Crimping Your Own Network Cables; Glossary - Linksys EtherFast Instant Broadband BEFW11S4 User Manual

Instant Broadband TM Series
EtherFast ® Wireless Access Point + Cable/DSL Router with 4-Port Switch

Glossary

Crimping Your Own Network Cables

Ad-hoc Network - An ad-hoc network is a wireless network or other small net-
• Straight-Through Cabling
work in which some of the network devices are part of the network only for the
duration of a communications session while in some close proximity to the rest
of the network.
BSS (Basic Service Set) - A group of Instant Wireless TM Network PC Card
users and a Wireless AP + Cable/DSL Router.
Default Gateway - The router used to forward all traffic that is not addressed
to a station within the local subnet.
DHCP (Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol) - Aprotocol that lets network
administrators manage centrally and automate the assignment of Internet
Protocol (IP) addresses in an organization's network. Using the Internet's set of
protocol (TCP/IP), each machine that can connect to the Internet needs a
unique IP address. When an organization sets up its computer users with a con-
nection to the Internet, an IP address must be assigned to each machine.
Without DHCP, the IP address must be entered manually at each computer and,
if computers move to another location in another part of the network, a new IP
address must be entered. DHCP lets a network administrator supervise and dis-
tribute IP addresses from a central point and automatically sends a new IP
•Cross-Over Cabling
address when a computer is plugged into a different place in the network.
DHCP uses the concept of a "lease" or amount of time that a given IP address
will be valid for a computer. The lease time can vary depending on how long a
user is likely to require the Internet connection at a particular location. It's espe-
cially useful in education and other environments where users change fre-
quently. Using very short leases, DHCP can dynamically reconfigure networks
in which there are more computers than there are available IP addresses.
DHCP supports static addresses for computers containing Web servers that
need a permanent IP address.
DMZ - A DMZ (demilitarized zone) is a computer host or small network
inserted as a "neutral zone" between a company's private network and the out-
side public network. It prevents outside users from getting direct access to a
server that has company data.
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