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38 ASUS WLAN Card
Chapter 5
Chapter 5 - Glossary
Glossary
TCP (Transmission Control Protocol)
The standard transport level protocol that provides the full duplex, stream service
on which many application protocols depend. TCP allows a process or one
machine to send a stream of data to a process on another. Software implementing
TCP usually resides in the operating system and uses the IP to transmit information
across the network.
WAN (Wide Area Network)
A system of LANs, connected together. A network that connects computers located
in separate areas, (i.e., different buildings, cities, countries). The Internet is a wide
area network.
WECA (Wireless Ethernet Compatibility Alliance)
An industry group that certifies cross-vender interoperability and compatibility
of IEEE 802.11b wireless networking products and to promote that standard for
enterprise, small business, and home environments.
WPA (Wi-Fi Protected Access)
Wi-Fi Protected Access (WPA) is an improved security system for 802.11. It is part
of the 802.11i draft security standard. WPA encompasses TKIP (Temporal Key
Integrity Protocol) along with MIC (Message Integrity Check) and other fixes to
WEP such as Weak IV (Initialization Vector) filtering and Random IV generation.
TKIP uses 802.1x to deploy and change temporary keys as opposed to static
WEP keys once used in the past. It is a significant improvement over WEP. WPA
is part of a complete security solution. WPA also requires authentication servers in
enterprise security solutions.
Requirements
(1) A WPA compatible Access Point or Wireless router, (2) Operating system
updates that support WPA. In XP, an updated Windows Zero Config service is
needed. Users can download the Windows XP WPA patch here:
http://microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyId=009D8425-CE2B-47A4-ABEC-274845DC9E91&displaylang=en
Please note that this patch requires the installation Windows XP Service Pack 1,
which is available here: http://www.microsoft.com/WindowsXP/pro/downloads/
servicepacks/sp1/default.asp
For earlier Windows Operating systems, a WPA capable supplicant is required
such as Funk Softwareʼs Odyssey Client.
WLAN (Wireless Local Area Network)
This is a group of computers and other devices connected wirelessly in a small
area. A wireless network is referred to as LAN or WLAN.