ABR

The Available Bit Rate (ABR) service type is used primarily for traffic that is not time sensitive and don't need service level guarantees.

Access Point

An access point is a device or interface that connects users to other users within the network. It can also serve as the point of interconnection between the WLAN and a fixed wire network.

The number of required access points depends on the number of network users and the area the network covers.

Access Control List

An Access Control List (ACL) is an table containing permissions for a particular service or device, defining access to objects and allowed operations.

ACS

An Auto Configuration Servers (ACS) is a server used for automatic device and user provisioning and configuration through TR069.

ADPCM

Adaptive Differential Pulse-Code Modulation (ADPCM) is a differential pulse-code modulation variant where the size of quantization ranges is modified with a scaling factor before encoding. This means that the bandwidth requirements are reduced.

ADSL

Asymmetric digital subscriber line (ADSL) is a DSL technology providing network traffic over copper wires.

ADSL is slower than VDSL, with up to 24 Mbit/s downstream and 3.3 Mbit/s upstream speeds.

Assured Forwarding

Assured Forwarding (AF) is a mechanism for assurance of delivery, given a defined rate.

In case of congestion, traffic that exceeds the rate have a higher probability of being dropped.

The four AF classes have the same priority. For each class, packets are given a drop probability.

Drop probability Class 1 Class 2 Class 3 Class 4
Low AF11 AF21 AF31 AF41
Medium AF12 AF22 AF32 AF42
High AF13 AF23 AF33 AF43

AFTR

An Address Family Transition Router (AFTR) is a server implementing the Dual-Stack Lite to provide IPv4 to IPv4 communication over IPv6.

APN

An Access Point Name (APN) is the name of a gateway between a mobile network providing access to Internet.

ARP

Address Resolution Protocol (ARP) is a protocol for mapping an Internet Protocol address (IP address) to a physical machine address that is recognized in the local network.

Asterisk

Asterisk is a software PBX that handles calls betwen telephones and connections to PSTN and VoIP services.

ATM - Asyncronous Data Transfer Mode

ATM - Asyncronous Data Transfer Mode is a protocol for high-throughput data traffic and streaming.

Auto-Negotiation

Auto-negotiation is a method in Ethernet where two devices agree on the best performance transmission mode they both support.

Back-Off

Back-Off is a method for decreasing the frequency of retransmissions of request in order to avoid congestion and collision.

Bandwidth

The bandwith is is a measure of network capacity. It indicates the bit rate capacity.

Beamforming

Beamforming is technique used for radio signals to improve quality and performance. It is done by creating multiple signals and finding the best paths, thereby “shaping” the antenna output to provide minimum interference.

Bit Error Rate

The Bit Error Rate (BER) is the percentage of transmitted bits which contain errors.

Bit Rate

The bit rate is a measure of traffic speed in a network. It indicates the number of bits per second transmitted.

Bitswap

Bitswap is a methoid for adjusting the number of bits allocated to channels. Congested channels are assigned fewer bits, and available channels are allocated more bits.

BSS

The basic service set (BSS) is the basic building block in a wireless LAN. It is a set of all stations that can communicate with each other. Every BSS has an identification (ID) called the BSSID, which is the MAC address of the access point servicing the BSS.

CA

A Certificate Authority (CA) is an entity that issues digital certificates which guarantee that a public key is owned by the certificate subject, verifying their identity.

Certificates typically include the owner's public key, the expiration date of the certificate, the owner's name and other information about the public key owner.

CBR

The Constant Bit Rate (CBR) service type is used for applications that transport traffic at a constant bit rate, where time synchronisation between source and destination is important, providing predictable response times and a static amount of bandwidth.

CCMP

CCMP – CTR mode with CBC-MAC Protocol is based on the Advanced Encryption Standard (AES) cipher along with strong message authenticity and integrity checking.

CDMA

Code division multiple access (CDMA) is a radio communication standard, where several transmitters can send information simultaneously over a single channel.

Cell (DSL)

DSL cells are ATM data encoded into small, fixed-sized packets (frames).

CHAP

Challenge Handshake Authentication Protocol (CHAP) is a method used to authenticate PPP sessions.

CHAP uses a randomly generated string as a unique challege phrase for each authentication. This is combined with device host names and hash functions so that no static secret information is sent.

Cipher

A WiFi security cipher is the method through which a connection is secured against intrusion.

For information about cipher strings, see https://www.openssl.org/docs/manmaster/apps/ciphers.html.

CLR

Cell Loss Ratio (CLR) is the percentage of network cells that do not arrive at their destination.

Codec

A coder-decoder (codec) is a method for encoding or decoding digital data streams or signals. It uses various algorithms to encode data for transmission or storage, or decodes encoded data for use.

Com2Sec

Com2Sec is a security protocol and access method for SNMP management.

Companding

A compressing-expanding (companding) is a method for managing dynamic range in channels with limited dynamic range. It compresses the dynamic range of a signal transmission and expands it at the receiving end, according to the defined.

Connection Bytes

Connection Bytes is a filtering property that matches packets only after the specified number of bytes has been transfered through the connection.

CPE

The term Customer-Premises Equipment (CPE) is used in TR069 and refers to devices in a network that is located in the premises of a subscriber.

CPU

The CPU value indicates how much of CPU processing power is being used.

%CPU

The CPU percentage for a process indicates how much of CPU processing power is being used.

CRC

Cyclic Redundancy Check (CRC) is a method for discovering errors in data transmission by verifying the received data against an attached check value.

Class Selector

The Class Selector (CS) is used by Differentiated Services as a precedence code point value that maps to a Differentiated Services Code Point. It is backwards compatible with IP precedence values.

Data Package

A data package is a portion of data that transmitted between a source and destination in a network, normally of larger size.

Dynamic DNS (DDNS or DynDNS)

Dynamic DNS (DDNS) is a method for automatically providing DNS servers with up to date information about configured hostnames and addresses.

DECT

DECT - Digital Enhanced Cordless Telecommunications is a European standard for cordless telephone systems over radio.

In the United States a slightly different radio frequency range is used, and it is called DECT 6.0.

DFS

Dynamic Frequency Selection (DFS) means that the wireless radio automatically selects the least congested wifi channel to use.

DHCP lease

A DHCP Lease is a DHCP reservation of a particular IP address provided to a client by a DHCP server. It is called lease because it expires after a certain amoutn of time (usually 24 hours).

Before the lease expires, the DHCP server should renew the lease or provide a new lease.

DHCP Options

When sending DHCP requests, additional options can be requested by providing a space separated list of codes.

