In this wireless networking glossary, you’ll learn acronyms, definitions, and terms used in WiFi networks.
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2023 Wireless Networking Glossary of Terms
What is 2×2/3×3/4×4 in Networking?
It refers to MIMO (multiple inputs, multiple outputs), a device that contains two antennas for 2 information flows will be 2×2 MIMO, one with 3 antennas will be 3×3 MIMO and one with 4 antennas will be 4×4 MIMO.
What is 1G, 2G, 3G, 4G, 5G…?
Different generations of technologies that we use daily on our mobile mainly. The International Telecommunication Union (ITU) created a committee to define the specifications. This committee is in charge of deciding the minimum characteristics that devices and networks must have when they want to be part of one generation or another.
What is Access Point/AP?
Devices establish a wireless connection between computers and can form a wireless network with which to interconnect mobile devices or wireless network cards.
What is AirTime?
Every time a device communicates with another device or an access point wirelessly it uses up airtime. Airtime utilization is a per-channel statistic that defines what percentage of the channel is currently in use and therefore what percentage is free.
What is Bandwidth in Wireless Networking?
Amount of data that can be transferred between two points on a network in a specific time.
What is Wireless Channel Width?
Wave size through which data is sent/received. Determines the data rate of that signal.
What is an Antenna in Wireless Networking?
A device designed to emit and/or receive electromagnetic waves into free space. A sector antenna is used in access points to transmit/receive the wireless signal from client devices.
What is Band in Wireless Networking?
The operational frequency range of the equipment, in WiFi the most common bands is 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz.
What is Band Steering?
A feature that encourages dual-band capable wireless clients to connect to a specific network.
What is Beamforming?
Technology that allows the signal to be focused toward a receiver if the wireless router or AP has enough information, it can provide said coverage in a specific direction for the client to get better coverage and better bandwidth.
What is Blacklist in Wireless Networking?
List of devices that have access or some functions blocked on the network.
What is a Channel in Wireless Networking?
A wireless channel is a specific division of frequencies in a specific wireless band.
What does Cloud mean in Wireless Networking?
Services or management capabilities remotely from the Internet, in the aspect of WiFi equipment, can refer to the control and administration of wireless networks from the Internet utilizing a controller.
What are Connectors in Wireless Networking?
Regarding the subject of WiFi, the connectors refer to the contacts to connect an external antenna to a radio with connectors through jumpers/pigtails.
What is a Controller (in Wireless Networking)?
Platform or service that makes it easy to operate, manage and monitor wireless networks in a unified and simple way, without having to repeat the same operations in each one of the APs in the local network.
What is dBm?
Unit of measure of relation or ratio of power expressed in decibels (dB) relative to a milliwatt (mW).
What is Default IP?
The IP address that a device has by default in factory settings.
What is DHCP (Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol)?
A client/server network protocol by which a DHCP server dynamically assigns an IP address and other network configuration parameters to each device on a network.
What is an IP Address?
Set of numbers that identify, logically and hierarchically, a network interface of a device.
What is DNS (Domain Name System)?
The decentralized hierarchical naming system for devices connected to IP networks. Translates human-intelligible names into binary identifiers associated with network-connected equipment.
What is Fast Roaming?
IEEE 802.11r standard that enables seamless connectivity for wireless devices on the move, with fast and secure transfers from AP to AP.
What is Firewall?
A system that allows protecting a computer or a network of computers from intrusions that come from a third network/internet. Most newer routers come with a built-in firewall.
What is a Gateway?
Address of the device that serves as a link between two computer networks (or to the Internet).
What is Hotspot?
Custom wireless login page that guest users must go through before they can connect to the Wi-Fi network.
What is HTTP (Hypertext Transfer Protocol)?
It is the communication protocol that allows information transfers on the World Wide Web.
What is HTTPS (Hypertext Transfer Protocol Secure)
It is an application protocol based on the HTTP protocol, intended for the secure transfer of hypertext data.
What is Latency?
The time it takes for a packet to be transmitted within the network.
What is LoS (Line of Sight)?
A clear, unobstructed path between transmitting antennas and receiving devices.
What is Mesh?
A network made up of routers/access points that communicate with each other to form a single Wi-Fi network with the same SSID and password has the advantage that only one AP must be connected with a cable and the others must not.
What is a Modem?
It is a device that converts digital signals into analog (modulation) and vice versa (demodulation) and thus allows communication between computers through the telephone line or cable modem.
What is NTP (Network Time Protocol)?
Internet protocol for synchronizing the clocks of computer systems through the routing of packets in networks.
What is OFDMA (Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiple Access)?
It is used to ensure that a set of users of a telecommunications system can share the spectrum of a certain channel for different applications.
What is PING?
Computer network diagnostic utility that checks the communication status of the local host with one or more remote computers on a network running IP.
What is PoE (Power Over Ethernet)?
Technology that allows electrical power to be supplied to a network device using the same cable that is used for the network connection.
What is TX Power?
Specifies the signal strength that the wireless router/access point produces during transmission times.
What is PPPoE (Point-to-Point Protocol over Ethernet)?
Network protocol for PPP encapsulation over an Ethernet layer. It is used mainly to provide a broadband connection through a cable modem and DSL services.
What is a Protocol?
System of rules that regulate communication between two or more systems that transmit information through various physical media.
What is a Physical Port?
A slot that carries a personal computer. This slot can insert a network cable with which the device will connect to the router signal.
What is Quality of Service?
The mechanism is used to ensure the prioritization of traffic and the guarantee of minimum bandwidth. QoS measures bandwidth and prioritizes packets based on priority queues.
What is Radius?
A protocol that stands out above all for offering a security mechanism, flexibility, expansion capacity, and simplified administration of access credentials to a network resource.
What is a Repeater?
Equipment that can connect to a wireless network and repeat the signal.
What is RSSI (Received Signal Strength Indicator)?
It is a reference scale to measure the power level of the signals received by a device in wireless networks.
What is SNMP (Simple Network Management Protocol)?
It is an application layer protocol that facilitates the exchange of management information between network devices, typically for monitoring equipment.
What is SNR (Signal-to-Noise Ratio)?
A measure of how much relevant wireless signal there is compared to any other signal that might get in the way.
What is Social Login?
Authentication in a captive portal to access a WiFi network through a social network.
What is SSID (Service Set Identifier)?
It is known as the “network name”; is a sequence of 0-32 octets included in all packets on a wireless network to identify them as part of that network.
What is TFTP (Trivial File Transfer Protocol)?
Similar transfer protocol FTP. TFTP is used to transfer small files between computers on a network.
What is VLAN (Virtual Local Area)?
It is a method of creating independent logical networks within the same physical network.
What is Whitelist?
List of devices that are authorized to access the network or some network functions, usually identified by the MAC address.
What is a WDS Bridge?
It allows a wireless network to be expanded using multiple access points without the need for a wired backbone to connect them.
What is WiFi?
Technology that allows the wireless interconnection of electronic devices. Wi-Fi-enabled devices can connect to the Internet through a wireless network access point.
What is WiFi Extender?
A device that can take the signal of the main WiFi and extend it to areas where it did not reach the coverage.
What is WLAN (Wireless Local Area Network)?
It is a local network that does not require cables to connect your devices.
What is WPA/WPA2 (Wi-Fi Protected Access)?
It is a system to protect wireless networks (Wi-Fi).
What is WPS (WiFi Protected Setup)?
Wi-Fi Protected Setup is a standard that makes it easy to connect devices securely on a network.
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