access point
A WiFi station that provides access to other networks.
ad-hoc network
A WiFi network consisting of multiple devices without a dedicated access point.
ATIM
Announcement Traffic Indication Message. These messages are used to coordinate transmission times between the various stations that comprise an ad-hoc WiFi network.
BSS
Basic Service Set. The service area of a single access point in a WiFi network.
BSSID
The BSS ID is the network identifier for a single access point or ad-hoc network.
ESS
Extended Service Set. The service area of a network of access points.
ESSID
The ESS ID is the text string identifying a network of access points.
IEEE 802.3
The IEEE standard for wired Ethernet
IEEE 802.11
The IEEE standard for wireless Ethernet. There are several substandards that cover different transmission media, differences in RF spectrum allocation, and security.
MAC address
A 48-bit identifier that uniquely identifies a device on a network.
PDU
See Protocol Data Unit.
PSM
See Protocol Service Multiplexer.
Protocol Data Unit
The PDU is a unit of data exchanged between two protocol peers.
Protocol Service Multiplexer
The PSM is the L2CAP equivalent of a TCP port number; it identifies an individual L2CAP channel.
SSID
A 1-32 character string identifying an 802.11 network.
station
Any node in an 802.11 network. A station can be an access point or a client of an access point.
WEP
Wired Equivalent Privacy. The most common authentication and encryption algorithm for 802.11.
WPA
WiFi Protected Access. A new authentication and encryption framework for 802.11 that corrects the deficiencies found in WEP.