Configuration

Code Description
0 Pad.
1 Subnet Mask.
2 Time Offset(deprecated).
3 Router.
4 Time Server.
5 Name Server.
6 Domain Name Server.
7 Log Server.
8 Quote Server.
9 LPR Server.
10 Impress Server.
11 Resource Location Server.
12 Host Name.
13 Boot File Size.
14 Merit Dump File.
15 Domain Name.
16 Swap Server.
17 Root Path.
18 Extensions Path.
19 IP Forwarding enable/disable.
20 Non-local Source Routing enable/disable.
21 Policy Filter.
22 Maximum Datagram Reassembly Size.
23 Default IP Time-to-live.
24 Path MTU Aging Timeout.
25 Path MTU Plateau Table.
26 Interface MTU.
27 All Subnets are Local.
28 Broadcast Address.
29 Perform Mask Discovery.
30 Mask supplier.
31 Perform router discovery.
32 Router solicitation address.
33 Static routing table.
34 Trailer encapsulation.
35 ARP cache timeout.
36 Ethernet encapsulation.
37 Default TCP TTL.
38 TCP keepalive interval.
39 TCP keepalive garbage.
40 Network Information Service Domain.
41 Network Information Servers.
42 NTP servers.
43 Vendor specific information.
44 NetBIOS over TCP/IP name server.
45 NetBIOS over TCP/IP Datagram Distribution Server.
46 NetBIOS over TCP/IP Node Type.
47 NetBIOS over TCP/IP Scope.
48 X Window System Font Server.
49 X Window System Display Manager.
50 Requested IP Address.
51 IP address lease time.
52 Option overload.
53 DHCP message type.
54 Server identifier.
55 Parameter request list.
56 Message.
57 Maximum DHCP message size.
58 Renew time value.
59 Rebinding time value.
60 Class-identifier.
61 Client-identifier.
62 NetWare/IP Domain Name.
63 NetWare/IP information.
64 Network Information Service+ Domain.
65 Network Information Service+ Servers.
66 TFTP server name.
67 Bootfile name.
68 Mobile IP Home Agent.
69 Simple Mail Transport Protocol Server.
70 Post Office Protocol Server.
71 Network News Transport Protocol Server.
72 Default World Wide Web Server.
73 Default Finger Server.
74 Default Internet Relay Chat Server.
75 StreetTalk Server.
76 StreetTalk Directory Assistance Server.
77 User Class Information.
78 SLP Directory Agent.
79 SLP Service Scope.
80 Rapid Commit.
81 FQDN, Fully Qualified Domain Name.
82 Relay Agent Information.
83 Internet Storage Name Service.
84 N/A
85 NDS servers.
86 NDS tree name.
87 NDS context.
88 BCMCS Controller Domain Name list.
89 BCMCS Controller IPv4 address list.
90 Authentication.
91 Client-last-transaction-time.
92 Associated-ip.
93 Client System Architecture Type.
94 Client Network Interface Identifier.
95 LDAP, Lightweight Directory Access Protocol.
96 N/A
97 Client Machine Identifier.
98 Open Group's User Authentication.
99 GEOCONF_CIVIC.
100 IEEE 1003.1 TZ String.
101 Reference to the TZ Database.
102-111 N/A
112 NetInfo Parent Server Address.
113 NetInfo Parent Server Tag.
114 URL.
115 N/A
116 Auto-Configure
117 Name Service Search.
118 Subnet Selection.
119 DNS domain search list.
120 SIP Servers DHCP Option.
121 Classless Static Route Option.
122 CCC, CableLabs Client Configuration.
123 GeoConf.
124 Vendor-Identifying Vendor Class.
125 Vendor-Identifying Vendor-Specific.
126 - 127 N/A
128 TFPT Server IP address.
129 Call Server IP address.
130 Discrimination string.
131 Remote statistics server IP address.
132 802.1P VLAN ID.
133 802.1Q L2 Priority.
134 Diffserv Code Point.
135 HTTP Proxy for phone-specific applications.
136 PANAAuthentication Agent.
137 LoSTServer.
138 CAPWAP Access Controller addresses.
139 OPTION-IPv4_Address-MoS.
140 OPTION-IPv4_FQDN-MoS.
141 SIP UA Configuration Service Domains.
142 OPTION-IPv4_Address-ANDSF.
143 OPTION-IPv6_Address-ANDSF.
144 - 149 N/A
150 TFTP server address.
150 Ether boot. GRUB configuration path name.
151-174 N/A
175 Ether boot.
176 IP Telephone.
177 Ether boot. Packet Cable and Cable Home.
178- 207 N/A
208 pxelinux.magic (string) = F1:00:74:7E (241.0.116.126).
209 pxelinux.configfile (text).
210 pxelinux.pathprefix (text).
211 pxelinux.reboottime (unsigned integer 32 bits).
212 OPTION_6RD.
213 OPTION_V4_ACCESS_DOMAIN.
214-219 N/A
220 Subnet Allocation.
221 Virtual Subnet Selection.
222-223 N/A
224-254 Private use.
255 End.

DHCP Pool

A DHCP pool is a collection of IP addresses available for DHCP allocation.

The Pool Start number is the first available number in the pool.

The Pool Size is the count of available numbers, counting from the pool start.

Example: with Pool Start of 50 and a Pool Size of 100, the available pool addresses are 50 to 150.

DNS Server

A DHCP server is a server that provides IP addresses to clients on the a network.

See also: Domain Name System.

DHCP

DHCP – Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol

A device can be used as a DHCP server to automatically assign an IP address to each computer or device on a network.

DCHP is used for both ipv4 and ipv6.

Dial Plan

A dial plan defines what sequence of digits need to be dialled in the private branch exchange to get access to specific calling networks or enable other features.

Differentiated Services

Differentiated Services (DiffServ) is a method for classifying traffic and providing quality of service for IP networks.

DiffServ uses a differentiated services code point in the IP header for packet classification purposes.

DLNA

Digital Living Network Alliance (DLNA) is designed to act as a bridge between media and device. It needs either a wired or a wireless network.

Discrete MultiTone Modulation

Discrete MultiTone Modulation is a modulation method where the available bandwidth is divided into a large number of channels. Data is allocated to maximize the throughput of every channel. Channels that can't carry data are not used, and the bandwidth reallocated.

DMT is the technology which divides the whole bandwidth on the telephone line into lots of sub-channels and then controlling these 'virtual modems' as one together in order to get higher speeds.

DMZ

DMZ (demilitarized zone) is used to provide an extra layer of security. It's a network added between a protected network and an external network.

DNS Server

A Domain Name System Server runs networking software containing a database of network names mapping them to IP addresses, typically on the Internet.

DNS

The Domain Name System (DNS) is a hierarchical decentralized naming system for computers, services, or any resource connected to the Internet or a private network.

Domain Name

A domain name is typically a name that identifies a resource on the internet with an IP address, according to the Domain Name System.

DS-Lite

Dual-Stack Lite (DS-Lite) is a method for sharing of IPv4 addresses by combining IPv4-in-IPv6 and NAT.

DSCP

A Differentiated Services Code Point (DSCP) is a 6-bit code point in the differentiated services field (DS field) inside the packet IP header.

It is used by Differentiated Services for classification purposes to provide quality of service functionality.

DSL Mode

The DSL mode indicates the operation of a DSL line.

DSL

DSL – Digital Subscriber Line is a way of providing high bandwidth data communication through regular copper telephone lines.

DTMF Mode

The DTMF mode is a setting that governs how Dual Tone Multi Frequency signalling is to be performed.

Mode Description
Compatibility Use RFC2833 by default but switch to inband when reciever does not support RFC2833.
RFC2833 Send DTMF information as RTP messages.
SIP INFO Send DTMF information as SIP messages.
Inband DTMF tones are generated by the calling device.

DTMF

Dual Tone - Multi Frequency (DTMF) is a signalling method for telephone systems, which uses a set of eight audio frequencies transmitted in pairs to represent 16 signals, represented by the ten digits, the letters A to D, and the symbols # and *.

DUID

The DHCP Unique IDentifier – DUID – is a unique identifier associated with each client and server in a DHCP environment. The DUID should be permanently stored and not changed.

Duplex

The term duplex indicates how traffic is performed. It can be either:

  • Half - only one side can communicate at a time.
  • Full - both sides can communicate with each other simultaneously.

Dwell Time

The dwell time is the amount of time spent on each channel in the hopping sequence when hopping from channel to channel.

EEE

Energy-Efficient Ethernet (EEE) is a technology for allowing for less power consumption during periods of low data activity.

EoA

Ethernet over ATM (EoA) is a protocol using PPP to provide an DSL Internet connection over ATM.

