Glossary

802.11 wireless standards

The Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers (IEEE) has developed a standard set of specifications for wireless networking generally referred to as 802.11 wireless standards. These standards define for network engineers how to design wireless LANs that allow users to communicate smoothly between a laptop or other wireless device and a wired network. The wireless standard the University currently employs is 802.11g, which provides 54 mbps of shared bandwidth over each network Access Point.

Access Point (AP)

A communication hub on a network located within the wireless connectivity area that relays information between the wired network and a user's wireless device.

DHCP

Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP) is used to assign dynamic (temporary) IP addresses to individual devices on a network. With dynamic addressing, a device can be assigned a different IP address each time it connects to the network. This strategy simplifies network administration allowing new devices to access to the network without first having to manually assign an IP address.

IP Address

An Internet Protocol (IP) address is a unique numeric identifier for a computer or device on a network differentiating it from all other devices. IP Addresses are used to communicate between computers and other devices over the Internet.

LAN

A local-area network (LAN) is a computer network that extends over a small area.

MAC Address

A unique identifier assigned to a computing device on a network. Some wireless installations on Penn's campus use the MAC address of your wireless card to identify you as an authorized network user.

SSID

An SSID, or Service Set Identifier, is the name used by a wireless card to identify itself to a specific wireless network. This information my also be referred to as the "Network Name."

SSL

Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) is a method of encrypting data using a public key. Both Internet Explorer and Netscape support SSL and many Web sites use this encryption method to transfer confidential user information, such as credit card numbers. By convention, URLs that require an SSL connection start with https:// instead of http://.

TCP/IP

TCP/IP is the underlying communication technology behind the Internet and communications between computers on a network.

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