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Chapter 5 - glossary – Asus WL-160N User Manual

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ASUS WLAN Adapter

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Chapter 5

Chapter 5 - Glossary

Glossary

Ethernet

The most widely used LAN access method, which is defined by the IEEE 802.3

standard. Ethernet is normally a shared media LAN meaning all devices on the

network segment share total bandwidth. Ethernet networks operate at 10Mbps

using CSMA/CD to run over 10-BaseT cables.

Firewall

A firewall determines which information passes in and out of a network. NAT can

create a natural firewall by hiding a local network’s IP addresses from the Internet.

A Firewall prevents anyone outside of your network from accessing your computer

and possibly damaging or viewing your files.

Gateway

A network point that manages all the data traffic of your network, as well as to the

Internet and connects one network to another.

IEEE

The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers. The IEEE sets standards

for networking, including Ethernet LANs. IEEE standards ensure interoperability

between systems of the same type.

IEEE 802.11

IEEE 802.xx is a set of specifications for LANs from the Institute of Electrical

and Electronic Engineers (IEEE). Most wired networks conform to 802.3, the

specification for CSMA/CD based Ethernet networks or 802.5, the specification for

token ring networks. 802.11 defines the standard for wireless LANs encompassing

three incompatible (non-interoperable) technologies: Frequency Hopping Spread

Spectrum (FHSS), Direct Sequence Spread Spectrum (DSSS), and Infrared.

802.11 specifies a carrier sense media access control and physical layer

specifications for 1 and 2 Mbps wireless LANs.

IEEE 802.11a (54Mbits/sec)

Compared with 802.11b: The 802.11b standard was designed to operate in

the 2.4-GHz ISM (Industrial, Scientific and Medical) band using direct-sequence

spread-spectrum technology. The 802.11a standard, on the other hand, was

designed to operate in the more recently allocated 5-GHz UNII (Unlicensed

National Information Infrastructure) band. And unlike 802.11b, the 802.11a standard

departs from the traditional spread-spectrum technology, instead using a frequency

division multiplexing scheme that's intended to be friendlier to office environments.
The 802.11a standard, which supports data rates of up to 54 Mbps, is the Fast

Ethernet analog to 802.11b, which supports data rates of up to 11 Mbps. Like

Ethernet and Fast Ethernet, 802.11b and 802.11a use an identical MAC (Media

Access Control). However, while Fast Ethernet uses the same physical-layer

encoding scheme as Ethernet (only faster), 802.11a uses an entirely different

encoding scheme, called OFDM (orthogonal frequency division multiplexing).