ESP

Encapsulating Security Payload (ESP) is a security protocol for network data in IPv4 and IPv6 networks.

Ethernet

Ethernet a family of computer networking technologies commonly used in LANs.

Communication over ethernet consists of data frames. Each frame contains source and destination addresses, and error-checking data.

EVDO

Evolution-Data Optimized (EVDO) is a standard for broadband Internet through wireless data transmission.

Failover

Failover means switching over to a different network when the selected network cannot be accessed.

FEC - Forward error correction

Forward error correction entails encoding the signal with redundant information that can be matched to discover errors in the transmission.

Firewall Action

The firewall action defines how traffic is handled by the firewall.

Item Description
ACCEPT Allow the traffic.
REJECT Refuse the traffic.
DROP Ignore the traffic.
FORWARD Pass the traffic along.

Firewall group

A firewall group is a collection of IP addresses that have the same firewall rules.

Firewall Zone

A firewall zone is a grouping of WiFi or network interfaces, with a common set of firewall rules.

Frame

In networking, a frame is a unit of data, consisting of addressing and synchronization information around a payload with data to be transmitted.

Frames of smaller size are often encapsulated in larger frames.

Gateway metric

The gateway metric is used for routing decisions, and is added to routing tables to enable routing decisions.

Gateway

A gateway is a node in a network that provides interconnectivity between networks of different types.

For a basic Internet connection, the gateway provides Internet access to the local network.

Genmask

A genmask is the netmask for the destination net. For example 255.255.255.255 for a host destination and 0.0.0.0 for the default route.

GPRS

General Packet Radio Service (GPRS) is a mobile data service for mobile communication over 2G and 3G.

GRE

Generic Routing Encapsulation (GRE) is a multipurpose tunneling protocol using IP networks to encapsulate a number of different network layer protocols.

GSM

Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM) is a standard for protocols for digital cellular networks used by mobile phones.

Host ID

A host ID is an IPv6 label assigned to a network device used to identify the device in the network for addressing purposes.

Hostname

A hostname is an IPv4 label assigned to a network device used to identify the device in the network for addressing purposes.

HSPA / HSPA+

High Speed Packet Access (HSPA) is an extension of 3G mobile networks utilizing WCDMA.

Evolved High Speed Packet Access (HSPA+) is a furhter improvement on HSPA allowing for higher speeds.

IAID

The Interface Association Identifier – IAID – that is a binding between the interface and one or several IPv6 addresses. It is used in DHCPv6 servers togehter with with a DUID to identify IP allocations.

ICMP

The Internet Control Message Protocol (ICMP) is used to send error messages about services or device status.

IGMP Proxy

An Internet Group Management Protocol (IGMP) Proxy is a setting to enable the device to handle IGMP host tasks such as sending membership and leave group membership reports to groups.

IGMP Snooping

IGMP snooping is the process of listening to IGMP network traffic to determine which paths are associatied with which IP multicast streams, and allow management of the multicast traffic.

IGMP

IGMP – Internet Group Management Protocol is a communications protocol used on IPv4 networks to establish multicast group memberships.

Inotify

Inotify (inode notify) is a subsystem to detect changes to the filesystem, and report those changes to applications.

Interface Protocol

The Interface Protocol setting defines the protocol/behavior for an interface.

Protocol Description
Unmanaged No defined protocol.
Static Address Static IP address.
DHCP v4 Retrieve IPv4 address through DHCP
DHCP v6 Retrieve IPv6 address through DHCP
PPP PPP interface.
PPP over Ethernet PPPoE interface.
PPP over ATM PPPOA interface.
3G PPP over GPRS/EVDO/CDMA/UMTS
4G 4G interface over LTE / HSPA+.
Point-to-Point Tunnel PTPT interface.
IPv6 Tunnel in IPv4 6in4 interface.
IPv6 Tunnel in IPv6 6to4 interface.
IPv6 rapid deployment 6rd interface.
Dual Stack Lite DS-lite interface.
PPP over L2TP PPP over L2TP.

Interface Type

The Interface Type defines the base settings for the interface.

Configuration

Type Description
Standalone Not requiring hardware.
Any WAN Any WAN interface.
Bridge Network bridge.

Iopsys

Iopsys stands for Inteno Open Platform System. It combines the efficiency and power of the SOC (System on Chip) with the OpenWrt open source distribution. It further enables the operator to leverage on the modularity of OpenWrt to integrate new applications to the CPE.

IP in IP

IP in IP is an method to provide data tunneling by encapsulating one IP packet in another IP packet, using header information.

IP Quality of Service Algorithm

The IP Quality of Service Algorithm determines which type of QoS to provide.

Strict Priority Precedence means that where the the packets with the highest priority always are sent first.

Weighted Fair Queuing means that bandwidth is adjusted automatically according to traffic priority and weight value.

IP

The Internet Protocol - IP - is the primary communication protocol used on the Internet, typically used together with TCP.

IPv4

Internet Protocol Version 4 - IPv4 - is the first major version of the Internet Protocol.

IPv6

Internet Protocol Version 6 - IPv6 - is the the successor to IPv4.

IPoE

Internet Protocol over Ethernet (IPoE) is a protocol to provide an DSL Internet connection over Ethernet, by directly encapsulating the data in Ethernet frames.

IPTV

Internet Protocol Television (IPTV) delivers television services over IP networks as a streaming service.

IPUI

International Portable User Identity (IPUI), is a unique identifier for each DECT Handset, allowing it to be assigned a SIP identity. The identifier is a 10-digit (40-bit) hexadecimal code

IPv4 Broadcast Address

A Broadcast Address is an special values in the host-identification part of an IP address.

It is used to sending data multiple recipients at the same time, for example to allow one device to comunicate with all other devices on the network at once.

The device sends its messages to the broadcast address, and the network hardware propagates it to every other device in the group (the broadcast domain).

Calculation

The broadcast address for an IPv4 host is calculated through bitwise OR using the subnet mask and the host IP address.

Example: For broadcasting a packet to an entire IPv4 subnet using the private IP address space 172.16.0.0/12, which has the subnet mask 255.240.0.0, the broadcast address is 172.16.0.0 | 0.15.255.255 = 172.31.255.255.

The IP broadcast address 255.255.255.255 is limited to use for the local (zero / 0.0.0.0) network. Traffic to this address is not forwarded to other networks.

IPv4 Address

An IPv4 address is an IP address represented as four groups separated by a period. Each group consists of decimal numbers between 0 and 255.

An example of an IPv4 address is 192.168.22.12.

IPv6 Address

An IPv6 address is an IP address address represented as eight groups separated by colons (:). Each group contains four hexadecimal digits.

An example of an IPv6 address is 2011:09bd:583a:0000:8a2e:0000:0370:7334.

IUP

Inteno Universal Provisioning (IUP) is a technology for automatic delivery of service configuration and device settings.

Jitter

Jitter is variations in packet arrival time, which may be caused by network congestion, timing delays, or changed routes.

JUCI

JUCI (Java User Control Interface) provides a command line and graphical user interface for administration of devices.

L2TP

Layer 2 Tunneling Protocol (L2TP) is a protocol used to support VPNs, where security is provided in the transmitted packages rather than in the tunneling.

LAN

LAN – Local Area Network is a number of connected units within a limited area, typically a building.

Latency Path

The DSL Latency Path comes in three modes: Path 1 (Fast), Path 2 (Interleaved) and Both 1 & 2. Fast is used for applications sensitive to delay. Interleaved suits applications sensitive to errors.

