Wireless Glossary: Wireless Technology Terms
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- Ad-Hoc
- An Ad Hoc Wireless LAN denotes a group of computering devices - each with LAN adapters -interconnected so as to form an independent wireless LAN.
- AES
- AES stands for: Advanced Encryption Standard. Also known as Rijndael, this block cipher has been adopted by the U.S. government as an encryption standard. National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) had not only adopted (FIPS PUB 197) AES, it is being widely recognized as the defacto successor of the Data Encryption Standard (DES). It must be noted, however, that unlike the many key sizes (128, 160, 192, 224, and 256 bits) supported by The Rijndael algorithm, AES only supports the 128, 192, and 256 bit key sizes.
- AP
- An Access Point (AP) connects wireless communication devices together to create a wireless network.
- WAP
- A Wireless Access Point (WAP or AP) connects wireless communication devices together to create a wireless network.
- ASCII
- ASCII is an abbreviation of: American Standard Code for Information Interchange. It was defined by The American Standards Association (ASA), now known as American National Standards Institute (ANSI). ASCII currently defines codes for 33 non-printing (control) characters and 95 printable characters -starting with the space character. Being a seven-bit code, ASCII seven binary digits (a range of 0 to 127 decimal) to represent character information. The European Computer Manufacturers Association (ECMA) published editions of its own ASCII clones: ECMA-6. Aliases for ASCII include: ANSI_X3.4-1968, ANSI_X3.4-1986, IBM367, CP367, CSASCII, ISO646-US, ISO_646.IRV:1991, ISO-IR-6, and US-ASCII.
- ATM
- ATM stands for: Asynchronous Transfer Mode. Unlike packet-switched networks (such as the Internet Protocol or Ethernet) that make use of variable sized frames/packets, ATM encodes data using small fixed -sized cells.
- Backbone
- The term Backbone refers to the core infrastructure of a network -i.e. the central part of a network that transports information from one central location to another central location.
- Base Station
- In mobile telecommunications, the term "Base Station" denotes a central radio transmitter/receiver used for maintaining communications with the mobile radios (or wireless-capable devices) within its range. In cellular telephony, each cell (or micro-cell) has its own base station; with each base station in turn being interconnected with other cells’ base station.
- Blog
- A BLOG or WEBLOG is a web-based infrastructure that allows publishing of content/articles over the web and a chronological archival thereof.
- Bluetooth
- Bluetooth Definition: Bluetooth is an industrial specification for IEEE 802.15.1 based wireless personal area networks (PANs). Designed to allow networking of personal digital assistants (PDAs), mobile phones, laptops, Personal Computers, printers and digital cameras etc. within close proximity, it makes use of short-range radio frequency.
- Bridge
- A network bridge connects multiple network segments along the data link layer.
- Broadband
- Broadband is a terms that refers to a signal that involves a relatively wide range of frequencies. Often used to indicate use of a wide ("broad") range ("band") of frequencies being used in various electronics and telecommunications related subject areas.
- BOPL
- BOPL stands for: Broadband over Power Line (BoPL), or simply Broadband Power Line (BPL). It has been historically used by electrical power company personnel for establishing limited voice and data communication channels between electrical power generating stations, and various substations that are often located in remote/unpopulated areas. Recently some of the electrical power companies have started to offer "broadband Internet access" by carrying IP data packets superimposed over electrical power lines.
- CDMA
- CDMA in the contect of communication technologies means: Code Division Multiple Access. CDMA is a form of multiplexing -a method of multiple access that does not divide up the channel using different time-slots (as in TDMA), or using frequency modulation (such as FDMA), but encodes data by associating a special code with each channel.
- Cingular
- Cingular Wireless (a joint venture between AT&T Inc. and BellSouth Corporation) is one of the largest wireless carrier in America, serving over 50 million customers. Cingular has not only one of largest digital voice and data network, its third generation (3G) wireless technology based network (based on HSDPA) technology also services a host of voice and data-services customers.
