INTERNET BASIC TERMINOLOGY

Bit (binary digit): Is the smallest unit of data in a computer. A bit has a single binary value,
either 0 or 1.

Byte (aka Octet): Is a unit of data that is eight binary digits long.

IP: Stands for Internet protocol, An IP address is assigned to every computer on an Ethernet
network. Like the street address for your home, an IP address identifies network computers

IPv4 address: Is a 32 bit IP address divided in four groups of three-digit representations of 8

bits of binary.

IPv6 address: IPv6 is the latest IP protocol and the main difference comparing IP’s to the ones
on IPv4 is that IP’s are lengthened from 32 bits to 128 bits (8 groups of 4 hexadecimal digits
separated by colons)

Private IP: Is a non-Internet facing IP address on an internal network. Private IP addresses are
assigned by network devices, such as routers, using network address translation (NAT). Can be
duplicated in all LAN’s and will communicate to the rest of networks with its public IP.

Public IP: Is the type of address that is assigned to a computing device to allow direct access
over the Internet. A web server, email server and any server device directly accessible from the
Internet are candidate for a public IP address. A public IP address is globally unique, and can
only be assigned to a unique device.

Dynamic IP: Is a number assigned to a computer or network device dynamically and will
change every time the device disconnects from the internet or initiates a new communication
with the server giving the IP. This type of IP is assigned through DHCP protocol.

Static IP: Is a number that is assigned to a computer or network device that won’t change even
if the devices reboots or loses connection the internet. Usually this type of address is given by
an Internet service provider to be the permanent address on the Internet of a server, firewall or
modem/router.

-Hard coding: Is the process in which you assign manually a Static IP to a computer by
changing the Settings on the Local Area Network, specifically on the Internet Protocol Version 4
(TCP/IPv4)

-MAC reservation: Will be the Way that TELUS assigns a Static IP to a Specific Device,
Customer need to Register MAC address of the Device or devices that need to have Static IP
and Customers don’t need to do a hard code to get the IP, have to be left as Auto Discover the
IP assignation
Default Gateway: The easiest way to understand a default gateway might be to think of it as an
intermediate device between the local network and the internet. It's necessary for transferring
internal data out to the internet, and then back again.

DNS: In essence, DNS is simply a database that links meaningful names (known as host names),
such as http://www.telus.com, to a specific IP address, such as 205.506.163.40. Simply linking
addresses to names is just the beginning, though, because DNS has many more features in
addition to host-name-to-address mapping. DNS is used also for: World Wide Web(WWW), E-
mail and other applications, such as Instant Messaging

MAC address: Is a hardware identification number that uniquely identifies each device on a
network. The MAC address is manufactured into every network card, such as an Ethernet card
or Wifi card, and therefore cannot be changed. This are made up of six two-digit hexadecimal
numbers, separated by colons.

Dial Up: Is a form of Internet access that uses the facilities of the public switched telephone
network (PSTN) to establish a connection to an Internet service provider (ISP) by dialing a
telephone number on a conventional telephone line.

LAN: A local area network (LAN) is a group of computers and associated devices that share a
common communications line or wireless link to a server.

WAN: Wide-Area Network, Called is a large telecommunications network that consists of a

collection of LANs and other networks. WANs generally span a wide geographical area, and can
be used to connect cities, states, or even countries.

WLAN: Wireless Local Area Network, make use of LAN technologies and cover a larger area
than that of the WPAN. A WLAN typically provides network connectivity throughout an office, a
building, or several buildings within a small geographical area, with all the networking
components connected via LAN technologies. The technology used for a WLAN is short range
and typically includes, but is not limited to, 802.11 networking components.

VLAN: Virtual Local Area Network, is a solution to allow you to separate users into individual
network segments for security and other reasons. VLAN membership can be configured
through software instead of physically relocating devices or connections.

GPON: Stands for Gigabit Passive Optical Networks. GPON is a point-to-multi point access
mechanism. Its main characteristic is the use of passive splitters in the fibre distribution
network, enabling one single feeding fibre from the provider’s central office to serve multiple
homes and small businesses.
Optical Fibre: An optical fiber or optical fibre is a flexible, transparent fiber made by drawing
glass (silica) or plastic to a diameter slightly thicker than that of a human hair.[1] Optical fibers
are used most often as a means to transmit light between the two ends of the fiber and find
wide usage in fiber-optic communications, where they permit transmission over longer
distances and at higher bandwidths (data rates) than electrical cables.

