Wireless PCI Adapter

Network – A system that transmits any combination of voice, video, and/or data between users.

NIC (Network Interface Card) – A board installed in a computer system, usually a PC, to provide network communication capabilities to and from that computer system. Also called an adapter.

Packet Filtering – Discarding unwanted network traffic based on its originating address or range of addresses or its type (e-mail, file transfer, etc.).

PCI (Peripheral Component Interconnect) – A peripheral bus commonly used in PCs, Macintoshes and workstations. It was designed primarily by Intel and first appeared on PCs in late 1993. PCI provides a high-speed data path between the CPU and peripheral devices (video, disk, network, etc.).

There are typically three of four PCI slots on the motherboard. In a Pentium PC, there is generally a mix of PCI and ISA slots or PCI and EISA slots.

Early on, the PCI bus was known as a “local bus.”

PCI allows IRQs to be shared, which helps to solve the problem of limited IRQs available on a PC. For example, if there were only one IRQ left over after ISA devices were given their required IRQs, all PCI devices could share it. In a PCI-only machine, there cannot be insufficient IRQs, as all can be shared.

PCMCIA – The PCMCIA (Personal Computer Memory Card International Association) is an industry group organized in 1989 to promote standards for a credit card-size memory or I/O device that would fit into a personal computer, usually a notebook or laptop computer.

Wireless PCI Adapter

Peer-to-Peer Networking – Allows users to share local resources between PCs without needing an access point or router.

Ping (Packet Internet Groper) – An Internet utility used to determine whether a particular IP address is online. It is used to test and debug a network by sending out a packet and waiting for a response.

Plug-and-Play– The ability of a computer system to configure expansion boards and other devices automatically without requiring the user to turn off the system during installation.

Port – A pathway into and out of the computer of a network device such as a switch or router. For example, the serial and parallel ports on a personal computer are external sockets for plugging in communications lines, modems, and printers.

PPPoE (Point to Point Protocol over Ethernet) – A method used mostly by DSL providers for connecting personal computers to a broadband modem for Internet access. It is similar to how a dial-up connection works but at higher speeds and quicker access.