USRobotics Instant802 APSDK - Manual (Page 303)

Professional Access Point
Administrator Guide
–303
Glossary
0-9 A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
0-9
802
IEEE 802 ( IEEE Std. 802-2001 ) is a family of standards for peer-to-peer communication over a LAN .
These technologies use a shared-medium, with information broadcast for all stations to receive. The basic
communications capabilities provided are packet-based. The basic unit of transmission is a sequence of
data octets (8-bits), which can be of any length within a range that is dependent on the type of
LAN .
Included in the 802 family of IEEE standards are definitions of bridging, management, and security
protocols.
802.1x
IEEE 802.1x ( IEEE Std. 802.1x-2001 ) is a standard for passing EAP packets over an 802.11 wireless
network using a protocol called EAP Encapsulation Over LANs (EAPOL). It establishes a framework that
supports multiple authentication methods.
IEEE 802.1x authenticates users not machines.
802.2
IEEE 802.2 ( IEEE Std. 802.2.1998 ) defines the LLC layer for the 802 family of standards.
802.3
IEEE 802.3 ( IEEE Std. 802.3-2002 ) defines the MAC layer for networks that use CSMA/CA . Ethernet is an
example of such a network.
802.11
IEEE 802.11 ( IEEE Std. 802.11-1999 ) is a medium access control ( MAC ) and physical layer ( PHY )
specification for wireless connectivity for fixed, portable, and moving stations within a local area. It uses
direct sequence spread spectrum (DSSS) in the 2.4 GHz ISM band and supports raw data rates of 1 and 2
Mbps. It was formally adopted in 1997 but has been mostly superseded by
802.11b .
IEEE 802.11 is also used generically to refer to the family of IEEE standards for wireless local area
networks.
802.11a
IEEE 802.11a ( IEEE Std. 802.11a-1999 ) is a PHY standard that specifies operating in the 5 GHz U-NII
band using orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM). It supports data rates ranging from 6 to 54
Mbps.