- EDGE
- EDGE stands for Enhanced Data Rates for Global Evolution. Also known as EGPRS, it is considered to be an enhancement to 2G and 2.5G General Packet Radio Service (GPRS) networks. EDGE is often used in packet switched applications such as Internet connections –especially in connections requiring high-speed data transfers such as multimedia (audio & video) services.
- GPRS
- GPRS stands for: General Packet Radio Services. The GPRS Core Network (GPRS) provides mobility management, session management and transport for Internet Protocol (IP) packet services in GSM and UMTS networks.
- GSM
- GSM stands for: The Global System for Mobile Communications. Currently, mobile solutions based on GSM are used by well over 1.5 billion people in more than 210 countries. GSM is one of the most popular standard for mobile phones worldwide.
- HSDPA
- HSDPA stands for: High Speed Downlink Packet Access. It is used by carriers (such as Cingular -a joint venture of AT&T and BellSouth) to provide high speed wireless connectivity to mobile users.
- TDMA
- TDMA stands for: Time Division Multiple Access. TDMA allows several users to share the same frequency using different timeslots.
- UMTS
- UMTS stands for: Universal Mobile Telephone System. It is considered to be the 3G successor to GSM, utilizes the W-CDMA air interface and GSM infrastructures. It supports up to 1920 kbit/s data transfer rates. UTMS infrastructures in US have to currently shares the 850MHz and 1900MHz bands (traditionally allocated for 1G/2G cellular communication 1G and 2G networks) because no 5 MHz frequency slots have been set-aside for UTMS in US yet.
- BSS
- BSS stands for: Basic Service Set. BSS usually comprises of an access point (an AP) and all the LAN PCs (or other wireless capable client devices) that may be associated with it.
- Cable Modem
- A special type of modem designed to modulate data signals over cable television infrastructure.
- Cantenna
- A Cantenna is a rather crude (but often very effective) directional waveguide antenna for increasing the range of a Wi-Fi network. It is often used by war-driving onlookers (potential intruders) for zeroing in on a wifi network from a distance. Even though Cantennas can be cheaply constructed using readily available materials: A few small fastening hardware, a short medium-gauge wire conductor and a tin can between 3 to 4 inches in diameter, and an N-Female chassis mount connector from your corner electronic hobby store; they can be ver effective (such as the ones assembled using long Pringles potato chip tin cans, etc.) waveguides for collecting wireless data packets from a distance.
- CLEC
- CLEC stands for: Competitive Local Exchange Carrier. Telecommunications Act of 1996 allowed formation of CLECs -i.e. telecommunications provider companies that competes with established (incumbent) "Local Exchange Carriers" or Th e Big Telephone Companies.
- BOPL
- BOPL stands for: Broadband over Power Line (BoPL), or simply Broadband Power Line (BPL). It has been historically used by electrical power company personnel for establishing limited voice and data communication channels between electrical power generating stations, and various substations that are often located in remote/unpopulated areas. Recently some of the electrical power companies have started to offer "broadband Internet access" by carrying IP data packets superimposed over electrical power lines.
- CSMA/CA
- CSMA/CA stands for: Carrier Sense Multiple Access with Collision Avoidance.
- DES
- DES stands for: The Data Encryption Standard. This cipher used to be the defacto (official) Federal Information Processing Standard (FIPS) for the United States, but it has not only been shown to be easily (relatively speaking) breakable, it has been suspected to be rigged to provide a backdoor access to the US National Security Agency (NSA). Because it uses only 56-bit long keys, DES keys have been broken in less than 24 hours; and it is now deemed highly insecure. Even though its later version (Triple DES) has been shown to be relatively more secure, DES is now considered obsolete, and replaced by the Advanced Encryption Standard (AES).
- DHCP
- DHCP stands for: Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol. Many operating systems use DHCP to automatically assign IP addresses within a specified range to network devices. The IP addresses so assigned are usually valid only for a for a specific (administrator-defined) period.