Latency

Latency is the time it takes for a packet of data to get from source to destination, normally measured by performing a round-trip test: sending a packet that is returned to the sender.

LCP

The Link Control Protocol (LCP) is part of the Point-to-Point Protocol and is used to set up the PPP connection.

Lease Time

Client lease time or lease time is the length of time a local device retains an IP address.

LLC

The logical link control (LLC) layer provides multiplexing to enable different network protocols to coexist and be transported over the same network medium.

Load Balancing

Load balancing distributes traffic over multiple networks to provide an even load on each WAN interface.

Logging Level

The Logging level determines how much information to display or write to file when creating system logs.

Error messages come with a identifying level tag which makes it possible to filter out messages according to severity.

Level
Emergency
Alert
Critical
Error
Warning
Notice
Info
Debug

Loop Attenuation

Loop Attenuation is a measure of the quality of the line - how much the signal weakens over the loop.

Attenuation is measured in Decibel (dB). A value betwen 20dB-45dB can be considered normal.

LSAP

Link Service Access Point (LSAP) fields are used to identify which protocol handler should process an incoming frame.

LSAP fields allow the receiving node to pass each received frame to an appropriate device driver which understands given protocol.

LTE

Long-Term Evolution (LTE) is a standard for high-speed wireless communication for mobile phones and data terminals, based on GSM and UMTS.

MAC

A Media Access Control (MAC) address is a unique identifier for physical network interfaces.

Masquerading

Firewall masquerading entails modifying addressing to allow devices to communicate with the WAN without being visible externally. To the external network, all traffic will look as originating from the gateway.

MBS

Maximum Burst Size (MBS) is the maximum size of cells that can be transmitted in direct sequence on a particular connection.

MCR

The Minimum Cell Rate (MCR) defines the lowest rate at which cells can be transported in an ATM connection.

MIB

A management information base (MIB) is used in SNMP to describe the management data structure, in the form of a hierarchical namespace containing object identifiers (OID). Each OID identifies a variable that can be read or set via SNMP.

MiniDLNA

MiniDLNA is media server for DLNA / UPnP clients.

MSS Clamping

Maximum Segment Size Clamping entails changing the maximum segment size of all TCP connections with a MTU lower than 1500.

MSS

Maximum Segment Size (MSS) is a TCP parameter specifying the largest byte size a a single TCP segment can contain for a device.

MTU

Maximum Transmission Unit (MTU) is the largest physical packet size that a network can transmit. Any packets larger than the MTU are divided into smaller packets before being sent. MTU is measured in bytes.

Multicast

Multicast is group communication where information is addressed to a group of destination computers simultaneously.

IP multicast is a method of sending Internet Protocol data messages to a group of interested receivers in a single transmission. It is often employed for streaming media applications on the Internet and private networks. The method is the IP-specific version of the general concept of multicast networking.

It uses specially reserved multicast address blocks in IPv4 and IPv6.

In IPv6, IP multicast addressing replaces broadcast addressing as implemented in IPv4.

NAT Loopback

NAT loopback is a method using NAT to provide access to services via the public IP address from inside the local network.

NAT-PMP

The NAT Port Mapping Protocol (NAT-PMP) is a network protocol to automatically detect and determine the NAT gateways to configure NAT settings and port forwarding.

NAT

Network Address Translation (NAT) is a method to to device translate local network addresses into external addresses for the Internet.

Netmask

A netmask is a mask used to divide an IP address into subnets and specify the number of available host addresses in the subnet.

The netmask consists of a 32-bit sequence on the format 255.255.225.255.

There are three commonly used network classes:

Class Netmask length # of networks Number of hosts Netmask
Class A 8 126 16777214 255.0.0.0
Class B 16 16382 65534 255.255.0.0
Class C 24 2097150 254 255.255.255.0

The last 0 and 255 in a sequence are always assigned and cannot be used as host addresses.

For example, in 255.255.225.0, 0 is the assigned network address.

In 255.255.255.255, 255 is the assigned IPv4 broadcast address.

Network bridge

A network bridge combines two network segments into an aggregated network, making them behave as if they are one continuos segment.

Network interface

A network interface is the access point between a device and a computer network. A network interface can be either a physical connection or a software access address.

Network Profile

A network profile is a global setting for your device that defines how it will work in the network.

For example, selecting a particular profile may configure your device as a wireless repeater or as a fully routed NAT gateway.

Depending on the selected profile, available features and settings will be different.

Some sample profiles:

Profile Description
Bridged IPTV IPTV service in a bridged network.
VoIP + Bridged IPTV Both VOIP and IPTV service in a bridged network.
Wireless Repeater Wireless bridge.
Fully Routed (NAT) All features with NAT capability.

Next Hop

Next hop refers to the next closest device a packet can go through, according to the routing table.

NIC

A Network Interface Controller – NIC, is an hardware component that connects a device to a network.

Noise level

The WiFi Noise level is the amount of interference in your wireless signal, such as crosstalk, radio frequency interference, distortion, and so on.

It is measured in decibels from zero to -120, where a lower value is better.

Typical environments range between -100db and -80db.

NTP - Network Time Protocol

NTP is a networking protocol for clock synchronization between devices in networks.

OBSS Coexistence

Overlapping basic service sets (OBSS) is a setting that configures the BSS to allow coexistence between 20 MHZ and 40 MHZ overlapping basic service sets (OBSS).

OpenWRT

OpenWrt is an open source distribution with an excellent overall user space environment, modular and flexible system design. It has a large and active development community.

More information:

More information and documentation is available at http://wiki.openwrt.org/.

Overhead

Overhead is extra data or processing needed to manage delivery of a network data.

Packet

A packet is a portion of data that transmitted between a source and destination in a network. It normally a smaller part of some larger unit of data, which is tagged with an identification number and an address. When all packets for a specific data unit arrives at their destination, they are reassembled to form the original data.

Division into packets, transmission and reassembly is governed by a transmission protocol.

Packet Loss

When packets are transmitted in a network they may travel different routes from source to destination. This means there is no guarantee that packets will arrive in time or arrive at all. They may also be denied at the receiver due to a full buffer or other issues. A collective term this is packet loss.

Packetization

Packetization is the process dividing data into packets for transmission according to a defined protocol.

Pairing

Pairing is the process of making two compatible wireless devices able to communicate with each other. This is normally done by making them visible to each other, and providing a PIN code for identification.

PAP

Password Authentication Protocol (PAP) is a method used to authenticate PPP sessions.

PAP works like a standard login procedure; using a static user name and password combination.

PBX

A Private Branch Exchange (PBX) is a switch used for connecting telephone devices or virtual applications in an organization. It manages internal communication in the network and provides access to the external public switched telephone network, and allows for sharing of lines and direct communication between internal devices.

PCM

Pulse-code modulation (PCM) is the standard method for digital audio. PCM entails converting analog signals to digital values by sampling the amplitude of the analog signal at set time intervals. Each sample is quantized to the nearest value within a range of digital steps. With PCM, the ranges vary with the source amplitude, so that the steps are larger at higher amplitudes.

PCM is defined by sampling rate (number of times per second that samples are taken) and bit depth (number of different digital values).

PCR

Peak Cell Rate (PCR) defines the highest rate at which cells can be transported in an ATM connection.

Periodic Inform

The Periodic Inform setting determines whether CPEs must periodically send information to the ACS.

PID

The PID – Process ID – is an unique idenitifer for a process, assigned to it when it is loaded into memory.

Ping

Ping is a network tool which tests accessibility of hosts on an Internet Protocol network. It measures how long a it takes for a message to travel from the measuring host to the destination and back.

