Marketing Terms Suck

How many people out there know how to properly describe a “DSL modem”? DSL modems do not modulate/demodulate like analog phone modems, they simply bridge some form of Ethernet or ATM over unused frequencies on POTS lines and unused ATM lines. They are simply bridges.

Modern DSL modems also act as single port switches, and deal with the PPP tunnel and whatnot now… and I have came up with an appropriate name for these: a swidge. DSL modems with built in firewall/PPP/switch capabilities are swidges, those four port home LAN switches that can run OpenWRT are swidges, and anything that bridges you to another network, and switches packets, is a swidge.

So, what do we call a swidge that is also a WiFi access point? A Wiswidge.