Wireless Internet Terminology, like many things in life,
especially those that have anything to do with computers is
filled with terminology. But like most things, once you learn a
few of the basic terms, understanding will come quickly. So
don't be confused get informed and to help clarify, I've put
together a basic wireless "internet-to-english" guide to help
you along.
IEEE - The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers The
IEEE is in charge of the wireless networking standard, as well
as many other computer-related standards - including the
Ethernet standard. They ensure that computer equipment made by
different manufacturers can work together.
PCMCIA - Personal Computer Memory Card International Association
Simply another standard for how to plug credit card size devices
into a laptop computer to boost it's capabilities. It's been
suggested by some that it should stand for "People Can't
Memorize Computer Industry Acronyms". PCMCIA is a great way of
adding wireless networking to your laptop as easily as inserting
a disk.
PCI - Peripheral Component Interconnect Used to install devices
like graphics cards and network devices inside your computer.
You would be using a PCI, if you wanted to install a wireless
card inside your computer.
802.11 Set by the IEEE, it's the current wireless networking
standard. It helps ensure that wireless devices can communicate
with one another or in other words - they are interoperable.
Interoperable Simply means that two different pieces of
equipment have the ability to speak to each other or another way
to put it - they are compatible. They can use them together
because they were designed using the same standards. Because of
the IEEE and the principle of interoperability, all wireless
equipment you purchase should be compatible.
Driver Not a piece of golf equipment but computer software that
informs a computer how to talk to devices that plug into it.
Most wireless networking drivers come on a CD-ROM. You then
download the drivers from the CD onto your computer.
Ethernet Currently, the most common way of connecting to a LAN
or Local Area Network. Most wires connected to your computer
today are ethernet and if you have a cable internet connection
an ethernet wire is in all likely-hood, what is being used to
connect to your modem.
USB - Universal Serial Bus A port used for connecting all sorts
of devices to a computer, including keyboards, a mouse,
printers, external hard-drives and basically anything else you
can think of. If you don't have a laptop or want to open up your
computer you can get a USB wireless device.
WEP - Wired Equivalent Privacy No longer used because in 2001 it
was found to have security issues. As a result, it is now the
old standard for encrypting wireless networks.
WPA - WiFi Protected Access The new standard for encrypting
wireless networks. An upgrade of WEP to fix security issues. To
avoid becoming vulnerable, a WPA encrypted network changes
encryption methods often. In addition, if an attack is detected,
it has the ability to shut itself down for thirty seconds.
PAN - Personal Area Network A network of devices connected
together in one small area. A simple example of a PAN would be
your computer, USB keyboard and mouse. Using a technology called
Bluetooth, a PAN can be wireless.
LAN - Local Area Network Briefly mentioned above, LAN is a
computer network that... generally speaking is confined to one
building, such as a home or office. A wireless LAN is also known
as a WLAN.
MAN - Metropolitan Area Network A network that covers a larger
area, like a city or town. They are expensive but a wireless MAN
has the capacity to spread Internet access across a wide area.
Many college universities set-up a MAN to connect the entire
campus.
WAN - Wide Area Network A network that covers or connects to
more than one physical site. A simple example would be a
business that has locations in different cities, states or
countries and they need them each location connected on the same
network. The Internet itself is a WAN... the biggest WAN in the
world.
Mbps - Megabits Per Second Not to be confused with MBps,
megabytes per second. Mbps is measurement of connection speed.
There are eight megabits in a megabyte.
GHz - Gigahertz One gigahertz is one billion cycles per
second... it's a measurement of frequency. If the term sounds
familiar it's probably because it's also used to measure the
processing speed of the CPU on your computer, which is also
measured in gigahertz.
Linux A popular and growing alternative operating system to
Windows. Linux is a less bulky, more efficient operating system
in many ways than Windows and not to mention - it's free. Many
servers run Linux for this reason. Computers running Linux can
run many programs and connect to the Internet without needing
Windows. Many wireless devices run Linux or are compatible with
it.
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Wireless Internet Terminology - Confusion Or Clarity?
