Glossary - 3Com OfficeConnect 3CRWE51196 User Manual

802.11b
10BASE-T
100BASE-TX
Access Point
Ad Hoc mode
Auto-negotiation
Bandwidth
Category 3 Cables
Category 5 Cables
G
LOSSARY
The IEEE standard to which the 3Com OfficeConnect Wireless Cable/DSL Gateway
conforms. This standard provides for 1,2,5 and 11Mbps data rates and a set of
fundamental signaling methods and other services (see WECA).
The IEEE specification for 10 Mbps Ethernet over Category 3, 4 or 5 twisted pair
cable.
The IEEE specification for 100 Mbps Fast Ethernet over Category 5 twisted-pair
cable.
An Access Point is a device through which wireless clients connect to other
wireless clients and which acts as a bridge between wireless clients and a wired
network, such as Ethernet. Wireless clients can be moved anywhere within the
coverage area of the access point and still connect with each other. If connected to
an Ethernet network, the access point monitors Ethernet traffic and forwards
appropriate Ethernet messages to the wireless network, while also monitoring
wireless client radio traffic and forwarding wireless client messages to the Ethernet
LAN.
Ad Hoc mode is a configuration supported by most wireless clients. It is used to
connect a peer to peer network together without the use of an access point. It
offers lower performance than infrastructure mode, which is the mode the
gateway uses. (see also Infra-structure mode.)
Some devices in the OfficeConnect range support auto-negotiation.
Auto-negotiation is where two devices sharing a link, automatically configure to
use the best common speed. The order of preference (best first) is: 100BASE-TX
full duplex, 100BASE-TX half duplex, 10BASE-T full duplex, and 10BASE-T half
duplex. Auto-negotiation is defined in the IEEE 802.3 standard for Ethernet and is
an operation that takes place in a few milliseconds.
The information capacity, measured in bits per second, that a channel can
transmit. The bandwidth of Ethernet is 10 Mbps, the bandwidth of Fast Ethernet is
100 Mbps. The bandwidth for 802.11b wireless is 11Mbps.
One of five grades of Twisted Pair (TP) cabling defined by the EIA/TIA-586
standard. Category 3 is voice grade cable and can only be used in Ethernet
networks (10BASE-T) to transmit data at speeds of up to 10 Mbps.
One of five grades of Twisted Pair (TP) cabling defined by the EIA/TIA-586
standard. Category 5 can be used in Ethernet (10BASE-T) and Fast Ethernet