Linksys WMP55AG Appendix B Glossary, Instant Wireless Series, Dual-Band Wireless A+G PCI Adapter

Instant Wireless® Series

Appendix B: Glossary

802.11a - One of the IEEE standards for wireless networking hardware. Products that adhere to a specific IEEE standard will work with each other, even if they are manufactured by different companies. It specifies a maximum data transfer rate of 54Mbps and an operating frequency of 5GHz. The 802.11a standard uses the Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (OFDM) trans- mission method. Additionally, the 802.11a standard supports 802.11 features such as WEP encryption for security.

802.11b - One of the IEEE standards for wireless networking hardware. Products that adhere to a specific IEEE standard will work with each other, even if they are manufactured by different companies. The 802.11b standard specifies a maximum data transfer rate of 11Mbps, an operating frequency of 2.4GHz, and WEP encryption for security. 802.11b networks are also referred to as Wi-Fi networks.

802.11g - A proposed, but as yet unratified extension of the IEEE 802.11 stan- dard for wireless networking hardware. The draft 802.11g specifications used by Linksys specify a maximum data transfer rate of 54Mbps using OFDM modulation, an operating frequency of 2.4GHz, backward compatibility with IEEE 802.11b devices, and WEP encryption for security.

Adapter - Printed circuit board that plugs into a PC to add to capabilities or connectivity to a PC. In a networked environment, a network interface card (NIC) is the typical adapter that allows the PC or server to connect to the intranet and/or Internet.

Ad-hoc Network - An ad-hoc network is a group of computers, each with a wireless adapter, connected as an independent 802.11 wireless LAN. Ad-hoc wireless computers operate on a peer-to-peer basis, communicating directly with each other without the use of an access point. Ad-hoc mode is also referred to as an Independent Basic Service Set (IBSS) or as peer-to-peer mode, and is useful at a departmental scale or SOHO operation.

Bit - A binary digit. The value - 0 or 1-used in the binary numbering system. Also, the smallest form of data.

Boot - To cause the computer to start executing instructions. Personal comput- ers contain built-in instructions in a ROM chip that are automatically executed

Dual-Band Wireless A+G PCI Adapter

on startup. These instructions search for the operating system, load it and pass control to it.

CTS (Clear To Send) - An RS-232 signal sent from the receiving station to the transmitting station that indicates it is ready to accept data.

Default Gateway - The router used to forward all traffic that is not addressed to a station within the local subnet.

DHCP (Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol) - A protocol that lets network administrators manage centrally and automate the assignment of Internet Protocol (IP) addresses in an organization’s network. Using the Internet’s set of protocol (TCP/IP), each machine that can connect to the Internet needs a unique IP address. When an organization sets up its computer users with a con- nection to the Internet, an IP address must be assigned to each machine. Without DHCP, the IP address must be entered manually at each computer and, if computers move to another location in another part of the network, a new IP address must be entered. DHCP lets a network administrator supervise and dis- tribute IP addresses from a central point and automatically sends a new IP address when a computer is plugged into a different place in the network.

DHCP uses the concept of a “lease” or amount of time that a given IP address will be valid for a computer. The lease time can vary depending on how long a user is likely to require the Internet connection at a particular location. It’s espe- cially useful in education and other environments where users change fre- quently. Using very short leases, DHCP can dynamically reconfigure networks in which there are more computers than there are available IP addresses.

DHCP supports static addresses for computers containing Web servers that need a permanent IP address.

DNS - The domain name system (DNS) is the way that Internet domain name are located and translated into Internet Protocol (IP) addresses. A domain name is a meaningful and easy-to-remember “handle” for an Internet address.

Driver - A workstation or server software module that provides an interface between a network interface card and the upper-layer protocol software running in the computer; it is designed for a specific NIC, and is installed during the initial installation of a network-compatible client or server operating system.

DSSS (Direct-Sequence Spread Spectrum) - DSSS generates a redundant bit pattern for all transmitted data. This bit pattern is called a chip (or chipping

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