I thought I understood what a (wireless) router is, but after seeing an advertisement for an extended-coverage access point today, I’m beginning to wonder what each does.
The manufacturers of both wireless routers and access points sometimes claim maximum coverage, leading me to ask:
What are the differences between wireless routers and access points?
Are these separate units ever used in tandem? If so, why did the Best Buy sales guy yesterday tell me that getting both is “stupid–a complete waste of money”?
The router does a lot more than an access point.
I have a Home network router to share internet and it has 4 network ports and a built in parallel port to share a printer. Plugged into this router I have an 8 port Hub and a wireless access point. This supports my wife’s laptops and 1 PC.
A networked color laser is plugged directly into the router as is my PC and the access point. The hub supports 2 more PC’s and 3 cords running to various strategic points in the house where I might want a PC.
A wireless Router does everything an access point does, so there is no major reason to have both. However the Access Point could also act a repeater.
Let’s assume you have a large house, you could run a cable from the router on one end to another room on the other end and hook up an access point for a strong signal. Not usually needed but a possibility.
A router’s core function is to connect multiple devices to an external network. Most routers do this by something called Network Address Translation (NAT for short). The router keeps track of which device on the network requested which data packet from which external network and passes those packets back and forth accordingly.
An access point (as the name implies) simply provides wireless access to an existing network. AFAIK, it only does “local NAT” (that is, it figures out which wireless devices requested what packet and forwards them to and from the wireless device). It cannot do NAT against an external network.
To clarify matters: imagine a closed home network without Internet access. Having a router in this network would be pointless, as there’s no external network (the Internet) for your private network to access. On the other hand, a wireless access point is still useful, because wireless devices could use the access point to connect to computers on your private network.
My house is very large, horizontally and vertically. I have a basement office with a desktop. I sometimes take my notebook to bed two floors up. I may wish to network the two computers, but no printers, etc. Nothing fancy.
Someone recently interested me in buying a D-Mark Super G MIMO router. It’s supposed to have extended range–which is what I need, I guess.
Any ideas whether I need a router and access point, for this set-up?
The unit you reference is both a router and an access point. That is all you need as long as the signal makes it all the way though your house and you are prepared to run wires for any desired wired connection from where that unit sits.
I’ll go a step further. Try it without the Access point. Go wireless near the router and then just walk the laptop upstairs while on and check that signal strength doesn’t drop below an acceptable level for you.
Only add the access point if needed. Be prepared to run wire from the router up to the access point, this could be difficult.
I’m confused by your terminology. An access point sends the wireless signal. A router routes information packets and usually refers to the wired portion of the network. Most wireless access points are routers too.
If you want to send a wireless signal, you need something that is called and access point. The combined router functionality allows you to add wired connections as well.
The unit he references does both just like most of them do so that shouldn’t be an issue. You would need to check the signal strength upstairs however to see if any other repeaters or wired components are necessary.
Incidentally, I have a Linksys 54G access point router. I bought high-gain attennas made by linksys yesterday and those boost the signal strength like crazy. The 54G Linksys unit and high-gain antennas together will run just over $100. I have a large house too and it works fine everywhere.
Semi-Hijack:
My laptop is wireless-capable and my dorm room is hooked into the campus network. Could I get an access point, plug the ethernet cable into the access point rather than my computer, and just have my own little wireless set up?
If so, about how much (on average) would the cost for a bare-bones thing be?
You probably can. In fact, that is such a good idea that many other people do it and schools sometimes crack down on it. It makes network traffic monitoring difficult and it potentially opens the network to outsiders.
Still, you can try it. All you need is an access point like this. . I have that Linksys model and recommend it. The price listed is $60 but I have seen it cheaper. You can use it as a wired or wireless connection. Setup on takes a couple of minutes.
This is a wireless router that does almost everything. (No integrated print server)
That is what I meant. It has ports for cat-5 and a built in wireless access point if you like. For SoHo apps they are generally refered to as just a wireless router.
This is a good rig for a home or small office with DSL or Cable and a mix of ethernet wired computers and wireless B or G computers/laptops.
In the hardware market, a router and an access point are different items.
A router typically has a built-in switch or hub and does NAT. It may or may not have 802.11x wireless built into it. It may (or may not) have a built-in firewall and may (or may not) have access controls.
An access point is a small box that connects via CAT5 to a switch to provide wireless access to an existing network. It’s doesn’t “do” NAT (except for the aforementioned “local NAT”). It doesn’t do routing either… Seriously. Try connecting an access point with a 10.0.0.x IP address to a 192.168.x.x LAN. It won’t work.
This has got to be the most nit-picky discussion I have participated in. Here is what I am talking about. They are all-in-one routers, switches and access points and they are the most popular products in the category. You could buy a compnent for each tack seperately but there is usually no need to for home use.