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Glossary
Some common terms you may find on this website |
| A |
@home: Cable Modem ISP (Internet Access Provider)
Adelphia: Cable Company.
ADSL: High speed, always on internet access through 'regular' phone lines (AsymetricDigitalSubscriberLine). Similar to cable modems.
AT&T: Cable & Long Distance Company. Acquired TCI/@home |
| B |
Baud: bit/sec
Bandwidth: amount of data that can be transmitted per time.
Bit: smallest unit of information (1/0)
Byte: 8 Bit
Bresnan Cable: Cable Company |
| C |
CAT-5: Category 5 Ethernet cable. Most frequently used LAN cable these days. Up to 100 MBit/sec, up to 100m (300 ft) long. CAT-3 is a older version for up to 10 MBit/sec. Newer version, for even higher speed, are labled CAT-5e or CAT-6.
Compuserve: Dialup Internet Service Provider (ISP). Part of AOL and soon Time Warner |
| D |
Dialup Modem: Modem which uses regular phone lines to access the internet.
DHCP: Protocol used to automatically assign various network settings, most notably IP addresses
DNS: DomainNameSystem. Network of servers used to translate domain and host names (e.g. www.buy-sell-cable.com) into numerical IP addresses.
DOCSIS: Cable modem standard (Data over Cable Systems Interface Specification) |
| E |
Ethernet: High speed local networking protocol. |
| F |
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| H |
Hub: Device to network several PCs. Frequently used for smaller home/office networks. Basically a network traffic light that avoids two PCs talking at the same time. |
| I |
ICS: Internet Connection Sharing, also name of modem sharing software included with Windows 98 SE.
ICMP: Part of the TCP/IP protocol used for network diagnosis.
IP (Address): Unique number used to identify hosts on the internet.
ISDN: Older high speed (up to 128 kBit/sec) data transmission protocol for phone lines.
ISP: Internet Service Provider, company providing internet access. |
| J |
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| K |
kBit: 1000 Bit
KBit: 1024 Bit
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| L |
LAN: Local Area Network. Office/home network, usually within a single building
Latenacy/(Lag): (excessive) response time. Time between sending a request to a server (e.g. web page) and receiving the response.
Linux: Free, open source Operating System |
| M |
MediaOne: Major US cable company. |
| N |
NAT: Network Address Translation, technique used to share a single IP address to provide internet access to a LAN.
NetBeui: Microsoft networking protocol used to share resources (files, printers) on a LAN.
Network: Connection between different PCs which allows data transfer. |
| O |
Operating System: Basic Software required for each computer.
OS/2: Operating System, developed by IBM |
| P |
packet loss: number of data packets that are lost in transmission.
patch cable: cable with all pins connected '1-1'
ping: program to measure network latency. |
| Q |
QoS: Quality of Service. Often used to indicate a certain service level guaranty. |
| R |
RoadRunner: Cable modem ISP.
Router: intelligent network device which is able to transfer data between different networks. |
| S |
Solaris: Operating System, developed by SUN. |
| T |
TCP/IP: Protocol used to exchange data over the Internet.
Terminator: Plug used to cover open ends of coaxial cables (e.g. cable TV lines)
traceroute: program to trace route used to transmit data between two computers. |
| U |
UDP: part of the TCP/IP protocol used to exchange data over the internet
UMAX: Network device manufacturer. |
| V |
VPN: Virtual Private Network. Method used to connect two or more computers securly over a public network like the Internet. |
| W |
WWW: WordWideWeb ;-) |
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