Airlink RTW026 User Manual
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Chapter 6: Glossary
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Authentication and WEP Encryption
The absence of a physical connection between nodes makes the wireless links vulnerable to
eavesdropping and information theft. To provide a certain level of security , the IEEE 802.11
standard has defined two types of authentication methods, open system and shared key.
With open system authentication a wireless PC can join any network and receive any
messages that are not encrypted. With shared key authentication, only those PCs that
possess the correct authentication key can join the network. By default IEEE 802.11 wireless
devices operate in an Open system network.
DHCP (Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol)
When operates as a DHCP server, the Wireless Broadband Router assign IP addresses to the
client PCs on the LAN. The client PCs “leases” these Private IP addresses for a user-defined
amount of time. After the lease time expires, the private IP address is made available for
assigning to other network devices.
The DHCP IP address can be a single, fixed public IP address, an your service provider
assigned public IP address, or a private IP address.
If you enable DHCP server on a private IP address, a public IP address will have to be
assigned to the NAT IP address, and NAT has to be enabled so that the DHCP IP address can
be translated into a public IP address. By this, the client PCs are able to access the Internet.
Infrastructure mode
A backbone to extend the service provided by network. This mode provides wireless
connectivity to multiple wireless network devices within a fixed range or area of coverage,
interacting with wireless nodes via an antenna.
LAN (Local Area Network) & WAN (Wide Area Network)
A LAN is a computer network limited to the immediate area, usually the same building or
floor of a building. A WAN, on the other hand, is an outside connection to another network
or the Internet.
The Ethernet side of the Wireless Broadband Router is called the LAN port. It is a
twisted-pair Ethernet 10/100Base-T interface. A hub can be connected to the LAN port. More
than one computers, such as server or printer, can be connected through this hub to the
Wireless Broadband Router and composes a LAN.
The WAN port of the Wireless Broadband Router composes the WAN interface, which
supports PPP or RFC 1483 connecting to another remote DSL device or cable modem.
MAC Address
Media Access Code Address. A unique, 48-bit number assigned to every network interface
card by the manufacturer.
NAT (Network Address Translation) IP Address
NAT is an Internet standard that translates a private IP within one network to a public IP
address, either a static or dynamic one. NAT provides a type of firewall by hiding internal IP
addresses. It also enables a company to use more internal IP addresses.
If the IP addresses given by your your service provider are not enough for each PC on the
LAN and the Wireless Broadband Router, you need to use NAT. With NAT, you make up a
private IP network for the LAN and assign an IP address from that network to each PC. One
of some public addresses is configured and mapped to a private workstation address when
accesses are made through the gateway to a public network.
For example, the Wireless Broadband Router is assigned with the public IP address of
168.111.1.1. With NAT enabled, it creates a Virtual LAN. Each PC on the Virtual LAN is