ONT: Stands for Optical Network Terminal. The ONT gets the connection with an optical fibre
cable. It connects to your router via a LAN / ethernet cable and translates light signals from the
fibre optic line into electronic signals that your router can read.

ADSL: (Asymmetric Digital Subscriber Line) is a technology for transmitting digital information
at a high bandwidth on existing phone lines to homes and businesses. ADSL is asymmetric in
that it uses most of the channel to transmit downstream to the user and only a small part to
receive information from the user.

VoIP: (voice over IP) is the transmission of voice and multimedia content over Internet Protocol
(IP) networks.
Equipment
Pass-Through Modem: It allows one computer to connect another computer and transfer data
over telephone lines. The original dial-up modems are becoming obsolete because of their slow
speeds and are being replaced by the much faster cable and DSL modems. Recommended when
customer want to use their own Router or have Static IP’s. A modem won’t be able to Provide
WIreless Signal in the premise

Gateway Modem: Device that Combines the Functionality of a Modem and a wireless Router,
it can Host up to 2 Wireless SSID’s, it can Be set on Bridge mode to act as a Pass-Through
Modem.

Router: This is a hardware device that routes data (hence the name) from a local area network
(LAN) to another network connection. A router acts like a coin sorting machine, allowing only
authorized machines to connect to other computer systems. Most routers also keep log files
about the local network activity.

Firewall: It is a device, software or firmware that enforces a set of rules about what data
packets will be allowed to enter or leave a network.

Server: A server is a computer program that provides a service to another computer programs
(and its user). In a data center, the physical computer that a server program runs in is also
frequently referred to as a server.

WAP: A wireless access point is a hardware device or configured node on a local area network
(LAN) that allows wireless capable devices and wired networks to connect through a wireless
standard, including Wi-Fi or Bluetooth. Most of them work as an extender of the existing
wireless network inside an office or building.
Mail protocols
IMAP: (Internet Message Access Protocol) is a standard email protocol that stores email
messages on a mail server, but allows the end user to view and manipulate the messages as
though they were stored locally on the end user's computing device(s). It can be thought as a
mirror of the information we have on the mail server.

POP3: (Post Office Protocol 3) is a client/server protocol in which e-mail is received and held for
you by your Internet server. Periodically, you (or your client e-mail receiver) check your mail-
box on the server and download any mail.

SMTP: (Simple Mail Transfer Protocol) is a protocol used in sending and receiving e-mail.
However, since it is limited in its ability to queue messages at the receiving end, it is usually
used with one of two other protocols, POP3 or IMAP, that let the user save messages in a server
mailbox and download them periodically from the server.

SSL: Secure Sockets Layer is a computer networking protocol for securing connections between
network application clients and servers over an insecure network, such as the internet.

TV
STB: A set-top box is a device that enables a television set to become a user interface to the
Internet and also enables a television set to receive and decode digital television (DTV)
broadcasts.

PVR: A personal video recorder (PVR) is an interactive TV recording device, in essence a

sophisticated set-top box with recording capability (although it is not necessarily kept on top of
the television set).

Multicasting: Multicast is communication between a single sender and multiple receivers on a

network.

TCP: (Transmission Control Protocol) is a standard that defines how to establish and maintain a
network conversation via which application programs can exchange data. TCP is a connection-
oriented protocol, which means a connection is established and maintained until the
application programs at each end have finished exchanging messages.

UDP: (User Datagram Protocol) is an ideal protocol for network applications in which perceived
latency is critical, such as in gaming and voice and video communications, which can suffer
some data loss without adversely affecting perceived quality.
Enhanced WiFi
SSID: A service set identifier (SSID) is a sequence of characters that uniquely names a wireless
local area network (WLAN). An SSID is sometimes referred to as a "network name." This name
allows stations to connect to the desired network when multiple independent networks
operate in the same physical area.

Splash page: A splash page (or splash screen) is an initial web site page used to capture the
user's attention for a short time as a promotion or lead-in to the site home page or to tell the
user what kind of browser and other software they need to view the site.