Just for anyone considering this, make sure you understand that this is not a wireless router. It's a
wireless access point. It has a single wired network connection that plugs into your local network and provides access to the network to wireless clients.
A wireless access point differs from the more commonly used wireless router in the following ways, among others:
- It doesn't route or provide network address translation, so can't be used to share a network connection. A wireless router creates a separate network behind itself, and has a single upstream IP address that it routes to/from the local IP addresses behind it. A WAP just provides access to whatever network it's attached to, and doesn't provide network sharing.
- It doesn't provide a DHCP server. So devices connecting aren't given IP addresses by this device. You would either have to manually configure IP addresses and settings for the wireless clients connecting through it or else another device on the network would have to provide DHCP service.
- It doesn't contain an internal switch, meaning that it doesn't have multiple wired ethernet ports to give network access to wired clients. It only provides connectivity for wireless clients.
Typically, you'd use a WAP if the above functions were provided on the network by other devices. For instance, if you had a firewall that provide routing/NAT and DHCP. And you'd usually have a network switch for connecting wired devices.
I use a WAP on my home network, but have the following:
- cable modem
- firewall/router, which provides DHCP and NAT
- network switch, for attaching wired devices
- wireless access point
Typically, in a home you'd have just the cable/DSL modem and a wireless router. It's a little like the difference between using a receiver vs. using a pre-amp, power amp and tuner. You get more hardware choices and configurability with the latter, at the expense of more equipment and more cables.
