NETGEAR WPN802 Router Manual PDF (Setup & Configuration Guide)

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Reference Manual for the NETGEAR RangeMax™ Wireless Access Point WPN802

Glossary

202-10101-01, May 2005

NIC (Network Interface Card)

A type of PC adapter card that either works without wires (Wi-Fi) or attaches to a network cable to provide

two-way communication between the computer and network devices such as a hub or switch. Most office

wired NICs operate at 10 Mbps (Ethernet), 100 Mbps (Fast Ethernet) or 10/100 Mbps dual speed.

High-speed Gigabit and 10 Gigabit NIC cards are also available. See PC Card.

PC card (also called PCMCIA)

A removable, credit-card-sized memory or I/O (input/output) device that fits into a Type 2 PCMCIA

standard slot, PC Cards are used primarily in PCs, portable computers, PDAs and laptops. PC Card

peripherals include Wi-Fi cards, memory cards, modems, NICs, hard drives, etc.

PCI adapter

A high-performance I/O computer bus used internally on most computers. Other bus types include ISA and

AGP. PCIs and other computer buses enable the addition of internal cards that provide services and features

not supported by the motherboard or other connectors.

Peer-to-peer network (also called Ad-Hoc in WLANs)

A wireless or wired computer network that has no server or central hub or router. All the networked PCs are

equally able to act as a network server or client, and each client computer can talk to all the other wireless

computers without having to go through an access point or hub. However, since there is no central base

station to monitor traffic or provide Internet access, the various signals can collide with each other, reducing

overall performance.

PHY

The lowest layer within the OSI Network Model. It deals primarily with transmission of the raw bit stream

over the PHYsical transport medium. In the case of wireless LANs, the transport medium is free space. The

PHY defines parameters such as data rates, modulation method, signaling parameters, transmitter/receiver

synchronization, etc. Within an actual radio implementation, the PHY corresponds to the radio front end and

baseband signal processing sections.

Plug and Play

A computer system feature that provides for automatic configuration of add-ons and peripheral devices such

as wireless PC Cards, printers, scanners and multimedia devices.

Proxy server

Used in larger companies and organizations to improve network operations and security, a proxy server is

able to prevent direct communication between two or more networks. The proxy server forwards allowable

data requests to remote servers and/or responds to data requests directly from stored remote server data

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Reference Manual for the NETGEAR RangeMax™ Wireless Access Point WPN802

Glossary

202-10101-01, May 2005

Range

The distance away from your access point that your wireless network can reach. Most Wi-Fi systems will

provide a range of a hundred feet or more. Depending on the environment and the type of antenna used,

Wi-Fi signals can have a range of up to mile

Residential gateway

A wireless device that connects multiple PCs, peripherals and the Internet on a home network. Most Wi-Fi

residential gateways provide DHCP and NAT as well.

RJ-45

Standard connectors used in Ethernet networks. Even though they look very similar to standard RJ-11

telephone connectors, RJ-45 connectors can have up to eight wires, whereas telephone connectors have only

four.

Roaming

Moving seamlessly from one AP coverage area to another with your laptop or desktop with no loss in

connectivity.

Rogue Access Point

"Rogue AP" is a term used to describe an unauthorized access point that is connected on the main home or

corporate network or operating in a stand-alone mode (in a parking lot or in a neighbor's building). Rogue

APs, by definition, are not under the management of network administrators and do not conform to network

security policies and may present a severe security risk. Ideally, it is best to have some type of WLAN

system that does not allow rogue access points to easily be added to an existing WLAN.

Router

A device that forwards data packets from one local area network (LAN) or wide area network (WAN) to

another. Based on routing tables and routing protocols, routers can read the network address in each

transmitted frame and make a decision on how to send it via the most efficient route based on traffic load,

line costs, speed, bad connections, etc.

Satellite broadband

A wireless high-speed Internet connection provided by satellites. Some satellite broadband connections are

two-way—up and down. Others are one-way, with the satellite providing a high-speed downlink and then

using a dial-up telephone connection or other land-based system for the uplink to the Internet.

Server

A computer that provides its resources to other computers and devices on a network. These include print

servers, Internet servers and data servers. A server can also be combined with a hub or router.

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Reference Manual for the NETGEAR RangeMax™ Wireless Access Point WPN802

Glossary

202-10101-01, May 2005

Site survey

The process whereby a wireless network installer inspects a location prior to putting in a wireless network.

Site surveys are used to identify the radio- and client-use properties of a facility so that access points can be

optimally placed.

SSID (also called ESSID)

A 32-character unique identifier attached to the header of packets sent over a WLAN that acts as a password

when a mobile device tries to connect to the BSS. (Also called ESSID.) The SSID differentiates one WLAN

from another, so all access points and all devices attempting to connect to a specific WLAN must use the

same SSID.

A device will not be permitted to join the BSS unless it can provide the unique SSID. Because an SSID can

be sniffed in plain text from a packet, it does not supply any security to the network. An SSID is also

referred to as a Network Name because essentially it is a name that identifies a wireless network.

SSL (Secure Sockets Layer)

Commonly used encryption scheme used by many online retail and banking sites to protect the financial

integrity of transactions. When an SSL session begins, the server sends its public key to the browser. The

browser then sends a randomly generated secret key back to the server in order to have a secret key

exchange for that session.

Subnetwork or Subnet

Found in larger networks, these smaller networks are used to simplify addressing between numerous

computers. Subnets connect to the central network through a router, hub or gateway. Each individual

wireless LAN will probably use the same subnet for all the local computers it talks to.

Switch

A type of hub that efficiently controls the way multiple devices use the same network so that each can

operate at optimal performance. A switch acts as a networks traffic cop: rather than transmitting all the

packets it receives to all ports as a hub does, a switch transmits packets to only the receiving port.