- DNS
- DNS stands for: The Domain Name System or Domain Name Server. DNS is used to store several pieces of information (DNS records) about a domain. It not only provides the IP address associated with the domain name, it is also used to located various hosts (pop3, smpt, news, http, etc.) associated with the domain name.
- DSL
- DSL stands for: Digital Subscriber Line. DSL uses a host of digital technologies to provide high-speed data transmission over traditional telephone wires (aka "last mile" or "local loop") of a local telephone network.
- EAP
- EAP stands for: Extensible Authentication Protocol -a generalized framework for several different authentication methods. EAP-TLS (Transport Layer Security) was certified by the Wi-Fi alliance. The EAP types now additionally include EAP-TLS, EAP-TTLS/MSCHAPv2, PEAPv0/EAP-MSCHAPv2, PEAPv1/EAP-GTC, and EAP-SIM.
- ESS
- ESS stands for: Extended Service Set. When more than one BSS is configured to become an ESS, it allows LAN mobile users to freely roam between different BSSs that belong to an ESS -as may be denoted by their ESS-ID/SSID associations.
- Ethernet
- Ethernet denotes a frame-based computer networking technology commonly used for linking computing devices on local area networks (LANs).
- FIPS
- FIPS stands for: Federal Information Processing Standards. US government has published several standards for use by all non-military United Stated government agencies, and by US government contractors. A few notable FIPS include the Data Encryption Standard (FIPS 46), the Advanced Encryption Standard (AES), Two-letter country codes (FIPS 10-4), Place codes (FIPS 55-3), County codes (FIPS 6-4), State codes (FIPS 5-2), FIPS 140, FIPS 201, FIPS 4, and FIPS 4-2.
- FQDN
- FQDN stands for: Fully Qualified Domain Name. FQDNs provide an unambiguous identity of an Internet node. For example, www.WirelessRoomService.Com is FQDN of this website. While we could add a more FQDNs to our domain name (such as www2.WirelessRoomService.Com or mail.WirelessRoomService.Com), there can only be one www.WirelessRoomService.Com FQDN.
- FTP
- FTP stands for: File Transfer Protocol, and is commonly used for exchanging files over any network using the TCP/IP protocol.
- Full-duplex
- A full-duplex communication system allows for simultenous flow of information/communication in both directions.
- Gateway
- A Gateway denotes a network point that acts as an entrance to another network.
- Half-duplex
- A half-duplex system allows communications in only one direction at a time -not simultaneously.
- HEX
- Hex (Hexadecimal) Characters represent a 16 digit numbering system that uses a combination of the numbers 0 - 9 and letters A - F. Just a digit in decimal system represents one of the ten (0 through 9) values, a Hex code can have one of the sixteen (0 through 9 and A through F) possible values.
- Hidden Node
- The term "Hidden Node" denotes a device (a radiating station) on a WLAN that is located (i.e. physically located relative to others) such that it cannot sense the fact that there is a third station simultaneously communicating with the device it is trying to transmit data to. Data packets sent by the hidden node are likely to be lost, requiring it to resend/retransmit those packets.
- HIPERLAN
- HIPERLAN stands for: HIgh PErformance Radio LAN -a Wireless LAN standard. This European alternative for the American IEEE 802.11x standards has been defined by the European Telecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI) through their BRAN (Broadband Radio Access Networks) project initiative.
- HIPERMAN
- The term HIPERMAN is an abbreviation for: High PErformance Radio Metropolitan Area Network -a standard created by the European Telecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI) Broadband Radio Access Networks (BRAN) group as an European alternative to the WiMAX (or the IEEE 802.16), and the Korean technology WiBro standard.
- HomeRF
- HomeRF is a (now obsolete) wireless networking specification formerly known as Shared Wireless Access Protocol or SWAP. It was developed by the HomeRF Working Group (which included more than 100 mobile wireless companies), but then abandoned in favor of IEEE 802.11b (wifi) and other more popular (such as Bluetooth) and newer networking standards.
