Linksys BEFW11S4 manual Instant Wireless Series, Wireless Access Point Router with 4-Port Switch

Instant Wireless® Series

associated clients, it sends the next DTIM with a DTIM Interval value. AP Clients hear the beacons and awaken to receive the broadcast and multicast messages.

Dynamic IP Address - An IP address that is automatically assigned to a client station in a TCP/IP network, typically by a DHCP server. Network devices that serve multiple users, such as servers and printers, are usually assigned static IP addresses.

Dynamic Routing - The ability for a router to forward data via a different route based on the current conditions of the communications circuits. For example, it can adjust for overloaded traffic or failing lines and is much more flexible than static routing, which uses a fixed forwarding path.

Encryption - A security method that applies a specific algorithm to data in order to alter the data's appearance and prevent other devices from reading the information.

ESS (Extended Service Set) - A set of more than two or more BSSs (multiple access points) forming a single network.

Ethernet - IEEE standard network protocol that specifies how data is placed on and retrieved from a common transmission medium. Has a transfer rate of 10 Mbps. Forms the underlying transport vehicle used by several upper-level protocols, including TCP/IP and XNS.

Fast Ethernet - A 100 Mbps technology based on the 10Base-T Ethernet CSMA/CD network access method.

FHSS (Frequency Hopping Spread Spectrum) - FHSS continuously changes (hops) the carrier frequency of a conventional carrier several times per second according to a pseudo-random set of channels. Because a fixed frequency is not used, and only the transmitter and receiver know the hop patterns, interception of FHSS is extremely difficult.

Finger - A UNIX command widely used on the Internet to find out informa- tion about a particular user, such as telephone number, whether currently logged on or the last time logged on. The person being "fingered" must have placed his or her profile on the system. Fingering requires entering the full user@domain address.

Wireless Access Point Router with 4-Port Switch

Firewall - A firewall is a set of related programs, located at a network gateway server, that protects the resources of a network from users from other networks. (The term also implies the security policy that is used with the programs.) An enterprise with an intranet that allows its workers access to the wider Internet installs a firewall to prevent outsiders from accessing its own private data resources and for controlling what outside resources to which its own users have access.

Basically, a firewall, working closely with a router, examines each network packet to determine whether to forward it toward its destination.

Firmware - Code that is written onto read-only memory (ROM) or program- mable read-only memory (PROM). Once firmware has been written onto the ROM or PROM, it is retained even when the device is turned off.

Fragmentation - Breaking a packet into smaller units when transmitting over a network medium that cannot support the original size of the packet.

FTP (File Transfer Protocol) - A protocol used to transfer files over a TCP/IP network (Internet, UNIX, etc.). For example, after developing the HTML pages for a Web site on a local machine, they are typically uploaded to the Web serv- er using FTP.

FTP includes functions to log onto the network, list directories and copy files. It can also convert between the ASCII and EBCDIC character codes. FTP oper- ations can be performed by typing commands at a command prompt or via an FTP utility running under a graphical interface such as Windows. FTP transfers can also be initiated from within a Web browser by entering the URL preceded with ftp://.

Unlike e-mail programs in which graphics and program files have to be "attached," FTP is designed to handle binary files directly and does not add the overhead of encoding and decoding the data.

Full Duplex - The ability of a device or line to transmit data simultaneously in both directions.

Gateway - A device that interconnects networks with different, incompatible communications protocols.

Half Duplex - Data transmission that can occur in two directions over a single line, but only one direction at a time.

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