PLC

Packet loss concealment (PLC) is a technique to mask the effects of packet loss in VoIP communications.

PoP

A Point of Presence (PoP) is an access point to the Internet.

Port Forwarding

Port forwarding is a feature that forwards inbound traffic from the internet on a specific port (or ports) to a specific device (or port) on your local network (LAN).

Port Speed

Port speed settings affect how a LAN or WAN port negotiates the speed setting.

Negotiation can be turned off (speed setting: only) or use Autonegotiation (speed setting max) to determine actual speed.

Communication on a port can be either half or full duplex.

A port that is set to disabled does not handle any traffic.

Port

A port is a communication endpoint, identified by a number, which combined with an IP address provides the necessary addressing for a service on the network.

PPID

The PPID – Parent Process ID – is the PID of the process that started a particular process.

PPP

Point-to-Point Protocol (PPP) is a protocol for providing a direct data link connection with authentication, encryption and compression.

PPPoA

PPP over ATM (PPPoA) is a protocol using PPP to provide an DSL Internet connection over ATM.

PPPoE

PPP over Ethernet (PPPoE) is a protocol using PPP to provide an DSL Internet connection over Ethernet, by putting PPP frames inside Ethernet frames.

Precedence

The Precedence setting defines quality of service parameters relating to Class Selector and Assured Forwarding priority.

ID Setting
All Default
0 CS1, AF11, AF12
1 CS2, AF21, AF22
2 CS3, AF31, AF32
3 CS4, AF41, AF42
4 CS5, Voice-admit, EF
5 CS5
6 CS6
7 CS7

Prefix delegation

Prefix delegation is used in DHCPv6 to assign a network address prefix and automate configuration and provisioning of the public addresses for the network.

Protocol

A protocol is a set of rules for how to handle data, specifically for transmission and management. The sender and reciever noth use the same protocol to structure, send and receive it, ensuring that the data remains intact, readable and usable.

Proxy

A proxy server works as an intermediary between the client and other servers, forwarding traffic to and from the servers and client. I adds functionality for improving aspects of the connection, such as security, reliability or simplicity.

PSK

A Pre-Shared Key (PSK) is a shared secret which was previously shared between the two parties using some secure channel before it is used.

PSTN

The Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN) is the publicly available network of telecommunication systems and services provided by telephone operators.

PTM Priority

The PTM Proprity defines how PTM traffic packets should be handled.

Priority Description
Normal Priority Send packets according to their priority.
High Priority Use preemption; lower-priority packets are paused when higher-priority packets are sent.

PTM - Pulse-Time Modulation

Pulse-Time Modulation means encoding traffic into a pulsing signal signal for transfer.

2G

Second-generation wireless telephone technology (2G), is a cellular network for digital mobile data communication.

3G

Third-generation wireless telephone technology (3G), is a cellular network for digital mobile data communication for broadband traffic.

4G

Fourth-generation wireless telephone technology (4G), is a cellular network for digital mobile data communication for high-speed broadband.

6in4

6in4 is a method to transmit IPv6 traffic over explicit IPv4 connections.

The traffic is sent over the IPv4 Internet inside IPv4 packets whose IP headers have the IP protocol number set to 41.

6rd

6rd is a method for IPv6 rapid deployment on Internet Service Provider IPv4 infrastructures, operating within the ISP's network.

6to4

6to4 is a method to transmit IPv6 traffic over IPv4 networks without having to configure explicit tunnels.

802.11a

802.11a is a wireless radio specification for the 5 GHz band with a maximum data rate of 54 Mbit/s.

802.11ac

802.11ac is a wireless radio specification for both the 2.4 GHz and the 5 GHz bands with support for multiple-input multiple-output antennas, providing a maximum data rate from 433 Mbit/s to 1300 Mbit/s.

802.11b

802.11b is a wireless radio specification for the 2.4GHz band with a maximum data rate of 11 Mbit/s .

802.11b/g

802.11b/g is a wireless radio specification combining 802.11b and 802.11g standards in dual band mode.

802.11g

802.11g is a wireless radio specification for the 2.4 GHz band with a maximum data rate of 54 Mbit/s.

802.11n

802.11n is a wireless radio specification for both the 2.4 GHz and the 5 GHz bands with support for multiple-input multiple-output antennas, providing a maximum data rate from 54 Mbit/s to 600 Mbit/s.

802.1p

802.1p is a standard for priority levels, identifying the class of service a VLAN is to be used for. There are 8 different levels, numbered from 0 to 7.

Priority Acronym Traffic types Comment
0 BK Background Lowest
1 BE Best Effort
2 EE Excellent Effort
3 CA Critical Applications
4 VI Video < 100 ms latency and jitter
5 VO Voice < 10 ms latency and jitter
6 IC Internetwork Control
7 NC Network Control Highest

802.1q

IEEE 802.1Q is a standard for Ethernet VLANs where VLANs are given a numeric tag. The tag is used to identify traffic in networks, and decide how to handle it.

This allows multiple bridged networks to share the same physical link without leaking information to each other networks.

QoS Classification Group

A QoS Class group is a collection of QoS classes which can be added to an interface to provide a combination of settings.

QoS

Quality of Service (QoS) involves setting for data traffic that affect performance, allowing resources to be allocated depending on the needs of various types of traffic.

Quantization

Quantization of signals is a method where a signal is sampled at specified time intervals and the input values are approximated to provide a smaller set of values compared to the actual signal.

Route metric

The route metric is used for routing decisions, and is added to routing tables to enable routing decisions.

Route

The IP Route is the path a data message takes through an Internet Protocol network.

Routing Table

A routing table is a table stored in a device used for keeping track of routes to network destinations and metrics belonging to those routes. The information in the routing table is used by devices to make routing decisions for traffic in the network.

Configuration

Types of routes

Route Description Comment
Network Path to a specific network address.
Host Route to a specific network address by network and host ID. Used to optimize specific types of traffic.
Default Route stored in the routing table. Used when no other routes for the destination are found.

RSS (Memory)

RSS – Resident Set Size indicatres how much memory is allocated to a process and is in RAM.

It includes all stack and heap memory, and shared libraries also in memory, but not memory that is swapped out.

RSSI

Received signal strength indicator (RSSI) is a measurement of the power of a received radio signal.

RTP

The Real-time Transport Protocol (RTP) is a protocol for handling transmission of real-time data, typically audio or video over networks services. Control and monitoring features are provided thorugh the Real Time Streaming Protocol.

RTSP

The Real Time Streaming Protocol (RTSP) is a protocol for control over transmission of real-time data with the Real-time Transport Protocol.

RX Chain Power Save

The RX Chain Power Save feature turns one of the receive chains off to save power.

RX Chain Power Save PPS

The maximum number of packets per second that the WLAN interface should process for during RX Chain Power Save Quiet Time before the RX Chain Power Save feature activates itself.

RX Chain Power Save Quiet Time

The number of seconds the packets per second must be below the value before the Rx Chain Power Save feature activates itself.

RXC

A RX chain is the transmit/receive signal processing hardware, such as a radio transceiver with its own antenna.

Samba

Samba is an open source software that provides file and print services between Linux/Unix servers and Windows-based clients.

SCR

Sustained Cell Rate (SCR) is the maximum average rate at which cells can be sent over the connection. SCR can never be greater than PCR.

Service Type

Service types define the guaranteed level of service in a ATM network. This involves such things as the timing between the source and destination, the guaranteed bandwidth and how many cells get lost in transmission.