- Hotspot Gateway
- A hotspot gateway is a device that provides user authentication, authorization and accounting for a wireless network. It allows hotspot owners (WLAN Admins) to prevent intruders (malicious users) from making unauthorized use of heir wifi hotspots.
More information on Wireless Networking Topic: Hotspot Gateway
- HTTP
- HTTP stands for: HyperText Transfer Protocol -a method used to transfer information on the World Wide Web.
- HTTPS
- Invented by Netscape corporation, https is a URI scheme that is identical to the http -except that it uses a different (usually 443) port, and introduces an additional layer of encryption/authentication between HTTP and TCP.
- Hub
- A Hub (or a Concentrator) is a device for connecting multiple Ethernet (twisted pair or fiber optic) devices together, thereby forming a single network segment.
- Hyperlink
- A hyperlink (a link) -when embedded in a hypertext document -allows one to refer to other hypertext documents or other resource.
- HyperWRT
- HyperWRT is the name of a GPL firmware project for the Linksys WRT54G and WRT54GS wireless routers. Later versions of HyperWRT firmware include HyperWRT +tofu for the WRT54G and HyperWRT Thibor for the WRT54GS. HyperWRT is no longer compatible with most new (WRT54G v5.0) models including v5.0 those with "CDFB" and "CGN7" serial number prefixes.
- IMAP
- IMAP stands for: The Internet Message Access Protocol. Just like POP3, IMAP is an application layer Internet protocol that allows a local client to access e-mail from a remote mail server.
- Infrastructure Mode
- Infrastructure mode denotes a configuration in which a wireless device/segment is integrated with a wired LAN -thereby resulting in an infrastructure configuration. Unlike the Ad Hoc Mode (where PCs or other networked resources communicate directly with each other), Infrastructure Mode requires that all data packets pass through a central AP. In other words, it is a wireless network in which an access point plays a central (mediating) role.
- IP
- Internet Protocol
- LAN
- Local Area Network (LAN) denotes a network of computing devices covering a small local area.
- LEC
- LEC stands for: Local Exchange Carrier. LEC refers to traditional, established incumbent Telephone companies.
- Cingular
- Cingular Wireless (a joint venture between AT&T Inc. and BellSouth Corporation) is one of the largest wireless carrier in America, serving over 50 million customers. Cingular has not only one of largest digital voice and data network, its third generation (3G) wireless technology based network (based on HSDPA) technology also services a host of voice and data-services customers.
- Local Loop
- Local loop (aka Last Mile) denotes the physical telephone circuit/link between the demarcation point of the customer premises and the edge of the telecommunications (telco) service provider's network.
- MAC
- MAC Address stands for: Media Access Control Address. MAC address uniquely identifies a networking equipment.
- MAN
- MAN is an acronym for: Metropolitan Area Network. MANs are typically large (campus-wide or citywide) computer networks based on technologies such as ATM, FDDI, Ethernet (Metro Ethernet), and SMDS. MANs are often used to interlink college campus LANs, and then to further extended them by connecting them to form even bigger wide area networks or WANs. MANs capable of providing aggregated high data transfer rates (34 to 155 Mbit/s) over long (often 30 to 50 miles) distances are not atypical.
- MESH Networks
- Mesh Networking denotes a unique, self-healing way to create a very reliable peer to peer network to route information (data, voice, etc.) using inexpensive member nodes. Mesh networks allow information to traverse around (hop around) from node to node –thereby allowing information to get around any blocked/inactive nodes, and creating a network that provides continuous connectivity and self-healing reconfiguration capabilities. Mesh networking concepts are now increasingly being employed not only for creating more robust wireless networks, and wired LANs, but also as a modality for creating more robust/fault-tolerant data communications models in modular/distributed software designs.
- MIB
- MIB stands for: Management Information Base. MIB is a virtual store -a collection of operational information about a network. Information contained in a MIB is typically used for analysis through a Simple Network Management Protocol (SNMP)-compliant system.
