Prestige 304 Broadband Sharing Gateway with 4-Port Switch

L

LAN

LED

M

MAC

N

Name Resolution

NAT

NetBIOS

Network

NIC

O

P

PAC

Local Area Network is a shared communication system to which many computers are attached. A LAN, as its name implies, is limited to a local area. This has to do more with the electrical characteristics of the medium than the fact that many early LANs were designed for departments, although the latter accurately describes a LAN as well. LANs have different topologies, the most common being the linear bus and the star configuration.

Light Emitting Diode. LEDs are visual indicators that relay information about the status of specific P304 functions to the user by lighting up, turning off or blinking. LEDs are usually found on the front panel of the physical device. Examples include Status, Power and System LEDS.

On a local area network (LAN) or other network, the MAC (Media Access Control) address is a computer's unique hardware number. (On an Ethernet LAN, it's the same as your Ethernet address). The MAC layer frames data for transmission over the network, then passes the frame to the physical layer interface where it is transmitted as a stream of bits.

The allocation of an IP address to a host name. See also DNS.

Network Address Translation is the translation of an Internet Protocol address used within one network to a different IP address known within another network - see also SUA.

Network Basic Input/Output System. NetBIOS is an extension of the DOS BIOS that enables a computer to connect to and communicate with a LAN.

Any time you connect two or more computers together, allowing them to share resources, you have a computer network. Connect two or more networks together and you have an internet.

Network Interface Card. A board that provides network communication capabilities to and from a computer system. Also called an adapter.

The PPTP Access Concentrator (PAC) is the box that calls/answers the phone call and

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Glossary