WIFI Glossary Of Terms

IEEE 802.11 Standard

The IEEE 802.11 Wireless LAN standards subcommittee, which is formulating

Access Point

An internetworking device that seamlessly connects wired and wirelessnetworks together.

Ad Hoc

An Ad Hoc wireless LAN is a group of computers, each with a WLANadapter, connected as an independent wireless LAN. Ad Hoc wireless LAN is applicable at a departmental scale for a branch or SOHO operation.

BSSID

A specific Ad Hoc LAN is called a Basic Service Set (BSS). Computers in a BSS must be configured with the same BSSID.

DHCP

Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol - a method in which IP addresses are assigned by server dynamically to clients on the network. DHCP is used for Dynamic IP Addressing and requires a dedicated DHCP server on the network.

Direct Sequence Spread Spectrum

This is the method the wireless cards use to transmit data over the frequency spectrum. The other method is frequency hopping. Direct sequence spreads the data over one frequency range (channel) while frequency hopping jumps from one narrow frequency band to another many times per second.

ESSID

An Infrastructure configuration could also support roaming capability for mobile workers. More than one BSS can be configured as an Extended Service Set (ESS). Users within an ESS could roam freely between BSSs while served as a continuous connection to the network wireless stations and Access Points within an ESS must be configured with the same ESSID and the same radio channel.

Ethernet

Ethernet is a 10/100Mbps network that runs over dedicated home/office wiring. Users must be wired to the network at all times to gain access.

Gateway

A gateway is a hardware and software device that connects two dissimilar systems, such as a LAN and a mainframe. In Internet terminology, a gateway is another name for a router. Generally a gateway is used as a funnel for all traffic to the Internet.

IEEE

Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers Infrastructure An integrated wireless and wired LAN is called an Infrastructure configuration. Infrastructure is applicable to enterprise scale for wireless access to central database, or wireless application for mobile workers.

ISM Band

The FCC and their counterparts outside of the U.S. have set aside bandwidth for unlicensed use in the so-called ISM (Industrial, Scientific and Medical) band. Spectrum in the vicinity of 2.4 GHz, in particular, is being made available worldwide. This presents a truly revolutionary opportunity to place convenient high-speed wireless capabilities in the hands of users around the globe.

Local Area Network (LAN)

A LAN is a group of computers, each equipped with the appropriate network adapter card connected by cable/air, that share applications, data, and peripherals. All connections are made via cable or wireless media, but a LAN does not use telephone services. It typically spans a single building or campus.

Network

A network is a system of computers that is connected. Data, files, and messages can be transmitted over this network. Networks may be local or wide area networks.

A protocol is a standardized set of rules that specify how a conversation is to take place, including the format, timing, sequencing and/ or error checking.

Roaming

In an infrastructure network, this is when a wireless PC moves out of range of the previously connected access point and connects to a newly connected access point. Throughout the network environment where access point is deployed, PCs can always be connected regardless of where they are located or roam.

SSID

A Network ID unique to a network. Only clients and Access Points that share the same SSID are able to communicate with each other. This string is case-sensitive.

Simple Network Management Protocol (SNMP)

Simple Network Management Protocol is the network management protocol of TCP/IP. In SNMP, agents-which can be hardware as well as softwaremonitor the activity in the various devices on the network and report to the network console workstation. Control information about each device is maintained in a structure known as a management information block.

Static IP Addressing

A method of assigning IP addresses to clients on the network. In networks with Static IP address, the network administrator manually assigns an IP address to each computer. Once a Static IP address is assigned, a computer uses the same IP address every time it reboots and logs on to the network, unless it is manually changed.

Temporal Key Integrity Protocol (TKIP)

The Temporal Key Integrity Protocol, pronounced tee-kip, is part of the IEEE 802.11i encryption standard for wireless LANs. TKIP is the next generation of WEP, the Wired Equivalency Protocol, which is used to secure 802.11 wireless LANs. TKIP provides per-packet key mixing, a message integrity check and a re-keying mechanism, thus fixing the flaws of WEP.

Transmission Control Protocol / Internet Protocol (TCP/IP)

TCP/IP is the protocol suite developed by the Advanced Research Projects Agency (ARPA). It is widely used in corporate Internet works, because of its superior design for WANs. TCP governs how packet is sequenced for transmission the network. The term “TCP/IP” is often used generically to refer to the entire suite of related protocols.

Transmit / Receive

The wireless throughput in Bytes per second averaged over two seconds.

Wi-Fi Alliance

The Wi-Fi Alliance is a nonprofit international association formed in 1999 to certify interoperability of wireless Local Area Network products based on IEEE 802.11 specification. The goal of the Wi-Fi Alliance’s members is to enhance the user experience through product interoperability. The organization is formerly known as WECA.

Wi-Fi Protected Access (WPA)

The Wi-Fi Alliance put together WPA as a data encryption method for 802.11 wireless LANs. WPA is an industry-supported, pre-standard version of 802.11i utilizing the Temporal Key Integrity Protocol (TKIP), which fixes the problems of WEP, including using dynamic keys.

Wide Area Network (WAN)

A WAN consists of multiple LANs that are tied together via telephone services and / or fiber optic cabling. WANs may span a city, a state, a country, or even the world.

Wired Equivalent Privacy (WEP)

Now widely recognized as flawed, WEP was a data encryption method used to protect the transmission between 802.11 wireless clients and APs. However, it used the same key among all communicating devices. WEP’s problems are well-known, including an insufficient key length and no automated method for distributing the keys. WEP can be easily cracked in a couple of hours with off-the-shelf tools.

Wireless LAN (WLAN)

A wireless LAN does not use cable to transmit signals, but rather uses radio or infrared to transmit packets through the air. Radio Frequency (RF) and infrared are the commonly used types of wireless transmission. Most wireless LANs use spread spectrum technology. It offers limited bandwidth, usually under 11Mbps, and users share the bandwidth with other devices in the spectrum; however, users can operate a spread spectrum device without licensing from the Federal Communications Commission (FCC).