- MITM
- MITM stands for Man in the Middle attack. MITM security breach allows an attacker to successfully intercept, read, modify and insert at will messages between two parties. MITM victims would have no knowledge that their communication link/channel has been compromised. Communications based on the original Diffie-Hellman key exchange protocol (when used without authentication) have been particularly susceptible to MITM attack. Inadequately secured wireless networks are inherently susceptible to MITM vulnerability, and ought to be deemed insecure.
- NAT
- NAT is an abbreviation for: Network Address Translation. It is a mechanism for translating or mapping Internet Protocol addresses (IP addresses) used within one network to a predefined/different IP address known within another network. NAT is routinely used to hide/obscure the actual IP address of protected network devices from a potentially hostile public network such as Internet.
- NetBEUI
- NetBEUI stands for: NetBIOS Extended User Interface, and pronounced net-booey. Also known as NetBIOS Frame or NBF, it is an unrouted network/transport level data protocol commonly used on Microsoft Windows based networks. NetBIOS over NetBEUI is used on many network operating systems including LAN Manager, LAN Server, Windows for Workgroups, Windows 9x, Windows NT and Windows 200x.
- OSI
- OSI (aka OSI Model) stands for: The Open Systems Interconnection Reference Model. It is also known as the OSI seven layer model. The International Standards Organization (ISO) has defined the seven layers of Open System Interconnection (OSI) network model as follows:Physical (Layer 1), Data Link (Layer 2), Network (Layer 3), Transport (Layer 4), Session (Layer 5), Presentation (Layer 6), and Application (Layer 7).
- Application Layer
- The application layer is used by network-aware programs to communicate across a network.
- Data Link Layer
- Data Link Layer provides the method of passing data packets from the Network Layer onto different hosts. Data Link Layer prepares the data frames (e.g. by adding a packet header), and then carries out the transmission thereof over a physical medium.
- MAC
- MAC stands for: Media Access Control Layer, provides media access services for IEEE 802.X local-area networks.
- Network Layer
- Network layer provides infrastructure for getting packets across a single network.
- PHY
- PHY stands for: Physical Layer -the lowest layer (transport medium) within the OSI reference model. PHY provides for the transmission of data through a communications channel (by defining the electrical, mechanical, and procedural specifications thereof) for IEEE 802 based local-area networks.
- Physical layer
- As the name suggests, Physical Layer involves actual physical network components -i.e. hubs, network cables, network interface cards, and repeaters, etc.
- Transport Layer
- Transport Layer (between the application and the network protocol) is primarily used to connect applications together through the use of ports.
- PAN
- PAN stands for: Personal Area Network. Definition of Bluetooth (as defined by for IEEE 802.15.1 standard) specifies how personal digital assistants (PDAs), mobile phones, laptops, Personal Computers, printers and digital cameras etc. can be networked using short-range radio frequency -while being in close proximity.
- Passphrase
- Passphrase is a sequence of words or a set if characters used to control/restrict access to a computer system, a program or data. Unlike a "Password," a Passphrase is usually longer ; and made up of multiple words or relatively long character sequences. Passphrases that comprise of multiple words are considered more secure (difficult to break) than short "passwords."
- PEAP
- PEAP stands for: Protected Extensible Authentication Protocol, or Protected EAP. It denotes a (relatively) secure method of transmitting authentication details (such as UserIDs/passwords, etc.) across wireless network devices. PEAP was jointly developed by Microsoft, RSA Security and Cisco Systems.
- Peer-to-Peer
- A network design/topology that allows its member devices (computers) to share and use various networked resources on an equal basis. It is also known as "Independent Network."
- Penetration Testing
- A controlled test designed to subject a WLAN network to a simlutated/mock-up break-in attempt for the purpose of evaluating its robustness or lack thereof.
More information on Wireless Networking Topic: Penetration Testing
- Podcasting
- Podcasting is a method of distributing multimedia (audio, video) files/content over the Internet.
