This glossary of terms may be helpful in learning more about your Ritter Internet Connection.
It wasn’t that long ago that a “channel” was one of the three connections from your RCA Console TV — but as the digital age rapidly expands, so has the vocabulary needed to best navigate its changing landscape. To help ensure you have the most positive experience with your home Internet connection we’ve compiled an alphabetical list of internet connectivity words and phrases that you may encounter but may not be familiar with:
- Adjacent Channel Interference – interference that occurs when a neighboring access point’s channel partially overlaps the channel in use by your access point
- Airtime – measure in percentage of wireless capacity used by a client; how long the client is “talking” to the access point
- Access point (AP) – equipment in the home that broadcasts WiFi signals; may be embedded in a router or cable/DSL modem
- Band Steering – a feature within access points that will attempt to guide clients to the least used frequency (2.4ghz vs 5ghz) while keeping above a minimum signal strength
- Channel – frequency range an access point uses to transmit and receive data from clients; the medium for all WiFi “conversations” on that particular access point
- Channel bandwidth – width or size of the channel an access point is using. The wider the channel, the more bandwidth and interference that channel will experience
- Client – end user device that is accessing the WiFi network; the “walkie talkie” having a conversation with an access point
- Co-channel Interference – interference that occurs when a neighboring access point’s channel completely overlaps the channel use by your access point
- DbM – measurement of WiFi signal strength; measured in negative values, so the closer the number is to 0, the stronger the signal
- DFS – Dynamic Frequency Selection; access point feature/channel set that detects RADAR signal and moves the active channel to an unused channel; if possible, avoid assigning DFS channels
- Interference – disruptive signals that degrade WiFi signal strength
- Internet of Things (IoT) – collection of smart home devices, such as WiFi light switches, that can drastically increase client count on a WiFi network; many require a dedicated 2.4ghz SSID to function well
- Mesh – the use of multiple access points on the same WiFi network to provide more even signal coverage of a larger area.
- Password/Passphrase – the password or passphrase used to secure a WiFi network so that only the clients the customer configures may access the WiFi network
- Problem client – end user client that is performing so poorly that it degrades the entire WiFi network, due to poor signal strength, lower connection speed, or faulty/legacy WiFi hardware; the walkie talkie that: can’t be heard clearly due to low signal or talks so slowly that no other conversations can occur
- RSSI – Received Signal Strength Indicator; measurement of how strong the WiFi signal is being received by the client
- Router – device responsible for directing traffic for the customer-specific network (LAN) and directing traffic to the internet; usually includes an embedded access point and might be included in the DSL or cable modem
- SSID – Service Set Identifier; the network name that is advertised from an access point for clients to connect to
There you have it. Your first deep-dive into a glossary of terms that will help you better understand the technical details of your Internet connection – just another way that we are Right by You.
