glossary
This glossary contains common terms for wired and wireless networking. There is a more complete list of terms in Broadband Network Utility Help.
802.11b A wireless networking standard that transmits wireless data at speeds up to 11 megabits per second (Mbps).
802.11g A wireless networking standard that transmits wireless data at speeds up to 54 megabits per second (Mbps).
access point See “wireless access point.”
ad hoc network A wireless network in which computers connect to each other directly. Contrast with “infrastructure network.”
adapter See “network adapter.”
bandwidth The rate at which data can be transmitted through a network connection.
base station A device (also known as a gateway or router) that acts as a central point for networked devices, receiving and forwarding data between them. A base station typically is a point of connection that sends data between several networks. It often can be programmed with rules about what data is acceptable to send and receive.
bridge A networking device that exchanges data from one segment of a network to another. See “wireless access point.”
broadband A
digital cable lines or digital telephone lines (DSL).
CardBus A credit
channel In reference to a “wireless channel,” a channel is a path or link through which information passes between two wireless devices. In radio transmission, these different channels are of different radio frequencies.
client A computer or software program that relies on another computer or program to act as a server. See “server.”
client/server A network of two or more computers that rely on a central server to network mediate the connections or provide additional system resources.
Contrast with
computer name A name that uniquely identifies a computer on a network. One computer name cannot be the same as any other computer name or domain name on the network.