- PoE
- PoE stands for: Power Over Ethernet. As standardized in IEEE 802.3af, PoE power specifications are : 48 volts (DC) over two pairs of a four-pair cable with the maximum current allowed being 350 mA; thereby capping the maximum load power rating at 15.4 watts. Considering that 802.3af allows for the powered pairs to also carry data; a special (phantom) technique had to be crafted so as to allow provisioning of PoE using not only 10BASE-T and 100BASE-TX pairs, but also 1000BASE-T (Gigabit) Ethernet cabling.
- POP3
- POP3 stands for: Post Office Protocol version 3. Most local email clients use POP3 (an application-layer Internet standard protocol) to retrieve e-mail from an ISP-provided/remote mail server over a TCP/IP connection.
- Ports
- Port is a connection through which data gets sent and received between computing devices.
- POS
- POS stands for: Point of Sale. POS devices allow a business to enter details of a transaction into its business application. Traditionally, POS Systems included a cash register, a cash drawer and a printer. Newer models of POS systems not include card readers, scanners, wireless interfaces and extensive data collection, storage, analysis, reporting and communication capabilities.
- POTS
- POTS stands for: Plain Old Telephone Service. The term POTS usually denotes old/analog telephone devices.
- QoS
- QoS (pronounced "que-oh-ess") means: Quality of Service. When used in the context of computer networks or telecommunication circuits, QoS is a measure of the probability of a (data) packet succeeding in passing between two points in the network. Some references to QoS include an indication of data-transmission success expressed as a measure of transmission/propagation time. In other contexts, QoS may be a reference to Signal to Noise ratio of a data transmission channel or a circuit.
- QSR
- QSR means Quick Service Restaurant. An acronym often used for the fast-food or quick service restaurant industry.
- RADIUS
- RADIUS stands for: Remote Access Dial-In User Server. It is an authentication method used for granting (only authenticated) access in conjunction with EAP for 802.1x authentication, as well as in setups requiring Session Based Keys.
- Repeater
- A repeater is an electronic device that receives a signal, amplifies it (increases it's intensity/power), and then retransmits it. Repeaters are commonly used to transmit signals over longer distances without degradation.
- Roaming
- Roaming involves allowing wireless LAN mobile users to freely move around an ESS -while maintaining a continuous connection to the infrastructure network.
- Rogue AP
- A rogue AP is any unauthorized or undocumented WiFi Access Point that shows up in your wireless LAN (WLAN) or wired LAN.
- Router
- A router is a networking device that forwards data-packets across an internetwork, onto their destinations.
- RSS
- RSS stands for: Really Simple Syndication. It is also used to denote: Rich Site Summary, RDF Site Summary, and Real-time Simple Syndication.
- RTS Threshold
- RTS Threshold denotes the minimum (preset) transmission packet size below which the RTS/CTS mechanism will not be enabled. RTS/CTS mechanism has been designed to deal with "hidden transmitters nodes" contending for the transmission medium while being unaware of each other.
- SGML
- SGML stands for: The Standard Generalized Markup Language. It is a meta-language that can be used to define markup languages for documents.
- SMTP
- SMTP stands for: Simple Mail Transfer Protocol -a defacto standard for transmitting emails over the Internet.
- SNMP
- SNMP stands for: Simple Network Management Protocol. It is a network management protocol that defines specifics for the transfer of LAN operational data between Management Information Bases (MIBs).
- Softswitch
- A software application on telephone service provider's network that routes/connects calls from one phone line to another.
- Splog
- SPLOG stands for: SPam Blog. Blogs that engage in search engine spamming (often by spewing out auto-generated content or by link-spamming for the purpose of profiteering) are called SPLOGS.
- SSID
- The term SSID is an abriviation for Service Set IDentifier. SSID (an alphanumeric character sequence up to 32 long) uniquely identifies a group of wireless network devices used in a given "Service Set". Variants of the SSID include Independent Basic Service Set Identifier (IBSS) on Ad-hoc wireless networks; and an access point (BSS) or possibly an Extended Service Set (ESS) on an Infrastructure network. The IEEE 802.11 standard dictates that an each of the aforementioned variants (IBSS, BSS, and ESS) be defined by a "Network Name" -i.e. an SSID.
