Glossary - Siemens Gigaset SE361 WLAN User Manual

Glossary

Glossary
Access point
An access point such as the Gigaset SE361 WLAN is the central element in a wireless
local area network (WLAN). It handles connection of the wireless-linked network com-
ponents and regulates data traffic in the wireless network. The access point also serves
as an interface to other networks, e.g. an existing Ethernet LAN or via a modem to the
Internet. The network mode for wireless networks with an access point is called
Infrastructure mode.
Ad-hoc mode
Ad-hoc mode describes wireless local networks (WLANs) in which the network compo-
nents set up a spontaneous network without an Access point, e.g. several notebooks in
a conference. All the network components are peers. They must be equipped with a
wireless Network adapter.
Beacon
Beacons are data packets that are sent by devices in a wireless network to all other
devices to indicate that they are available and ready to receive. Beacons are also used to
synchronise the wireless network. A beacon interval is the period between two beacons
in milliseconds.
Bridge
A bridge connects several network segments to form a joint network, e.g. to build a TCP/
IP network. The segments can have different physical characteristics, e.g. different con-
nections such as Ethernet and wireless LANs. Linking individual segments via bridges
makes it possible to build local networks of practically unlimited size.
See also: Switch, Hub, Router, Gateway
Broadcast
A broadcast is a data packet that is not directed to a particular recipient but to all the
components in a network. The Gigaset SE361 WLAN does not pass broadcast packets on
to the Internet; they always remain within the local area network (LAN) administered
by the Gigaset SE361 WLAN.
BSSID
Basic Service Set ID
The BSSID is used for unique differentiation between one wireless network (WLAN) and
another. In Infrastructure mode the BSSID is the MAC address of the Access point. In
wireless networks in Ad-hoc mode the BSSID is the MAC address of any one of the par-
ticipants.
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