NetComm NB1 - Manual (Page 84)

NB1 User Guide YML780 Rev1
84 www.netcomm.com.au
network A group of computers that are connected together, al-
lowing them to communicate with each other and share
resources, such as software, files, etc.A network can be
small, such as a LAN, or very large, such as the Internet.
network mask A network mask is a sequence of bits applied to an IP
address to select the network ID while ignoring the host
ID. Bits set to 1 mean “select this bit” while bits set to 0
mean “ignore this bit.” For example, if the network mask
255.255.255.0 is applied to the IP address 100.10.50.1,
the network ID is 100.10.50, and the host ID is 1. See
also binary, IP address, subnet
NIC Network Interface Card An adapter card that plugs into
your computer and provides the physical interface to your
network cabling, which for Ethernet NICs is typically an
RJ-45 connector. See Ethernet, RJ-45.
packet Data transmitted on a network consists of units called
packets. Each packet contains a payload (the data), plus
overhead information such as where it came from (source
address) and where it should go (destination address).
ping Packet Internet (or Inter-Network) Groper A program
used to verify whether the host associated with an IP
address is online. It can also be used to reveal the IP ad-
dress for a given domain name.
port A physical access point to a device such as a computer
or router, through which data flows into and out of the
device.
POTS Plain Old Telephone Service Traditional analog telephone
service using copper telephone lines. Pronounced pots.
See also PSTN.
POTS splitter See splitter.
PPP Point-to-Point Protocol A protocol for serial data transmis-
sion that is used to carry IP (and other protocol) data
between your ISP and your computer. The WAN interface
on the My ADSL Modem uses two forms of PPP called PP-
PoA and PPPoE. See also PPPoA, PPPoE.
PPPoA Point-to-Point Protocol over ATM One of the two types of
PPP interfaces you can define for a Virtual Circuit (VC),
the other type being PPPoE. You can define only one PP-
PoA interface per VC.
PPPoE Point-to-Point Protocol over Ethernet One of the two
types of PPP interfaces you can define for a Virtual Circuit
(VC),the other type being PPPoA. You can define one or
more PPPoE interfaces per VC.
protocol A set of rules governing the transmission of data. In order
for a data transmission to work, both ends of the connec-
tion have to follow the rules of the protocol.