, a service set identifier (SSID) is a code attached to all packets on a wireless network to identify each packet as part of that network. The code is a case sensitive text string which consists of a maximum of 32 alphanumeric characters. All wireless devices attempting to communicate with each other must share the same SSID. Apart from identifying each packet, SSID also serves to uniquely identify a group of wireless network devices used in a given "Service Set".

Source - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SSID