- TCP
- Transmission Control Protocol
- TKIP
- TKIP stands for: Temporal Key Integrity Protocol. TKIP is a security protocol used for Wi-Fi Protected Access (WPA) encryption. Even though TKIP makes use of a RC4 based key scheme, it provides per-packet key mixing, a message integrity check, and a re-keying mechanism. In doing so, TKIP ensures that every data packet is transmitted using its own unique encryption key. TKIP forms the RC4 traffic key by hashing the initialization vector (IV) values with the WPA key; thereby overcoming one of WEP's biggest security weaknesses.
- UDP
- UDP stands for: The User Datagram Protocol. It is one of the core protocols of the Internet protocol suite.
- URI
- URI stands for: Uniform Resource Identifier -an Internet protocol element that usually consists of a short string of characters.
- URL
- URL stands for: Uniform Resource Locator. URL is actually an URI that not only denotes a resource, it also includes information about its primary access mechanism. For example, the URL of this website (http://www.WirelessRoomService.Com) not only tells us what the URI/hostname (www.WirelessRoomService.Com) is, but also the fact that it is to be accessed over the network using the "http" protocol.
- VLAN
- VLAN stands for: Virtual Local Area Network. VLAN allows hosts located on physically different/disjoint network segments to be interconnected as if they were on the same segment. vLANs provide a mechanism to connect a network of computers as if they were all connected to the same network cable -even when they may actually be connecting to different segments of a LAN.
- WAP
- WAP stands for: Wireless Access Protocol. WAP is actually a suite of protocols that specify how mobile devices (such as PDAs and mobile phones, etc.) can be "Internet enabled." WAP is now being used on many "Mobile Internet Sites" -also known as WAP-sites.
- WAE
- Wireless Application Environment (WAE) is part of Wireless Access Protocol (WAP) suite.
- WDP
- Wireless Datagram Protocol (WDP) is part of Wireless Access Protocol (WAP) suite.
- WSP
- Wireless Session Protocol (WSP) is part of Wireless Access Protocol (WAP) suite.
- WTLS
- Wireless Transport Layer Security (WTLS) is part of Wireless Access Protocol (WAP) suite.
- WTP
- Wireless Transaction Protocol (WTP) is part of Wireless Access Protocol (WAP) suite.
- WCN
- WCN is an acronym that is used (not too frequently, although) for describing Wireless Community Networks, Wireless Community Projects Wireless Community/Public Hotspots. Such community WLANs (Wi-Fi public hotspots) are usually created by interlinking individual/hobbyist owned Wireless LANs that are based on wireless technology standards such as 802.11b. Most community WLANs are linked to the Internet using a broadband (ADSL, or a Wireless Broadband) uplink.
- Website
- A website denotes a collection of Web pages.
- WEP
- Wired Equivalent Privacy (WEP) algorithm is designed to protect wireless communications from eavesdropping, and to prevent unauthorized access. WEP is susceptible to attacks, and is shown to be breakable.
- WiFi
- WiFi describe WLAN products that are based on the IEEE 802.11 standards. Note: Effective March 13, 2006, WPA2 certification is mandatory for any new wireless device that wishes to be Wi-Fi certified.
- WiMAX
- WiMAX stands for: Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access. The WiMAX Forum formulated it in 2001 to promote worldwide conformance and interoperability of various IEEE 802.16 based devices. WiMAX is intended to be the “wireless alternative” for the delivery of last mile segment of broadband that has (traditionally) been provisioned using wired (e.g. DSL, Cable, etc.) data pipes. The WiMAX Forum accords to various 802.16 based equipment ratings/designations such as “WiMAX-ready,” "WiMAX-compliant,” "pre-WiMAX," or being “Not WiMAX Forum Certified.”
