What does this acronym mean?

Short for AirPort Extreme, a wireless router made by Apple. More information about the AirPort Extreme can be found on this page. This acronym is easily confused with AX, which is short for AirPort Express.

Short for AirPort Express, another wireless router made by Apple. More information about the AirPort Express can be found on this page. This acronym is easily confused with AE, which is short for AirPort Extreme.

Short for Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol. Generally your ISP will give you one IP address. The exact address may change from time to time, but whenever it does change, your ISP will let your router (or computer, if it's directly connected to your modem) know. The router (or computer) will update its settings accordingly, so you won't have to worry about what your IP address happens to be at any given time. The protocol by which all of this takes place is known as Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol, or DHCP.

Short for Domain Name System. Domain Name Servers are like internet phonebooks. A phone book lets you look up a person's name ("John Doe") and find his or her address ("123 Oak Street"). Similarly, a DNS server lets a computer look up a domain name ("www.example.com") and find an IP address ("192.0.32.10").

Short for Internet Protocol address. If the internet is a city, an IP address is a street address. It can be used to find where a computer "lives" on the internet. An IP address usually looks like this: 192.0.32.10.

Short for Internet Protocol, version 4 and Internet Protocol, version 6. The Internet Protocol describes, among other things, how IP addresses are assigned. IPv4 is the current method, but it has a number of issues that are gaining importance as more and more people gain internet access. IPv6 solves many of the problems of IPv4, but it has not yet come into widespread use.

Short for Internet Service Provider. Your ISP is the company that provides your internet service. Comcast is an example of an ISP.

Short for Network Address Translation. Usually your ISP will only give you one IP address. A router can share this one address with multiple computers through a process known as NAT.

Short for Time Capsule, a wireless router made by Apple that features an internal hard drive. More information about the Time Capsule can be found on this page.

Short for Wired Equivalent Privacy, a type of password protection for wireless networks. WEP has been found to have vulnerabilities that make it not as secure as originally thought, so it's generally a good idea to use WPA or WPA2 instead.

Short for WiFi Protected Access, a newer method of wireless security. WPA and WPA2 have superseded the older, less-secure WEP.

These aren't short for anything; 802.11 is the number of the IEEE (Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers) Working Group for wireless networking. 802.11a, 802.11b, 802.11g, and 802.11n are standards for how devices can create and connect to wireless networks.

802.11a networks are in the 5GHz frequency range. They support transfer speeds of up to 54Mb/s under ideal conditions.

802.11b networks are in the 2.4GHz range. They only support speeds of up to 11Mb/s.

802.11g networks are in the 2.4GHz range. They support up to 54Mb/s.

802.11n networks can be in either the 2.4GHz or the 5GHz range. They support transfer speeds of up to 600Mb/s.

Using AirPorts that support 802.11n, you can create extended wireless networks without having to set up a WDS.

Short for AirPort Extreme, a wireless router made by Apple. More information about the AirPort Extreme can be found on this page. This acronym is easily confused with AX, which is short for AirPort Express.

Short for AirPort Express, another wireless router made by Apple. More information about the AirPort Express can be found on this page. This acronym is easily confused with AE, which is short for AirPort Extreme.

Short for Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol. Generally your ISP will give you one IP address. The exact address may change from time to time, but whenever it does change, your ISP will let your router (or computer, if it's directly connected to your modem) know. The router (or computer) will update its settings accordingly, so you won't have to worry about what your IP address happens to be at any given time. The protocol by which all of this takes place is known as Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol, or DHCP.

Short for Domain Name System. Domain Name Servers are like internet phonebooks. A phone book lets you look up a person's name ("John Doe") and find his or her address ("123 Oak Street"). Similarly, a DNS server lets a computer look up a domain name ("www.example.com") and find an IP address ("192.0.32.10").

Short for Internet Protocol address. If the internet is a city, an IP address is a street address. It can be used to find where a computer "lives" on the internet. An IP address usually looks like this: 192.0.32.10.

Short for Internet Protocol, version 4 and Internet Protocol, version 6. The Internet Protocol describes, among other things, how IP addresses are assigned. IPv4 is the current method, but it has a number of issues that are gaining importance as more and more people gain internet access. IPv6 solves many of the problems of IPv4, but it has not yet come into widespread use.

Short for Internet Service Provider. Your ISP is the company that provides your internet service. Comcast is an example of an ISP.

Short for Local Area Network and Wide Area Network. Routers usually have one WAN port and many LAN ports. The connection to the internet goes through the WAN port, and local computers connect through the LAN ports. The AirPort Express has only one Ethernet port; it functions as either a LAN port or a WAN port depending on the Express's configuration.

A MAC address is a Media Access Control address. Any device that can connect to the internet (routers included) has a MAC address. For the most part, a MAC address never changes. MAC addresses generally look like this: 01:23:45:67:89:AB


MAC is not to be confused with Mac, a type of computer made by Apple.

