Network Computing Devices WUSB11 manual Instant Wireless Series

Instant Wireless® Series

Roaming - In an infrastructure mode wireless network, this refers to the abili- ty to move out of one access point's range and into another and transparently reassociate and reauthenticate to the new access point. This reassociation and reauthentication should occur without user intervention and ideally without interruption to network connectivity. A typical scenario would be a location with multiple access points, where users can physically relocate from one area to another and easily maintain connectivity.

SSID (Service Set Identifier) - An identification name that wireless devices use to make connections. In order for wireless devices to communicate, they must all be set to the same channel and they all must use the same SSID. For instance, if you are using an access point to connect two computers using wire- less devices, the access point and each of the wireless devices must use the same SSID. Even if they are set to the same channel, they cannot communicate unless the SSID is the same.

Static IP Address - A permanent IP address that is assigned to a node in a TCP/IP network.

Subnet Mask - The method used for splitting IP networks into a series of sub- groups, or subnets. The mask is a binary pattern that is matched up with the IP address to turn part of the host ID address field into a field for subnets.

TCP (Transmission Control Protocol) - A method (protocol) used along with the IP (Internet Protocol) to send data in the form of message units (datagram) between network devices over a LAN or WAN. While IP takes care of handling the actual delivery of the data (routing), TCP takes care of keeping track of the individual units of data (called packets) that a message is divided into for effi- cient delivery over the network. TCP is known as a "connection oriented" pro- tocol due to requiring the receiver of a packet to return an acknowledgment of receipt to the sender of the packet resulting in transmission control.

TCP/IP (Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol) - The basic com- munication language or set of protocols for communications over a network (developed specifically for the Internet). TCP/IP defines a suite or group of protocols and not only TCP and IP.

UDP (User Datagram Protocol) - A method (protocol) used along with the IP (Internet Protocol) to send data in the form of message units (datagram) between network devices over a LAN or WAN. While IP takes care of handling the actual delivery of the data (routing), UDP takes care of keeping track of the individual units of data (called packets) that a message is divided into for effi-

Wireless USB Network Adapter

cient delivery over the network. UDP is known as a “connection-less” protocol due to NOT requiring the receiver of a packet to return an acknowledgment of receipt to the sender of the packet (as opposed to TCP).

USB (Universal Serial Bus) - A “plug-and-play” interface between a comput- er and peripherals, such as digital cameras, scanners, game controllers, speak- ers, keyboards, portable data storage, or printers. With USB, you can add a new peripheral to your computer without having to add an adapter card or powering down the computer. USB also supports hot-swapping, the addition or removal of devices while the computer is running.

USB 1.1-compliant devices support data rates of 1.5Mbps (low-speed) and up to 12Mbps (full-speed).

WEP (Wired Equivalent Privacy) - A data privacy mechanism based on a 64- bit shared key algorithm, as described in the IEEE 802.11b standard.

WINIPCFG - Configuration utility based on the Win32 API for querying, defining and managing IP addresses within a network. A commonly used util- ity under Windows 95, 98, and Me.

WLAN (Wireless Local Area Network) - A group of computers and associat- ed devices that communicate with each other wirelessly.

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