- WirelessMAN
- WirelessMAN stands for: Wireless Metropolitan Area Network (i.e. Wireless MAN), and denotes use of wireless antennas to create a MAN. WirelessMANs are based on IEEE 802.16 (last mile link based on 10 – 66 GHz frequency band) specifications for the wirelessMAN Air Interface. WirelessMANs require line of sight, but they not only support point-to-multipoint topology, frequency-division duplex (FDD) and time-division duplex (TDD); they also provide excellent quality of service (QoS). WMANs based on the newer 802.16a make use of 2 - 11 GHz frequency bands, and support mesh (not just the usual point-to-multipoint) network architecture.
- WISP
- WISP means Wireless Internet Service Provider. Unlike traditional Internet Access Providers (ISPs) that provide wired-access to the Internet, WISPs provide Internet access using wireless devices.
- WLAN
- A "Wireless LAN" or WLAN denotes a wireless local area network that uses radio waves as signal carrier.
- WMESH
- Wireless mesh networking differs from conventional mesh networking only in that it makes uses of Wireless for providing interconnectivity for the member nodes. Wireless Mesh Networks not only provide increased redundancy and decentralization of control functions, they are also considerably inexpensive, and exceptionally reliable considering how making use of the dynamic routing capabilities included in each member node (radio) is central to the very concept of Mesh Networking in itself. Wireless mesh networks allow member nodes (adaptive radios) to connect with other devices that are in a set range, often reduce the hop-count significantly, and allow the nodes to share the broadband uplink (e.g. Internet feed) -while increasing the fault-tolerance of the enter Wireless Mesh Network. Some of the (Ad Hoc) routing protocols used for Wireless Mesh Networking include AODV (Ad-hoc On Demand Distance Vector), DSR (Dynamic Source Routing), OLSR (Optimized Link State Routing protocol), PWRP (Predictive Wireless Routing Protocol), and TORA (Temporally-Ordered Routing Algorithm).
- WorldWideWeb
- Name of the world's first web browser and WYSIWYG (What You See Is What You Get) HTML editor invented by Tim Berners-Lee on February 26, 1991.
- WPA
- WPA stands for: Wi-Fi Protected Access. WPA (created by The Wi-Fi Alliance) encrypts the packets using the RC4 stream cipher, a 128-bit key and a 48-bit Initialization Vector (IV). When used with an 802.1X authentication server, WPA allows distribution of different keys to each user. It can also be used in "pre-shared key" (PSK) mode (a.k.a. WPA-Personal or WPA2-Personal) where all users share a common key (passphrase); but it is less secure. The 802.1X authentication version is known as WPA-Enterprise or WPA2-Enterprise. Note: Effective March 13, 2006, WPA2 certification is mandatory for any new wireless device that wishes to be Wi-Fi certified.
- WWAN
- WWAN stands for: Wireless Wide Area Network. Unlike WLAN (wireless LAN), WWAN is a form of wireless network based on various cellular network technologies -e.g. GPRS, CDMA2000, GSM, CDPD, or Mobitex. Wireless Broadband Data Solutions for (WWAN) based on aforementioned cellular technologies (Packet-switched Data Networks such as GPRS/CDPD or Circuit-switched dial-up access) are traditionally offered by telephone companies (CLECs) such as: AT&T Wireless, Cingular Wireless, Sprint PCS or Verizon. Some of the newer computing and communication devices (handheld computers, PDAs, Cellular phones, etc.) are now preconfigured with a built-in a WWAN (GSM/CDMA radios) interfaces.
- WWW
- WWW stands for: The World Wide Web -a virtual/global information space which people can access (for reading from as well as for writing to) from various devices connected to the Internet.
- XHTML
- XHTML stands for: The Extensible HyperText Markup Language. As compared to HTML, XHTML has a stricter syntax.
- XML
- XML stands for: The Extensible Markup Language. W3C-recommends use of XML as general-purpose markup language -not only for describing data, but also for facilitating storage thereof.
- XML-RPC
- XML-RPC is a remarkably simple Remote Procedure Call (RPC) protocol that uses XML to encode its (remote procedure) calls, and HTTP for the transport mechanism.