Short for Network Address Translation. Usually your ISP will only give you one IP address. A router can share this one address with multiple computers through a process known as NAT.

Short for Point-to-Point Protocol over Ethernet. PPPoE is sometimes used instead of DHCP. If you connect to the internet via DSL, it's possible you use PPPoE.

Short for Time Capsule, a wireless router made by Apple that features an internal hard drive. More information about the Time Capsule can be found on this page.

Short for Wireless Distribution System, a method of extending a wireless network. Using a WDS drastically reduces network performance, and the setup process is rather time-consuming. Fortunately, AirPorts that support 802.11n use a different method that is much easier to configure and does not impose a performance penalty.

Short for Wired Equivalent Privacy, a type of password protection for wireless networks. WEP has been found to have vulnerabilities that make it not as secure as originally thought, so it's generally a good idea to use WPA or WPA2 instead.

Short for WiFi Protected Access, a newer method of wireless security. WPA and WPA2 have superseded the older, less-secure WEP.

These aren't short for anything; 802.11 is the number of the IEEE (Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers) Working Group for wireless networking. 802.11a, 802.11b, 802.11g, and 802.11n are standards for how devices can create and connect to wireless networks.

802.11a networks are in the 5GHz frequency range. They support transfer speeds of up to 54Mb/s under ideal conditions.

802.11b networks are in the 2.4GHz range. They only support speeds of up to 11Mb/s.

802.11g networks are in the 2.4GHz range. They support up to 54Mb/s.

802.11n networks can be in either the 2.4GHz or the 5GHz range. They support transfer speeds of up to 600Mb/s.

Using AirPorts that support 802.11n, you can create extended wireless networks without having to set up a WDS.

Short for AirPort Extreme, a wireless router made by Apple. More information about the AirPort Extreme can be found on this page. This acronym is easily confused with AX, which is short for AirPort Express.

Short for AirPort Express, another wireless router made by Apple. More information about the AirPort Express can be found on this page. This acronym is easily confused with AE, which is short for AirPort Extreme.

Short for Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol. Generally your ISP will give you one IP address. The exact address may change from time to time, but whenever it does change, your ISP will let your router (or computer, if it's directly connected to your modem) know. The router (or computer) will update its settings accordingly, so you won't have to worry about what your IP address happens to be at any given time. The protocol by which all of this takes place is known as Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol, or DHCP.

Short for Domain Name System. Domain Name Servers are like internet phonebooks. A phone book lets you look up a person's name ("John Doe") and find his or her address ("123 Oak Street"). Similarly, a DNS server lets a computer look up a domain name ("www.example.com") and find an IP address ("192.0.32.10").

Short for Internet Protocol address. If the internet is a city, an IP address is a street address. It can be used to find where a computer "lives" on the internet. An IP address usually looks like this: 192.0.32.10.

Short for Internet Protocol, version 4 and Internet Protocol, version 6. The Internet Protocol describes, among other things, how IP addresses are assigned. IPv4 is the current method, but it has a number of issues that are gaining importance as more and more people gain internet access. IPv6 solves many of the problems of IPv4, but it has not yet come into widespread use.

Short for Internet Service Provider. Your ISP is the company that provides your internet service. Comcast is an example of an ISP.

Short for Local Area Network and Wide Area Network. Routers usually have one WAN port and many LAN ports. The connection to the internet goes through the WAN port, and local computers connect through the LAN ports. The AirPort Express has only one Ethernet port; it functions as either a LAN port or a WAN port depending on the Express's configuration.

A MAC address is a Media Access Control address. Any device that can connect to the internet (routers included) has a MAC address. For the most part, a MAC address never changes. MAC addresses generally look like this: 01:23:45:67:89:AB


MAC is not to be confused with Mac, a type of computer made by Apple.

Short for Network Address Translation. Usually your ISP will only give you one IP address. A router can share this one address with multiple computers through a process known as NAT.

Short for Point-to-Point Protocol over Ethernet. PPPoE is sometimes used instead of DHCP. If you connect to the internet via DSL, it's possible you use PPPoE.

Short for Time Capsule, a wireless router made by Apple that features an internal hard drive. More information about the Time Capsule can be found on this page.

Short for Wireless Distribution System, a method of extending a wireless network. Using a WDS drastically reduces network performance, and the setup process is rather time-consuming. Fortunately, AirPorts that support 802.11n use a different method that is much easier to configure and does not impose a performance penalty.

Short for Wired Equivalent Privacy, a type of password protection for wireless networks. WEP has been found to have vulnerabilities that make it not as secure as originally thought, so it's generally a good idea to use WPA or WPA2 instead.

Short for WiFi Protected Access, a newer method of wireless security. WPA and WPA2 have superseded the older, less-secure WEP.