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This dictionary of internet terms may be useful in learning more about your RightFiber Connection. 

It was not long ago that a “channel” was used most often to describe the channel station you were watching on your television – but as the digital age has rapidly expanded, so has the vocabulary needed to maneuver the everchanging landscape.   To help make it easier to have a positive experience with your home internet, we have gathered together a list of internet connectivity words and phrases that you may come across when setting up or maintaining your internet connection. 

• Adjacent Channel Interference – interference that occurs when a neighboring access point’s channel partially overlaps the channel in use by your access point. 

• Airtime – measured 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 further developing your internet vocabulary. We hope this will help you better understand the technical details of your connection — just one of the many ways that we strive to always be Right by You.