Setting Description
UBR without PCR Use Unspecified Bit Rate without Peak Cell Rate.
UBR with PCR Use Unspecified Bit Rate with Peak Cell Rate.
CBR Use Constant Bit Rate.
Non-Realtime VBR Use Non-Real-Time Variable Bit Rate.
Realtime VBR Use Real-Time Variable Bit Rate.

SIP Account

A SIP Account contains the identifying information and configuration for SIP communication.

SIP Address

A SIP Address is similar to a phone number for voice calls to other SIP accounts.

SIP Authentication Name

A SIP Authentication Name is used together with an SIP Realm to provide access to SIP services. The authentication username doesn't have to be the same as the SIP user name.

SIP Codec

SIP codecs are codecs designed for use with SIP traffic.

G.711ALaw

G.711ALaw is a companding standard using non-linear encoding and decoding to provide pulse code modulation mainly of voice frequencies with the A-law variant algorithm.

G.711MuLaw

G.711MuLaw is a companding standard using non-linear encoding and decoding to provide pulse code modulation mainly of voice frequencies with the μ-law variant algorithm. It provides higher compression than A-Law, with higher distorion for smaller packets.

G.729a

G.729 is a compression standard with linear compression for voice with low bandwith requirements, suitable for voip applications where bandwith conservation is an issue. It divides 10ms packets for a 8kbit/s transmission rate.

G.726

G.726 is a compression standard using ADPCMto transmit voice at transmission rates of 16, 24, 32, and 40 kbit/s. The 32 kbit/s mode is the standard codec for DECT wireless phone systems.

SIP Domain

A SIP domain is a DNS hostname for SIP traffic routing.

SIP Realm

A SIP realm is a SIP authentication/authorization component, defining the set of usernames and passwords for a particular protection domain. The SIP realm does not have to be the same as a the SIP domain.

The SIP Realm is used together with an SIP authentication username to provide access to SIP services.

SIP Reg Interval

The SIP Reg Interval is how often connections to a SIP provider is updated. This is normally done by updating the registration with the server.

SIP Server/Registrar

A SIP server (also called SIP Registrar or SIP Proxy) handles SIP management for a IP-based private branch exchange.

It handles setup and connections for SIP calls in a network, but does not handle actual transmission of real-time data.

SIP User

A SIP User is the identifier for a SIP account. This may be a phone number.

SIP

The Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) is a protocol for handling communication sessions, most commponly for Internet telephony for voice and video calls, as well as instant messaging, over Internet Protocol networks.

SNAP

The Subnetwork Access Protocol (SNAP) is an LLC extension used to distinguish additional higher layer protocols compared to LSAP.

SNAP fields allow the receiving node to pass each received frame to an appropriate device driver which understands given protocol.

SNMP Agents

An SNMP agent provides access to managament data as variables that can be modified to perform managment tasks remotely. The variables accessible via SNMP are organized in hierarchies and stored together with metadata in Management Information Bases.

Simple Network Management Protocol

Simple Network Management Protocol (SNMP) is a protocol for managing and devices on an IP network.

SNR Margin

The SNR margin is the difference between the current Signal to Noise Ratio and minimal SNR required to sync at a specific transfer speed.

Higher SNR margin means a better signal, with less background noise, which in turn means a more stable the connection.

SNR - Signal to Noise Ratio

Signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) is defined as the power ratio between a signal and background noise.

It is normally measured in decibels (dB).

dB value Description
< 6dB Poor. No sync, or intermittent sync problems.
7dB - 10dB Fair. Vulnerable to conditions.
11dB-20dB Good.
20dB-28dB Very good.
29dB < Excellent.

Strict Priority Precedence

Strict Priority Precedence means that where the the packets with the highest priority always are sent first.

Seamless Rate Adaptation

Seamless Rate Adaptation (SRA) allows devices to change data transfer rates on the fly to avoid losing a connection due to interference.

SRTP

The Secure Real-time Transport Protocol (SRTP) is a protocol used for providing authentication, encryption, and other se curity features with the Real-time Transport Protocol.

SRV

A Service Record (SRV record) is a specification of data in the Domain Name System containing information about IP and port for a specific service.

It is used by domain servers to keep track of their own changes without having to contact a central DNS server.

An SRV record has the form:

_Service._Proto.Name TTL Class SRV Priority Weight Port Target

Item Description
Service Identifier for the service.
Proto The service protocol.
Name Domain name where the record is valid.
TTL DNS time to live.
Class DNS class (IN for Internet).
Priority Target host priority, lower value means more preferred.
Weight A relative weight for records with the same priority.
Port Port for the service.
Target Hostname for the service provider.

SSDP

Simple Service Discovery Protocol (SSDP) is a network protocol capable of discovering universal plug and play devices on a home network.

SSH

Secure Shell (SSH) is a protocol for secure communication on networks. Most commonly it is used for remote login to devices, typically to unix shell accounts.

SSID

SSID – Service Set IDentifier, also knowns as network name, identifies a wireless network interface.

SSL

Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) is a protocol for providing security features such as authentication, privacy and data integrity in a network.

Source-Specific Multicast

Source-specific multicast (SSM) is a method of limiting delivery of multicast packets only from a requested source address.

State Code

The process state code indicates the state for a process.

Short Code Meaning Description
D Uninterruptible sleep Usually refers to IO processes.
l Is multi-threaded (using CLONE_THREAD, like NPTL pthreads do)
L Has pages locked into memory (for real-time and custom IO)
N Low-priority (nice to other users)
R Running runnable (on run queue)
s Is a session leader
S Interruptible sleep Waiting for an event to complete.
T Stopped May have been stopped by control signal or trace.
W Paging Storing or retrieving data.
Z Defunct (“zombie”) process Terminated but not collected by its parent process.
< High-priority
+ Belongs to foreground process group.

Static address

A static IP address is an address that doesn't change, unless manually changed by the administrator.

Static Route

A static route is a manually entered route to a network destination, which is used instead of any routes discovered automatically.

STUN

Session Traversal Utilities for NAT (STUN) consists of methods and a protocol to allow a server to discover its public IP address from behind a NAT. It is used for real-time voice, video, messaging, and other interactive IP services.

The protocol requires a STUN server located on the public side of the NAT.

Subnet Mask

A subnet mask is used to divide the IP address into network and host addresses.

TCP Flags

Transmission Control Protocol (TCP) Flags are control bits for TCP messages. These flags indicate how packets should be handled or indicate connection states.

Flag Description
SYN Synchronize sequence numbers.
ACK Acknowledgment field is significant.
FIN No more data from sender.
RST Reset the connection.
URG Urgent pointer field is significant.
PSH Push function.
CWR Congestion Window Reduced.
ECE TCP peer is ECN capable.

TCP

The Transmission Control Protocol (TCP) is a protocol to provide reliable data streams over an IP network.

TKIP

TKIP (Temporal Key Integrity Protocol) is a RC4 stream cipher is used with a 128-bit per-packet key, meaning that it dynamically generates a new key for each packet.

TLS

Transport Layer Security (TLS) is a protocol for providing security features such as authentication, privacy and data integrity in a network.

TPC

Transmission Power Control (TPC) is used to automatically adjust the transmission power level on wireless radios to avoid interference.

TPtest

TPTEST allows you to measure the speed of your Internet connection, by sending a number to and from a defined reference test server.

More information:

A list of TP test servers is available at http://tptest.sourceforge.net/servers.php.

TR069

TR-069 CPE WAN Management Protocol (CWMP) was created by the DSL Forum to standardize the Wide Area Network (WAN) management of CWMP. The TR-069 protocol specifically defines a common method for CPE devices to communicate with an Auto Configuration Server (ACS).

