Telecommunications, computing, and internetworking technologies often have an enormous amount of jargon associated with them. This jargon makes it possible to speak precisely and quickly to others who are in-the-know, but can also drastically increase the learning curve for newcomers. We offer this page as a quick reference guide for common terms, acronyms, and other abbreviations that the NYC Mesh Docs and volunteers use on a regular basis.

A

Antenna

Antenna, router and radio are often confused- see our FAQ

AP

a wifi Access Point

ARIN

American Registry for Internet Numbers- where you get your ASN

ASN

Autonomous System Number that identifies your network on BGP for peering. Our number is AS395853

B

Backhaul

very high bandwidth connections, usually point to point.

BGP

This is the routing protocol of the Internet. We use it to connect at an IXP

BMX6

An ad-hoc mesh protocol we use. (BatMan eXperimental 6)

BuB

“Bottom up Broadband” The beneficiaries of the networks actively participate in the planning, deployment and maintenance tasks.

C

Captive portal

a web page that is shown before connecting to the Internet normally

Cjdns

Caleb James DeLisle’s Network Suite. Encrypted IPv6 mesh protocol.

Clearnet

the regular internet as opposed to the hidden web (Tor, I2P, Freenet)

Commons

The commons include public libraries, the Internet, parks and roads and some mesh networks. Guifi has a “Wireless Commons License”.

CPE

Customer premises equipment (e.g. a LiteBeam, NanoStation, home router). ISP jargon

D

Dark fiber

fiber cable that is not connected.

DHCP

or “Automatic” setting will automatically try to get you an IP address and subnet mask

E

Ethernet cable :The cable we use that has 8 wires for carrying data and power

F

FFTF

Fiber From The Farms Broadband Initiative – Guifi term for BuB

FNF

Free Network Foundation

G

Guifi

The largest community owned network, based in Catalonia, Spain

H

HNA

Host and Network Association information used by mesh protocols

I

IPv4

the most common version of the Internet Protocol (IP), An IPv4 address consists of four octets e.g. 192.168.1.20

IPv6

6th version of Internet Protocol. Designed to replace IPv4. e.g. 2001:db8:0:1:1:1:1:1

ISP

Internet Service Provider

IXP

Internet Exchange Point, where internet networks come together to peer or exchange traffic between their networks. (An IXP is a network and not really a “point” or a building)

J

K

L

LIR

local Internet registry, an organization that has been allocated a block of IP addresses by a regional Internet registry (RIR)

LOS

Line of sight.

LuCI

(pronounced Lucy) Lua Unified Configuration Interface, the web interface in OpenWRT

M

MANET

Mobile Ad-hoc NETwork

N

NAT

Network address translation- a method of remapping one IP address space into another

node

WiFi router or other routing devices in a particular location on a network

O

OLSR

Optimized Link State Routing Protocol (popular mesh protocol)

OpenWRT

Open source Wireless Receiver/Transmitter (WRT) software

OSPF

a popular dynamic routing protocol

P

Peering

An agreement between two networks to connect and exchange traffic without charge

P2P

Point-to-point connection between two antennas

P2MP

Point-to-multipoint connection, e.g. between one sector antenna and multiple smaller antennas

POE

Power over ethernet (how Ubiquiti routers get 24 volt power)

Q

R

Radio

The wireless receiver/transmitter part of a router

Router

Antenna, router and radio are often confused- see our FAQ

RIR

Regional Internet registry

S

Sector antenna

a directional antenna designed to connect to many other antennas. Typical “sectors” are 90 degrees or 120 degrees

SSID

Service set identification- the Wi-Fi access point name

Supernode

This is a large install, typically with a fiber connection and many sector and point-to-point antennas

T

U

V

W

WAP

Wireless Access Point

WDS

Wireless Distribution System, A mesh protocol we use

WISP

Wireless ISP

WNDW

Wireless Networking in the Developing World – essential book

WRT

Wireless Receiver/Transmitter software (WRT)

X

Y

Z

Section Contents