Belkin F5D6050 User Manual - Page 32

Glossary of Wired Networking Terms MAC Address NAT PPPoE SPI Subnet Mask TCP/IP WAN MAC stands for Media Access Control. A MAC address is the hardware address of a device connected to a network. A MAC address is unique (different) for every device. Network Address Translation. This process allows all of the computers on your home network to use one IP address. Using the NAT capability of the Belkin 4-Port Cable/DSL Gateway Router, you can access the Internet from any computer on your home network without having to purchase more IP addresses from your ISP. Point-to-Point Protocol over Ethernet. Point-to-Point Protocol is a method of secure data transmission originally created for dial-up connections; PPPoE is for Ethernet connections. Stateful Packet Inspection. SPI is the type of corporate-grade Internet security provided by your Belkin 4-Port Cable/DSL Gateway Router. Using SPI, the gateway acts as a "firewall," protecting your network from computer hackers. A subnet mask, which may be a part of the TCP/IP information provided by your ISP, is a set of four numbers configured like an IP address. It is used to create IP address numbers used only within a particular network (as opposed to valid IP address numbers recognized by the Internet, which must be assigned by InterNIC). Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol. This is the standard protocol for data transmission over the Internet. Wide Area Network. A network that connects computers located in geographically separate areas (i.e., different buildings, cities, countries). The Internet is a wide area network. 30