Wireless Network Glossary-Part 9

WEP
Wired Equivalent Privacy. A wireless encryption protocol. WEP is available in 40-bit (64-bit),
108-bit (128-bit) or 152-bit (Atheros proprietary) encryption modes.



Wi-Fi
Wireless Fidelity. An interoperability certification for wireless local area network (LAN) products based on the IEEE 802.11 standards. The governing body for Wi-Fi is called Wi-Fi Alliance (also known as WECA).


WiMAX
Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access. A Wireless Metropolitan Network technology that complies with IEEE 802.16 and ETSI Hiperman standards. The orginal 802.16 standard call for operating frequency of 10 to 66Ghz spectrum. The 802.16a amendment extends the original standard into spectrum between 2 and 11 Ghz. 802.16d increase data rates to between 40 and 70 Mbps/s and add support for MIMO antennas, QoS, and multiple polling technologies. 802.16e adds mobility features, narrower bandwidth (a max of 5 mhz), slower speed and smaller antennas. Mobility is allowed up to 40 mph.


WDS
Wireless Distribution System. WDS defines how multiple wireless Access Point or Wireless Router can connect together to form one single wireless network without using wired uplinks. WDS associate each other by MAC address, each device.


WLAN
Wireless Local Area Network. A type of local-area network that uses high-frequency radio waves rather than wires to communicate between nodes. The most popular standard for WLAN is the 802.11 standards.


WMM
Wi-Fi Multimedia (WMM) is a standard to prioritize traffic for multimedia applications. The WMM prioritize traffic\ on Voice-over-IP (VoIP), audio, video, and streaming media as well as traditional IP data over the AP.


WMS
Wireless Management System. An utility program to manage multiple wireless AP/Bridges.



WPA
Wi-Fi Protected Access. It is an encryption standard proposed by WiFi for advance protection by utilizing a password key (TKIP) or certificate. It is more secure than WEP encryption. The WPA-PSK utilizes pre-share key for encryption/authentication.


WPA2
Wi-Fi Protected Access 2. WPA2 is also known as 802.11i. It improves on the WPA
security with CCMP and AES encryption. The WPA2 is backward compatible with WPA.
WPA2-PSK utilizes pre-share key for encryption/authentication.