The Wireless Network Glossary

Below are a few of the terms you're most likely to see related to Wireless Networks (terms most useful for beginners are in bold):

Standards

802.11
The 802.11 standards are a group of wireless specifications developed by the IEEE (Institute of Electrical Engineers). The standards cover items such as frequency ranges, modulation, security, etc. Below are a few of the key 802.11 standards:

802.11a

Operates in the 5-GHz frequency range (5.125 to 5.85 GHz) with a maximum transmission rate of 54Mbit/sec. The 5-GHz frequency band has more radio channels than the 2.4-GHz frequency (used in 802.11b/g) and is less crowded. However, it has a smaller range than 802.11b/g. It is not generally used in domestic wireless networks, but is supported by high-end wireless equipment for business use from vendors such as Cisco Systems.

802.11b

Operates in the 2.4-GHz band (2.4 to 2.4835 GHz) and provides transmission rates of up to 11Mbit/sec. Generally used standard for domestic and business wireless networks, but can suffer from interference from other devices in the frequency range, such as microwave ovens, cordless phones, and Bluetooth devices. Forward compatible with 802.11g standard and many dual-standard devices are referred to as 802.11b/g.

802.11e

Quality-of-service specification designed to guarantee the quality of voice and video traffic over wireless networks.

802.11g

Operates in the same frequency range as 802.11b, but supports transmission rates of up to 54Mbit/sec. It 802.11g is backward compatible with the older 802.11b standard and many dual-standard devices are referred to as 802.11b/g. NOTE:- Although compatibility between 802.11g and 802.11b is useful for migrating to newer technology, it should be remembered that all devices will work to the standard of the slowest device on the network. This means that all devices will work at 11Mb/sec whilst there are still 802.11b devices connected to the network.

802.11i

A standard for improving wireless LAN security, generally referred to as WPA2 (see below). It adds new encryption protocols, such as AES (Advanced Encryption Standard).

Wireless Network Equipment

Access point
A Wireless Network transceiver or "base station" that can connect a wired network to a number of wireless devices. APs can also bridge to one another.

Wireless Adaptor/Wireless Card

A Wireless Adaptor is a device used to provide wireless capability to a device such as a PC. Many newer laptop computers have the capability built in and so do not require a separate card. Note also that wireless capability can also be provided by a USB connected device rather than an internal card.

Wireless Router

A Wireless Router combines an Access Point with a router (frequently capable of direct connection to a broadband network). A Wireless broadband router is a cost-effective means of connecting wireless enabled computers to the Internet.

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General

Ad hoc mode
An ad hoc network is one where wireless devices, such as PCs can communicate directly with one another without using an Access Point. An Access Point based network, known as an infrastructure network, is more generally used.

Hot spot
A place, such as a hotel, restaurant or airport, that offers wireless access, either free or for a fee.

MAC Address
Every wireless 802.11 device has a unique MAC (Media Access Control) address hard-coded into it. These unique identifiers enable traffic to be passed between devices and can be used to provide security for wireless networks. For example when a wireless router uses MAC address security, only the 802.11 devices that have had their MAC addresses added to the MAC table are able to access the network.

SSI
A Service Set Identifier or SSI is effectively the name of a specific wireless network. Used by all attached devices to identify themselves and allow devices to connect to the correct network when more than one network is operating in a given area. The SSI is generally broadcast by default, but this can present a security risk. It is therefore advisable for businesses in particular to select an SSI that is not obviously associated with that organisation. The SSI broadcast may be disabled, but the SSI will still be contained in packet headers so this is not in itself a useful security measure.

WEP
Wired-Equivalent Privacy protocol was specified in the IEEE 802.11 standard to provide a WLAN with some emasure of security using data encryption. However, is now generally regarded as relatively easy to crack and should not be used where stronger forms of encryption, such as WPA, exist.

WPA
Wireless Protected Access is a data encryption specification for 802.11 wireless networks that replaces the weaker WEP standard. Created by the WiFi Alliance before a 802.11i security standard was ratified by the IEEE, it improves on WEP by using dynamic keys, Extensible Authentication Protocol to secure network access, and an encryption method called Temporal Key Integrity Protocol (TKIP) to secure data transmissions.

WPA2
Wireless Protected Access 2 is an enhanced version of WPA. It is the official 802.11i standard that was ratified by the IEEE in June 2004. It uses Advanced Encryption Standard instead of TKIP (see above). AES supports 128-bit, 192-bit and 256-bit keys.

WLAN
Wireless local-area networks use radio waves instead of a cable to connect a user device, such as a laptop or other computer, to a LAN. They provide Ethernet connections over a wireless connection and operate under the IEEE 802.11 group of specifications.