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[roseway]

Glossary and Explanation of some of the common terms in use on this site.


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[kitz]

OEM - Original Equipment Manufacturer.

OLO - Other Licensed Operator(s).

ONT - Optical Network Terminal.

OOo - OpenOffice.org, an open source suite of office software.

OP - Original Post.

OP - Original Poster.

Open Source - A term used to describe software which is supplied complete with the original programming source code.

OS - Operating System, the software which makes a computer work, and enables the user to install and run application programs.

OT - Off Topic.

[roseway]

[kitz]

QAM - Quadrature Amplitude Modulation. Modulation method used to transmit adsl data.

QoS - Quality of Service. Control mechanisms for allocating and prioritising different data flows in a network. QoS is included in some routers, for example, to enable multiple users to each have a defined share of the capacity of the connection.

Quad Play - Combination of Landline, Mobile Phone, Broadband and Television services.

[kitz]

RADIUS - Remote Authentication Dial In User Service.  Authentication method used by ISPs to authorise your username and login.

RAID - Redundant Array of Independent / Inexpensive Disks. A means of distributing data over multiple disks so as to provide more security, or speed, or both.

RAM - Random Access Memory.

RAS - Remote Access Server.  More info on BT's RAS.

RAT - Request Auto Testing (BT)

RBAT - Request Background Automatic Test (BT)

REN - Ringing Equivalent Number. Each device plugged into the telephone line has a REN value. Maximum recommended REN is 4.

RF - Radio Frequency

RFI - Radio Frequency Interference

ROADM - Reconfigurable Optical Add/Drop Multiplexer

ROM - Read Only Memory

RSI - Repetitive Strain Injury

RTC - Real Time Clock

RWIN - Receive Window - See MTU and RWIN.

[kitz]

SATA - Serial ATA. A serial interface for disk drives, now taking over from PATA (IDE)

SCP - Secondary Cross-Connection Point (BT)

SDSL - Symmetric Digital Subscriber Line.  DSL technology with the same upload and download data rate.

SFIA - Special Faults Investigation Assure. An Openreach service available to ISPs for DSL circuits.

SFP - Small Form-factor Pluggable.

SHDSL - Single pair High bit rate Digital Subscriber Line.

SLA - Service Level Agreement.

SMF - Simple Machines Forum.  The software that runs forums such as this.

SMPF - Shared Metallic Path Facilities. LLU where the ISP provides broadband only.

SMTP - Simple Mail Transfer Protocol.

SNMP - Simple Network Management Protocol

SNR - Signal to Noise Ratio - SNR Explanation

SNRM - SNR Margin.

SNR Margin -  May also be known as Noise Margin. See SNR Margin Explanation

SP   - Service Provider(s).

SRA - Seamless Rate Adaption.  Explanation of SRA

SSB - Service Selection Barring.  Method used by BT to ensure that you can only log into the correct ISP - see adsl authentication.

Sync - Synchronisation with the exchange.

STM - Synchronous Transport Modules.

STM1 - 155.52Mbps

STM4 - 622 Mbps (4 * 155.52)

SVLAN - Service Virtual LAN.

Sync Speed - Rate at which you connect to the exchange.

[kitz]

T&Cs - Terms and Conditions

TAM - Test Access Matrix.  ADSL diagnostic equipment - see Inside the BT Telephone Exchange

TCP - Transmission Control Protocol

TCP/IP - Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol

TIA  - Thanks In Advance

TPON - Telecommunications over Passive Optical Networks

TPS - Telephone Preference Service.  Opt out register for unsolicited sales and marketing telephone calls.  See TPS

TLA - Three Letter Acronym

TLD - Top Level Domain

Tracert / Traceroute - Network utility used to check the routing to a remote server or computer.  How to use the Tracert command.

TY - Thank You.

TYVM - Thank You Very Much.

[roseway]

UBC - Usage Based Charging. BT wholesale method of charging ISPs based on the amount of bandwidth used by their customers - More information CBC/UBC

UDP - User Datagram Protocol. One of the core internet protocols. With UDP a computer can send data to other hosts without having first to set up special channels or paths. Used for DNS, streaming media, many online games, etc.

UI - User Interface. The means by which a user interacts with the computer.

UPS - Uninterruptible Power Supply.

URI - Uniform Resource Identifier. A standardised way of specifying the address of an internet resource.

URL - Uniform Resource Locator. The full address of an internet resource, including the means of addressing it (e.g. http://www.bbc.co.uk).

URN Uniform Resource Name. A standardised way to specify the name of an internet device (as opposed to the URL which is its address).

USB - Universal Serial Bus. A hot-pluggable serial interface.

UTC - Coordinated Universal Time. For most purposes, equivalent to GMT.

UTP - Unshielded Twisted Pair.

[roseway]

VC - Virtual Circuit.  A link between 2 points on a network specifically to route between the locations over a circuit.

VC - Virtual Channel.  A communication channel between 2 points on an ATM network.

VC-Mux -  Virtual Circuit Multiplexing. 

VF - Voice Frequency

VFAT - Virtual FAT. An enhancement of the FAT file system to support long file names.

VHF - Very High Frequency.

VISP - Virtual ISP.  An ISP that resells or bundles products from other Internet Service Providers rather than their own dedicated products. 

VLAN - Virtual LAN

VLF - Very Low Frequency.

VM - Virtual Machine, a means of installing an operating system inside another OS.

VM - Virtual Memory.  Extends RAM by using a portion of the hard drive.

VoD - Video on Demand. TV/Video Services available over the Internet streamed or downloaded to your PC.  Examples are BBC iPlayer, ITV Catchup, 4OD, BT Vision.

VoIP - Voice over IP. A general term for systems which deliver voice communications over the internet or other networks.

VP - Virtual Path. For more info see BT Virtual Paths.

VPI - Virtual Path Identifier.  Used in ATM networks to define the Virtual Path.

VPN - Virtual Private Network. A network in which some of the connections are made over another larger network, such as the internet.

[roseway]

W3C - World Wide Web Consortium. The international standards organisation for the world-wide web.

WAN - Wide Area Network.

WAP - Wireless Access Point.

WBC - Wholesale Broadband Connect.

WMBC - Wholesale Managed Broadband Connect.

WEP - Wired Equivalent Privacy. An encryption standard for wireless networks, now considered to be insecure.

Wi-Fi - Wireless Fidelity. A standard for interoperability between wireless devices.

WLAN - Wireless Local Area Network.

WPA - Wi-Fi Protected Access. An encryption standard for wireless networks, more secure than WEP.

WRT  - With Regard To / With Respect To.

WTH - What The Heck / What the Hell.

WWW - World Wide Web.

WYSIWYG - What You See Is What You Get. A term for document editing programs in which the editing display has the same appearance as the final document.

[roseway]

xDSL - Generic term encompassing all forms of DSL

[roseway]

Y2K - Year Two Thousand.

[roseway]

ZIF - Zero Insertion Force. A type of socket for integrated circuits, in which the IC is dropped freely into the socket and locked in place afterwards. Used for processors and similar devices.

[kitz]

21CN - 21st Century Network - BT Wholesale's upgrade for faster broadband and move from a PSTN (Public Switched Telephone Network) to an IP (Internet Protocol) System.

2G - Second Generation Mobile Technology.

3G - Third Generation Mobile Technology.  Allows faster services and access to the Internet.

4G - Fourth Generation Mobile Technology. "Super Fast" Mobile broadband - See Ofcom article here