SonicWALL TZ 170 SP Quick Start Manual page 6

Glossary of Networking Terms
• 802.11 - A set of IEEE standards for wireless networking (WLANs). 802.11b supports transmissions up
to 11 Mbps. 802.11g supports transmissions up to 54 Mbps. Both 802.11b and 802.11g operate in the
2.4GHz range.
• Default Gateway - A device on an internetwork that forwards packets to another network.
• DHCP - Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol allocates IP addresses to computers on the network
automatically without assigning a computer a static (fixed) IP address.
• DNS (Domain Name System) - A hierarchical naming system that resolves a domain name with its
associated IP address. A DNS server looks up the name of a computer and finds the corresponding IP
address. This allows users to access hosts using friendly text-based names instead of IP addresses.
These names are called fully qualified domain names (FQDN).
• IP Address - A set of numbers in the format, XXX.XXX.XXX.XXX, used to address computers on the
Internet.
• LAN - A Local Area Network is typically a group of computers located at a single location, and is
commonly based on the Ethernet architecture.
• PPPoE - The Point to Point Protocol over Ethernet supports the transmission of network packets over
serial transmission lines such as DSL or POTS (Plain Old Telephone Service).
• Router - A device used in TCP/IP networks, the Internet being a prime example of a large routed
network. Routers are commonly used by ISPs to connect customer networks to the Internet via their
networks.
• Subnet Mask - A set of numbers in IP address format using 255 in place of the XXX's. It determines
the type of network by "masking" out numbers. A Class C network has a subnet mask of
255.255.255.0.
• VPN - A Virtual Private Network is a virtual network that encrypts data and sends it privately over the
Internet to protect sensitive information.
• WAN - A Wide Area Network is a geographically distributed network composed of multiple networks
joined into a single large network. The Internet is a global WAN.
SonicWALL TZ 170 SP/SonicWALL TZ 170 Wireless Quick Start Guide Page 5