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S Series.book Page 113 Thursday, February 12, 2004 4:15 PM
Wireless LAN Glossary
Ad hoc
A designation for wireless LAN network configuration.
It indicates a form of communication limited to those
personal computers which have wireless LAN function.
For details, refer to "Ad hoc connection" on page 96.
Channel
The frequency band of wireless LAN to be used in
communications over wireless LAN or at the access
point.
DHCP (Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol)
A protocol used for automatically fetching communica-
tion parameters such as IP addresses. The side which
assigns IP address is called DHCP server and the side
that is assigned it is called DHCP client.
DNS (Domain Name System)
A function that controls the correspondence of IP
addresses assigned to a computer with the name. Even
for those computers whose IP addresses are unknown, if
their names are known, it is possible to communicate
with them.
IEEE802.11a
One of the wireless LAN standards prescribed by the 802
committee in charge of establishing standards of LAN
technology in IEEE (Institute of Electrical and Electronic
Engineers). It allows communications at the maximum
speed of 54 Mbps by using a 5GHz band which can
freely be used without radio communication license.
IEEE802.11b
One of the wireless LAN standards prescribed by 802
committee in charge of establishing standards of LAN
technology in IEEE (Institute of Electrical and Electronic
Engineers). It allows communications at the maximum
speed of 11Mbps by a band of 2.4 GHz (ISM band)
which can freely be used without radio communication
license.
Access point
A designation of Wireless LAN network configurations.
It indicates a form of communication using an Access
Point. For details, refer to "access point connection" on
page 96.
IP address
An address used by computers for communicating in
TCP/IP environment. IP addresses have global and
private addresses. A global address is a unique address in
W I r e l e s s L A N U s e r ' s G u i d e
the world. A private address is a unique address within a
closed network.
LAN (Local Area Network)
An environment connecting computers within a rela-
tively small range, such as the same floor and building.
MAC address (Media Access Control Address)
A physical address inherent to a network card. For
Ethernet, the top three bytes are controlled/assigned as a
vendor code. The remaining three bytes comprise the
code uniquely (to avoid duplication) controlled by each
vendor. As a result, there is no Ethernet card with the
same physical address in the world. In Ethernet, the
frame transmission/reception is performed based on this
address.
MTU (Maximum Transmission Unit)
The maximum size of data which can be transmitted at
one time in networks including the Internet. In an envi-
ronment whose maximum size of data is too large to
correctly receive data, normal communications can be
restored by setting the size of MTU to a smaller value.
Network authentication
The method of authentication performed by wireless
LAN clients to connect with the access point. There are
two types: open system authentication and shared key
authentication. The type of authentication must be set
to each client and also coincide with the setting of access
point with which to communicate. Network authentica-
tion is sometimes called authentication mode.
Network key
Data that is used for encrypting data in data communi-
cation. The personal computer uses the same network
key both for data encryption and decryption, therefore,
it is necessary to set the same network key as the other
side of communication.
Network name (SSID: Security Set Identifier)
When a wireless LAN network is configured, grouping is
performed to avoid interference or data theft. This
grouping is performed with "Network name (SSID)". In
order to improve security, the network key is set
allowing no communication unless "Network name
(SSID)" coincides with the network key.
Open system authentication
One of network authentication types for wireless LAN.
Since there is no check of network key upon authentica-
tion, clients can connect to the access point without
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