User's Manual

11Mbps Wireless LAN Card User's Manual

IP Internet Protocol. The standard protocol within TCP/IP that defines the basic unit of

information passed across an Internet connection by breaking down data messages into packets,

routing and transporting the packets over network connections, then reassembling the packets

at their destination. IP corresponds to the network layer in the ISO/OSI model.

IP Address An IP address is a 32-bit number that identifies each sender or receiver of information sent

across the Internet. An IP address has two parts: the identifier of a particular network on the

Internet and an identifier of the particular device (which can be a server or a workstation)

within that network.

LAN Local Area Network. A communications network that serves users within a defined

geographical area. The benefits include the sharing of Internet access, files, and equipment,

such as printers and storage devices. Special network cabling (10BaseT) is often used to

connect the PCs together.

Radio

Frequency

RF, Terms: GHz, MHz, Hz —The international unit for measuring frequency is Hertz (Hz),

equivalent to the older unit of cycles per second. One megahertz (MHz) is one Million-Hertz.

One giga hertz (GHz) is one Billion-Hertz. The standard U.S. electrical power frequency is 60

Hz, the AM broadcast radio frequency band is 0.55–1.6 MHz, the FM broadcast radio

frequency band is 88–108 MHz, and wireless 802.11 LANs operate at 2.4GHz.

SSID Service Set ID. A group name shared by every member of a wireless network. Only client PCs

with the same SSID are allowed to establish a connection.

Subnet Mask A value that defines whether your computer communicates only within your LAN or

communicates outside of your LAN, where it is routed out to the rest of the Internet. A Subnet

Mask that has the same first three components (for example, 255.255.255.0) is the routing

pattern for a Class C address.

TCP Transmission Control Protocol. The standard transport level protocol that provides the full

duplex, stream service on which many applications’ protocols depend. TCP allows a process on

one machine to send a stream of data to a process on another. Software implementing TCP

usually resides in the operating system and uses the IP to transmit information across the

network.