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List of netowrking, wireless, broadband, satellite, telephony, general computing and other technical terms used throughout the site.
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Term Description
L2TP L2TP (Layer Two Tunneling Protocol) is a tunneling protocol used by ISPs to enable the operation of VPN (Virtual Private Network) over the Internet.

L2TP merges the best features of two other tunneling protocols: PPTP from Microsoft and L2F from Cisco Systems. Like PPTP, L2TP requires that the ISP's routers support the protocol.
LAN A Local Area Network (LAN) is a computer network of devices within a small geographic area such as a home, computer lab, or an office building that share a common communications line. A LAN may serve as few as two or three, or as many as thousands of users. The most common type of local area network is an Ethernet LAN.

A LAN in turn can be connected to other LANs over any distance. A system of LANs connected via various data lines is called a wide area network (WAN), like the Internet.
latency Latency, or simply delay is an expression of how much time it takes for a packet of data to get from one designated point to another. Latency is often measured by sending a packet that is returned to the sender and the round-trip time (RTT) is considered the latency.
LEAP LEAP (Lightweight EAP) is a Cisco authentication technology for securing wireless networks with WEP-based devices.

See also: EAP, EAP-FAST
LEC LEC (Local Exchange Carrier) - a local telephone company.

Local carriers are responsible for the "last mile" of all connections to the Internet. When a customer purchases a circuit through a Tier 1 carrier (IXC), the carrier sends the LEC an order to provision a connection from the closest Central Office to the customer's premise. The IXC and the LEC must also arrange connectivity between the carrier's POP and the LEC's CO.
LEOS Low Earth Orbit Satellites
LNB LNB (Low Noise Block Converter) is a device placed in the focal point of a satellite dish which amplifies the incoming signal and converts the frequencies for use by a satellite receiver.
load balancing Load balancing refers to the distribution of communications activity evenly across a computer network, or multiple physical circuits, to provide for redundancy and additional bandwidth. Border Gateway Protocol (BGP) and Cisco Express Forwarding are some examples of load balancing technology.
LTE LTE (Long Term Evolution) is the last step toward the 4th generation of radio technologies designed to increase the capacity and speed of mobile telephone networks.

Where the current generation of mobile telecommunication networks are collectively known as 3G (for "third generation"), LTE is marketed as and called 4G insinuating that it's the "fourth generation". Most major mobile carriers are converting their networks to LTE since 2009.

LTE is a set of enhancements to the Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS) introduced in 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) Release 8. Much of 3GPP Release 8 focuses on adopting 4G mobile communications technology, including an all-IP flat networking architecture.
Term Description
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