Traceroute

Traceroute is a network diagnostic tool to discover the route and data delivery time over an Internet Protocol network.

See also Ping.

TTL

Time to live (TTL) is a mechanism to determine when data in a network should be discarded, for example for cache expiry, or to prevent data from being transmitted forever.

UAPSD

Unscheduled Automatic Power Save Delivery (UAPSD) is a wifi device feature which allows them to save power by dozing between transmissions.

UBIFS

UBIFS file-system stands for “Unsorted Block Images File System”.

It is a flash file system, designed to work with flash devices, using Memory Technology Device (MTD) device files.

UBR

Unspecified Bit Rate (UBR) is used for non-real-time applications that do not require any maximum bound on the transfer delay or cell loss.

UDP

User Datagram Protocol (UDP) is a protocol to provide relatively unreliable data streams over an IP network. It provides no guarantees for delivery and no protection from duplication.

The simplicity of UDP reduces the overhead from using the protocol and the services may be adequate in many cases.

UMTS

Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS) is a third generation mobile cellular system for networks based on the GSM standard.

Unmanaged

The interface protocol type Unmanaged means that the connection has no defined protocol.

UPnP

Universal Plug and Play (UPnP) is a set of networking protocols used for automatic discovery and communication on a network. It makes it possible for various devices to connect and share services.

UPnP involves automatic port forwarding set up without user interaction. This may constitute a security risk.

USB

USB – Universal Serial Bus is a standard for connection, communication, and power supply between computers and electronic devices.

UUID

A Universally Unique Identifier (UUID) is an 128-bit identifier used to uniquely identify objects.

Example: 65613210-44d4-11e6-beb8-9e71128cae77

VBR

The service type Variable Bit Rate come in two variants: Non-Realtime VBR and Realtime VBR.

Non-Realtime VBR

Non-Real-Time Variable Bit Rate (nrt-VBR) is used for connections that need guaranteed bandwidth or latency, but do not rely on accurate timing between source and destination.

Realtime VBR

Real-Time Variable Bit Rate (rt-VBR) is used for connections that need accurate timing between source and destination.

VC-MUX

Virtual Circuit Multiplexing (VC-MUX) is a method for identifying the protocol carried in frames used in ATM.

Using virtual circuit multiplexing, hosts agree on the high-level protocol for a given circuit. Each high-level protocol requires a separate virtual circuit.

VCI

Virtual Channel Identifier - VCI, is used together with VPIs to enable ATM networks.

In an ATM network, each circuit is given a virtual channel identifier, and and each path is given a virtual path identifier.

The VCI identifies circuit/channel in use, and VPI matches the appropriate path to the desired destination host.

VDSL

Very-high-bit-rate digital subscriber line (VDSL) is a DSL technology providing network traffic over copper wires.

VDSL is faster than ADSL, with up to 52 Mbit/s downstream and 16 Mbit/s upstream speeds.

2G

Second-generation wireless telephone technology (2G), is a cellular network for digital mobile data communication.

3G

Third-generation wireless telephone technology (3G), is a cellular network for digital mobile data communication for broadband traffic.

4G

Fourth-generation wireless telephone technology (4G), is a cellular network for digital mobile data communication for high-speed broadband.

6in4

6in4 is a method to transmit IPv6 traffic over explicit IPv4 connections.

The traffic is sent over the IPv4 Internet inside IPv4 packets whose IP headers have the IP protocol number set to 41.

6rd

6rd is a method for IPv6 rapid deployment on Internet Service Provider IPv4 infrastructures, operating within the ISP's network.

6to4

6to4 is a method to transmit IPv6 traffic over IPv4 networks without having to configure explicit tunnels.

802.11a

802.11a is a wireless radio specification for the 5 GHz band with a maximum data rate of 54 Mbit/s.

802.11ac

802.11ac is a wireless radio specification for both the 2.4 GHz and the 5 GHz bands with support for multiple-input multiple-output antennas, providing a maximum data rate from 433 Mbit/s to 1300 Mbit/s.

802.11b

802.11b is a wireless radio specification for the 2.4GHz band with a maximum data rate of 11 Mbit/s .

802.11b/g

802.11b/g is a wireless radio specification combining 802.11b and 802.11g standards in dual band mode.

802.11g

802.11g is a wireless radio specification for the 2.4 GHz band with a maximum data rate of 54 Mbit/s.

802.11n

802.11n is a wireless radio specification for both the 2.4 GHz and the 5 GHz bands with support for multiple-input multiple-output antennas, providing a maximum data rate from 54 Mbit/s to 600 Mbit/s.

802.1p

802.1p is a standard for priority levels, identifying the class of service a VLAN is to be used for. There are 8 different levels, numbered from 0 to 7.

Priority Acronym Traffic types Comment
0 BK Background Lowest
1 BE Best Effort
2 EE Excellent Effort
3 CA Critical Applications
4 VI Video < 100 ms latency and jitter
5 VO Voice < 10 ms latency and jitter
6 IC Internetwork Control
7 NC Network Control Highest

802.1q

IEEE 802.1Q is a standard for Ethernet VLANs where VLANs are given a numeric tag. The tag is used to identify traffic in networks, and decide how to handle it.

This allows multiple bridged networks to share the same physical link without leaking information to each other networks.

Virtual Network Interface

Virtual network interfaces are linked to a hardware device, but are not hardware devices.

A virtual network interface is generally associated with a physical network, another virtual interface, a loopback interface or other standalone interfaces.

Types of Virtual Network Interfaces

Type Example Description
Aliases eth4:5, eth4:6 Used to handle multiple IP-addresses per interface. Supported for backwards compatibility.
Bridges br0, br-lan Used to make multiple network interfaces behave as one network interface.
Stacked VLANs 10, 20 IEEE 802.1ad type network, using two or more tags in each packet.
Special purpose imq0, teql3 Used to change the order of outgoing or incoming network packets.
Tunnel interfaces pppoe-dsl, tun0, vpn1 Used to send packets over a tunneling protocol.
VLANs eth4.0, vlan0 Used to separate a network into multiple virtual networks.
Wireless operating mode virtual interfaces wlan0, ath3 A wireless subsystem created automatically for a wireless NIC master interface.

VLAN

A virtual LAN (VLAN) is, as the name implies, a virtualized LAN. Most commonly a VLAN is a subdivision of a network.

VLANs also allow grouping of hosts together even if the hosts are not connected to the same network device, and managing them through software.

VOIP

VoIP - Voice Over IP is a group of technologies for the delivery of voice communications and multimedia sessions over Internet Protocol networks.

VPI

A Virtual Path Identifier - VPI, is used together with VCIs to enable ATM networks.

In an ATM network, each circuit is given a virtual channel identifier, and and each path is given a virtual path identifier.

The VCI identifies circuit/channel in use, and VPI matches the appropriate path to the desired destination host.

VPN

A virtual private network (VPN) is a secured, private network connected through a public network.

%VSZ

VSZ is the Virtual Memory Size. It includes all memory that the process can access, including memory that is swapped out and memory that is from shared libraries.

VSZ

VSZ is the Virtual Memory Size. It includes all memory that the process can access, including memory that is swapped out and memory that is from shared libraries.

WAN

A Wide Area Network (WAN) is network that extends over a large geographical distance.

WCDMA

Wideband Code Division Multiple Access (W-CDMA) is a mobile communications technology using CDMA for broadband.

WEP

Wired Equivalent Privacy (WEP) is a security algorithm intended to provide security comparable a wired network.

WEP uses a key of 10 or 26 hexadecimal digits.

Weighted Fair Queuing

Weighted Fair Queuing means that bandwidth is adjusted automatically according to traffic priority and weight value.

