WifiSoftOpen Networking Experts

Resources

Glossary

Plain-language definitions for the terms used across the Wifi-Soft platform.

AAA
Authentication, Authorization, and Accounting — the three functions that decide who can join a network, what they can do, and what gets logged about their session.
RADIUS
A standard protocol for centralizing AAA, so authentication doesn't have to be handled separately by every access point or switch.
Captive Portal
The branded login or splash page a guest sees before getting network access — used for terms acceptance, social login, or vouchers.
Passpoint / Hotspot 2.0
An industry standard that lets devices join and authenticate to WiFi automatically, without a manual login screen.
WBA OpenRoaming
A federated roaming framework from the Wireless Broadband Alliance that lets devices connect automatically across participating networks worldwide.
PPSK
Private Pre-Shared Key — a unique WiFi password issued per device or user, revocable individually without resetting a shared password for everyone.
NAC
Network Access Control — granting or restricting network access based on the identity and posture of the connecting user or device.
PoE
Power over Ethernet — delivering electrical power to devices like access points and cameras over the same cable that carries data.
SSID
Service Set Identifier — the network name a device sees when choosing which WiFi network to join.
Zero-Touch Provisioning
Hardware that configures itself automatically on first power-up, without a technician manually setting it up on-site.
Backhaul
The connection carrying traffic from a local network back to the wider internet — fiber, cable, cellular, or satellite.
Multi-Tenant
A platform architecture where multiple customers or organizations are managed on shared infrastructure, with their data and configuration kept isolated.
VM Appliance
Software packaged to run inside a virtual machine in your own infrastructure, instead of on vendor-hosted cloud servers.