| access point | In a wireless local area network (WLAN), a wireless access point (WAP) is a hardware device, such as the JACE-8000, that allows wireless devices to connect to a wired network using WiFi, or related standards. WAPs feature radio transmitters and antennae, which facilitate connectivity between devices and the Internet or a network. |
| client | A wireless client is a device that can use the 802.11 protocol. The JACE-8000 is such a device as is a laptop, a PC, and a WiFi phone. A client may be fixed, mobile or portable. Generally, in wireless networking terminology, a station, wireless client and node are often used interchangeably. |
| EAP | EAP (Extensible Authentication Protocol) is an enterprise level authentication protocol that requires an authentication server. This is an additional security layer providing protection against attacks on passwords. |
| IEEE 802.1x | An IEEE (Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers) standard for Port-based Network Access Control (PNAC) that is part of the IEEE 802.1 group of networking protocols. It provides an authentication mechanism for devices seeking to attach to a LAN or WLAN. |
| PSK | Referred to as WPA-PSK (WiFi protected access-pre-shared key) mode, is a method of authentication key distribution. |
| SAP | In the context of the JACE-8000 access point mode of operation, the term SAP is synonymous with "access point", "host mode", or “hostapd”. In this context, the terms may be used interchangeably. |
| STA | In the context of the JACE-8000 client mode of operation, the term STA is synonymous with "client", "station", "station mode", or "wpa_supplicant". In this context, these terms may be used interchangeably. |
| TKIP | TKIP (Temporal Key Integrity Protocol) is an encryption protocol. The RC4 stream cipher is used with a 128-bit per-packet key, dynamically generates a new key for each packet. Used by WPA. |
| TLS | Transport Layer Security is a cryptographic protocol that provides communication security over the Internet. |
| SSID | SSID (Service Set Identifier), an alphanumeric string (up to 32 characters), is a unique identifier for a specific WiFi access point. The SSID differentiates one WLAN from another. If the access point is configured to periodically broadcast its SSID, the wireless devices that are within range can detect the network and connect to it. When broadcasting is disabled, a wireless client must be configured with the network's SSID in order to connect to it. |
| whitelist | A layer of protection that can be added to a Wi-Fi network. An IP address can be re-assigned to any device but a MAC address is hard-coded to the device. A MAC whitelist is an inventory of known MAC addresses that are permitted access to the Wi-Fi access point. |
| WPA WPA2 | WPA (Wi-Fi Protected Access)/WPA2 (Wi-Fi Protected Access I) are two WiFi security protocols and security certification programs. They provide both security (you can control who connects) and privacy (the transmissions cannot be read by others) for communications as they travel across your network. WPA2 is newer, more secure and complex than WPA. Newer Wi-Fi devices (certified since 2006) support both the WPA and WPA2 security protocols. Devices that have older network cards may only work with WPA security. |