Wireless Terminology

These are some of the wireless terminologies used in the industry.

Terminology	Description and common usage	Area of usage
802.11a	ü An IEEE standard for wireless area network which operate in the 5 GHz. Wireless product must support 6,12, and 24 Mpbs data rate as well as this can go up to 54 Mbps.	ü This is used in 802.11a wireless networking
802.11b	ü An IEEE standard support 11 Mbps of data rate and operating range between 2.4 GHz – 2.4835 GHz. This uses CSMA/CD for path sharing. These wireless devices suffer interference with other devices like, microwaves, codeless phones, etc which operate in same frequency.	ü This is used in 802.11b wireless networking
802.11g	ü These devices operate range between 2.4 GHz – 2.4835 GHz and support data rate of 54 Mbps in most of the devices. These devices are backward compatible with 802.11b devices. These standard support better security such as WPA (Wi-Fi Protected Access), WPA2 with pre shared key or RADIUS server.	ü This is used in 802.11g wireless networking, Routers, laptops,
802.11n	ü Latest IEEE standard which support bandwidth upto 600 Mbps. This standard support 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz band and backward compatible with 802.11a, 802.11b and 802.11g wireless standards.	ü This is used in 802.11n wireless networking, routers, laptops, PDAs and 802.11g and 802.11b devices which are compatible with 802.11n.
dBi	ü Decibel is the unit which measures the gain of wireless antenna.	ü Used in every standard due to its usage to measure the signal strength.
Antenna	ü Antennas are used to transmit and receive wireless signals from wireless bridge. Antennas are connected to bridge and bridge is connected to local area network.	ü Used in all standard.
Fresnel Zone	ü The area around the line of sight of WLANs which used to transmit signals between WLAN devices. This are should be free with disturbance for strong signals	ü Used in all the standards.
RADIUS	ü Remote Authentication Dial In User Service an authentication and accounting which used to authenticate dial in users usernames and passwords. This service is used by ISP (Internet Service Providers)	ü Used in all the standards when needed to authenticate.
WEP (Wired Equivalent Privacy)	ü This is a security layer which used by wireless network. WEP used shared key by source and destination devices to encrypt and decrypt communication.	ü PDAs, Wi-Fi areas, hotspots, WLAN, WPAN,
SSID (Service Ser IDentifier)	ü This is the public name which identifies the wireless network from other networks.	ü WLAN, WPAN, WMAN, etc.
PCMCIA (Personal Computer Memory Card International Association)	ü External peripheral device which is comes in size of a credit card. This can be fixed to laptops to get wireless connection.	ü Laptops, PCs
Access Point (A/P)	ü Help users to connect to WLAN or wired network. Mobile users are automatically shifted to next AP while they are on the move.	ü WLAN, WPAN, WMAN, etc.
WPA (Wi-Fi Protected Access)	ü Security mechanism better than WEP which provide better security.	ü WLAN, WLAN, WPAN, PDAs,
WLAN (Wireless Local Area Connection)	ü High frequency radio waves or infrared can be used for communication between nodes. In this Local Area Network used wireless transmission for communication.	ü
WWAN (Wireless Wide Area Network)	ü Similar to WAN except the implementation of wireless technology for communication. These enable users to interact with corporate email, applications and information as they do in the wired environment.	ü
WPAN (Wireless Personal Area Network)	ü With help of IrDA and Bluetooth we can communicate in a short distance such as 10m. This enabled personal area network which equipped with personal devices like, PDA, laptop and wireless printers, etc.	ü
WMAN (Wireless Metropolitan Area)	ü Wireless communication network which covers a metropolitan area which use multiple WLAN in the range of 50km.	ü
War Driving	ü This is a process of travelling around buildings to find out available wireless access points to gain access to networks and internet. Hackers use war driving to gain unauthorized access to corporate networks.	ü This can be used in any wireless network.