| Glossary
| 802.11b or 802.11g Also known as a wireless router, an access point forms the heart of your wireless network and controls its security configuration. If you are using an access point, you have an Infrastructure mode network. APIPA Automatic Private IP Addressing (APIPA) is used when your machine is not able to obtain an IP address from a DHCP server. ASCII American Standard Code for Information Interchange (ASCII). The numerical representation of a character. For example, the ASCII code for the letter A is 65. Authentication Method The type of wireless authentication used on your network. Channel Wireless networks use channels. Each channel uses a different radio frequency in a pre-determined range. All wireless devices within the wireless network will use the same channel unless those devices are connected to other wireless access points that act as a gateway to the wireless network. DHCP A Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP) server allocates IP addresses to network devices. DSL Digital Subscriber Line (DSL) also referred to as ADSL or xDSL. A high-speed internet connection. EAP Extensible Authentication Protocol (EAP) that provides an authentication framework for wireless and wired networks. EAP uses a RADIUS server, which authenticates users on corporate networks before they are allowed to access the wireless or wired network. Network cable (Ethernet cable) The cable used to connect your machine to your wired network. This Ethernet cable uses RJ45 connectors and the cable itself is also known as a straight-through cable. Gateway Address A gateway address allows the your machine to communicate with other devices on different networks. Normally, you do not need to configure the gateway address. HEX Short for HEXADECIMAL, a numbering system that uses the numbers 0-9 and the letters A-F. Infrastructure Each device communicates via a central access point. This is the most commonly used type of wireless network. IP Address Each device on the network must use a unique address. This address is known as an IP address and must be entered manually or can be automatically assigned using a DHCP server. An IP address is a mandatory in a TCP/IP network. LEAP Lightweight Extensible Authentication Protocol (LEAP) A Cisco protocol used for 802.1X authentication on wireless LANs. Like EAP, LEAP uses a RADIUS server, which authenticates users on corporate networks before they are allowed to access the wireless or wired network. MAC Address A Media Access Control (MAC) address is unique 12-digit number assigned to each network device. Node Name A unique name for the wireless device, based on the MAC address. Signal Strength The strength of the wireless signal between your machine and the access point you are communicating with. Subnet Mask. An IP address also requires a subnet mask. The subnet mask is entered manually, or assigned automatically if using a DHCP server. A subnet mask is mandatory in a TCP/IP network. SSID (Network Name) The Service Set Identifier (SSID), also referred to as the network name, is the name that your wireless network uses. On some wireless networks, the SSID name is not shown to increase security. Switch A switch makes it possible for several network devices to communicate with each other. TKIP TKIP (Temporal Key Integrity Protocol) removes the predictability that intruders could relied upon to exploit security weaknesses brought about with the use of manually assigned WEP keys. TKIP keys are automatically generated and are longer that WEP keys and as a result, more secure that standard WEP keys. WEP Key The Wireless Equivalent Protocol (WEP) key is a basic wireless security feature that protects your wireless network from casual eavesdroppers. A WEP key is also referred to as a Network Key (Password).