TCP (Transmission Control Protocol)

A protocol used along with the Internet Protocol (IP) to send data in the form of individual units (called

packets) between computers over the Internet. While IP takes care of handling the actual delivery of the

data, TCP takes care of keeping track of the packets that a message is divided into for efficient routing

through the Internet.

For example, when a web page is downloaded from a web server, the TCP program layer in that server

divides the file into packets, numbers the packets, and then forwards them individually to the IP program

layer. Although each packet has the same destination IP address, it may get routed differently through the

network. At the other end, TCP reassembles the individual packets and waits until they have all arrived to

forward them as a single file.

Page 84 / 88

Reference Manual for the NETGEAR RangeMax™ Wireless Access Point WPN802

Glossary

202-10101-01, May 2005

TCP/IP

The underlying technology behind the Internet and communications between computers in a network. The

first part, TCP, is the transport part, which matches the size of the messages on either end and guarantees that

the correct message has been received. The IP part is the user's computer address on a network. Every

computer in a TCP/IP network has its own IP address that is either dynamically assigned at startup or

permanently assigned. All TCP/IP messages contain the address of the destination network as well as the

address of the destination station. This enables TCP/IP messages to be transmitted to multiple networks

(subnets) within an organization or worldwide.

TKIP

A security feature that is a WEP enhancement: Temporal Key Integrity Protocol and Message Integrity

Check (MIC) is a modification of WEP to defend against known attacks (WEP+ four patches for key

mixing, message integrity, rekeying, initialization vector protection)

USB (Universal Serial Bus)

A high-speed bidirectional serial connection between a PC and a peripheral that transmits data at the rate of

12 megabits per second. The new USB 2.0 specification provides a data rate of up to 480 Mbps, compared to

standard USB at only 12 Mbps. 1394, FireWire and iLink all provide a bandwidth of up to 400 Mbps.

VoIP (Voice over IP)

Voice transmission using Internet Protocol to create digital packets distributed over the Internet. VoIP can be

less expensive than voice transmission using standard analog packets over POTS (Plain Old Telephone

Service).

VPN (Virtual Private Network)

A type of technology designed to increase the security of information transferred over the Internet. VPN can

work with either wired or wireless networks, as well as with dial-up connections over POTS. VPN creates a

private encrypted tunnel from the end user's computer, through the local wireless network, through the

Internet, all the way to the corporate servers and database.

War Chalking

The act of making chalk marks on outdoor surfaces (walls, sidewalks, buildings, sign posts, trees) to indicate

the existence of an open wireless network connection, usually offering an Internet connection so that others

can benefit from the free wireless access. The open connections typically come from the access points of

wireless networks located within buildings to serve enterprises. The chalk symbols indicate the type of

access point that is available at that specific spot.

There are three basic designs that are currently used: a pair of back-to-back semicircles, which denotes an

open node; a closed circle, which denotes a closed node; a closed circle with a “W” inside, which denotes a

node equipped with WEP. Warchalkers also draw identifiers above the symbols to indicate the password that

can be used to access the node, which can easily be obtained with sniffer software.

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Reference Manual for the NETGEAR RangeMax™ Wireless Access Point WPN802

Glossary

202-10101-01, May 2005

As a recent development, the debate over the legality of warchalking is still going on.

The practice stems from the U.S. Depression-era culture of wandering hobos who would make marks

outside of homes to indicate to other wanderers whether the home was receptive to drifters or was

inhospitable.

War Driving

War driving is the act of locating and possibly exploiting connections to wireless local area networks while

driving around a city or elsewhere. To do war driving, you need a vehicle, a computer (which can be a

laptop), a wireless Ethernet card set to work in promiscuous mode, and some kind of an antenna which can

be mounted on top of or positioned inside the car. Because a wireless LAN may have a range that extends

beyond an office building, an outside user may be able to intrude into the network, obtain a free Internet

connection, and possibly gain access to company records and other resources.

Some people have made a sport out of war driving, in part to demonstrate the ease with which wireless

LANs can be compromised. With an omnidirectional antenna and a geophysical positioning system (GPS),

the war driver can systematically map the locations of 802.11b wireless access points.

WEP (Wired Equivalent Privacy)

Basic wireless security provided by Wi-Fi. In some instances, WEP may be all a home or small-business

user needs to protect wireless data. WEP is available in 40-bit (also called 64-bit), or in 108-bit (also called

128-bit) encryption modes. As 108-bit encryption provides a longer algorithm that takes longer to decode, it

can provide better security than basic 40-bit (64-bit) encryption.

Wi-Fi (Wireless Fidelity)

Another name for IEEE 802.11b. Products certified as Wi-Fi are interoperable with each other even if they

are from different manufacturers. A user with a Wi-Fi product can use any brand of access point with any

other brand of client hardware that is built to the Wi-Fi standard.

Wi-Fi Alliance (formerly WECA – Wireless Ethernet Compatibility Alliance)

The Wi-Fi Alliance is a nonprofit international association formed in 1999 to certify interoperability of

wireless Local Area Network products based on IEEE 802.11 specification. Currently the Wi-Fi Alliance

has 193 member companies from around the world, and 509 products have received Wi-Fi certification since

certification began in March of 2000. The goal of the Wi-Fi Alliance's members is to enhance the user

experience through product interoperability (

www.weca.net

Wi-Fi Protected Access (WPA)

WPA is a security technology for wireless networks that improves on the authentication and encryption

features of WEP (Wired Equivalent Privacy). In fact, WPA was developed by the networking industry in

response to the shortcomings of WEP.

One of the key technologies behind WPA is the Temporal Key Integrity Protocol (TKIP). TKIP addresses

the encryption weaknesses of WEP. Another key component of WPA is built-in authentication that WEP

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