WiFi band

A wifi band is a collection of wifi channels provided by a particular wifi radio.

Bands are identified by their frequency as measured in Gigahertz (GHz).

Standard bands are 2.4GHz and 5Ghz.

WiFi channel

A wifi channel is a frequency range in a specific wifi band used for wifi communication.

WiFi encryption

WiFi encryption means to encrypt the messages that are sent between nodes on a wireless network.

A wifi interface can use one of several encryption options:

None No encryption.
WEP Wired Equivalent Privacy
WPA2 Personal (PSK) Wi-Fi Protected Access
WPA/WPA2 Personal (PSK) Mixed Mode Wi-Fi Protected Access II Pre-Shared Key
WPA2 Enterprise Wi-Fi Protected Access II Enterprise
WPA/WPA2 Enterprise Mixed Mode Wi-Fi Protected Access Enterprise / Wi-Fi Protected Access II Enterprise

WiFi interface

A wireless interface is the access point to a wireless radio. Interfaces are identified by their SSID.

Each radio can have several SSIDs and each SSID interface can be configured as part of a network bridge or firewall group.

WiFi Key

The WiFI Key or passphrase is a shared secret between client and server used for encryption and decryption in wireless networks.

WiFi Mode

The WiFi Mode defines which to use for wireless communication in the network.

Auto

The Auto Mode allows the device to automatically select a suitable profile among the available options.

802.11a

802.11a is a wireless radio specification for the 5 GHz band with a maximum data rate of 54 Mbit/s.

802.11ac

802.11ac is a wireless radio specification for both the 2.4 GHz and the 5 GHz bands with support for multiple-input multiple-output antennas, providing a maximum data rate from 433 Mbit/s to 1300 Mbit/s.

802.11b

802.11b is a wireless radio specification for the 2.4GHz band with a maximum data rate of 11 Mbit/s .

802.11b/g

802.11b/g is a wireless radio specification combining 802.11b and 802.11g standards in dual band mode.

802.11g

802.11g is a wireless radio specification for the 2.4 GHz band with a maximum data rate of 54 Mbit/s.

802.11n

802.11n is a wireless radio specification for both the 2.4 GHz and the 5 GHz bands with support for multiple-input multiple-output antennas, providing a maximum data rate from 54 Mbit/s to 600 Mbit/s.

WiFi

WiFi or Wi-Fi is a technology allowing devices to connect to a wireless LAN (WLAN) network. The term “Wi-Fi” is a play on words relating to hi-fi (high fidelity) from the music industry. Communication is commonly done over 2.4 gigahertz and 5 gigahertz radio bands.

Wireless radio

A wireless radio is the device sending out a wireless signal. Each radio can have several interfaces associated with it.

LAN

A Wireless Local Area Network is Local Area Network connected through one or several access points.

WMM Acknowledgement

WMM (WiFi Multimedia) Acknowledgement is a verification signal sent from the client to the device to indicate that no error has been detected for the data .

WMM Power Save

WMM Power Save allows small devices, such as phones and PDAs, to transmit data while in a low-power status.

WMM / WME

WiFi Multimedia - WMM (also known as WiFi Multimedia Extension - WME) - improves quality of service on a network by prioritizing data by four configurable categories:

Voice: Voice packets for Voice over IP (VoIP) calls.

Video: Video packets for support of TV streams.

Best effort: Support for legacy devices or devices lacking QoS standards.

Background: File downloads, print jobs and other traffic that does not suffer from increased latency.

WMM does not provide guaranteed throughput.

WPA Enterprise

Also referred to as WPA-802.1X mode, and sometimes just WPA (as opposed to WPA-PSK), is designed for enterprise networks and requires an authentication server.

It provides additional security (e.g. protection against dictionary attacks on short passwords).

Various kinds of the Extensible Authentication Protocol (EAP) are used for authentication.

WPA personal

Wi-Fi Protected Access (WPA), also referred to as WPA-PSK (pre-shared key) does not require an authentication server.

It uses TKIP, with a key either as a string of 64 hexadecimal digits, or as a passphrase of 8 to 63 characters.

WPA also includes a message integrity check, which is designed to prevent an attacker from altering and resending data packets.

WPA-Personal mode is available with both WPA and WPA2.

WPA2 Enterprise

Wi-Fi Protected Access 2 Enterprise is designed for enterprise networks and requires an authentication server.

It provides additional security (e.g. protection against dictionary attacks on short passwords).

Various kinds of the Extensible Authentication Protocol (EAP) are used for authentication.

WPA2 PSK

Short for Wi-Fi Protected Access 2 – Pre-Shared Key, and also called WPA2 Personal, it is a method of securing your network using Pre-Shared Key (PSK) authentication,

Wi-Fi Protected Access 2 Personal uses pre-shared passphrases between 8 and 63 characters long.

The wireless device converts the preshared key to a hash and uses that for communication authentication.

WPS

Wi-Fi Protected Setup (WPS) is an authentication key distribution method. It can be performed in one of several ways.

PIN code: A PIN is entered on the client.

Push button: An actual or virtual button is pressed on the device and the client within a short amount of time.

Near field: The client is brought physically close to the device.

USB: An USB device is used to transfer data between the new client and the device. (Deprecated)

2G

Second-generation wireless telephone technology (2G), is a cellular network for digital mobile data communication.

3G

Third-generation wireless telephone technology (3G), is a cellular network for digital mobile data communication for broadband traffic.

4G

Fourth-generation wireless telephone technology (4G), is a cellular network for digital mobile data communication for high-speed broadband.

6in4

6in4 is a method to transmit IPv6 traffic over explicit IPv4 connections.

The traffic is sent over the IPv4 Internet inside IPv4 packets whose IP headers have the IP protocol number set to 41.

6rd

6rd is a method for IPv6 rapid deployment on Internet Service Provider IPv4 infrastructures, operating within the ISP's network.

6to4

6to4 is a method to transmit IPv6 traffic over IPv4 networks without having to configure explicit tunnels.

802.11a

802.11a is a wireless radio specification for the 5 GHz band with a maximum data rate of 54 Mbit/s.

802.11ac

802.11ac is a wireless radio specification for both the 2.4 GHz and the 5 GHz bands with support for multiple-input multiple-output antennas, providing a maximum data rate from 433 Mbit/s to 1300 Mbit/s.

802.11b

802.11b is a wireless radio specification for the 2.4GHz band with a maximum data rate of 11 Mbit/s .

802.11b/g

802.11b/g is a wireless radio specification combining 802.11b and 802.11g standards in dual band mode.

802.11g

802.11g is a wireless radio specification for the 2.4 GHz band with a maximum data rate of 54 Mbit/s.

802.11n

802.11n is a wireless radio specification for both the 2.4 GHz and the 5 GHz bands with support for multiple-input multiple-output antennas, providing a maximum data rate from 54 Mbit/s to 600 Mbit/s.

802.1p

802.1p is a standard for priority levels, identifying the class of service a VLAN is to be used for. There are 8 different levels, numbered from 0 to 7.

Priority Acronym Traffic types Comment
0 BK Background Lowest
1 BE Best Effort
2 EE Excellent Effort
3 CA Critical Applications
4 VI Video < 100 ms latency and jitter
5 VO Voice < 10 ms latency and jitter
6 IC Internetwork Control
7 NC Network Control Highest

802.1q

IEEE 802.1Q is a standard for Ethernet VLANs where VLANs are given a numeric tag. The tag is used to identify traffic in networks, and decide how to handle it.

This allows multiple bridged networks to share the same physical link without leaking information to each other networks.