Need help with access point/Ethernet please

Alex_P98

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Sep 22, 2014
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(Might be long but would really greatly appreciate some help guys :)
Hey everyone, new here so hope this is in the right section :) . I'm basically incredibly confused and need help. So, my Superhub is downstairs and internet is decent in my room not bad but could be a lot better.
So I have a PS4, Smart tv and some other wireless devices scattered across parents room which are used. I came across the term, 'Access Point' other day and was wandering if there were any catches, but it sounded brilliant and you don't lose any bandwidth either, literally like having real first router next to devices, but it's second.
But then I reliased a lot of people were saying even if you have great wireless range with access point router next to console it's still better to have a hard wired connection so powerline is better?
Anyway, I was wandering if i could get the perfect package, would you be able to use the access point router to as well as connect wireless clients connect wired devices to or am i being naive and asking for to much? Also, would this be called a wirless bridge if i got both? I was just getting confused because I saw that while reading too. Would i have to just settle with the wireless and if so should i use wireless from access point o power line from downstairs to up

Thanks so much guys, help would be appreciated :) As you can see, i'm dead confused and not even sure what i need wireless bridge or access point and not sure if i even need the bridge and i could just use access point and that would do wired too. Might sound really unclear so ask if you were unsure about a certain part.
 
Solution
Access points improve wifi range because you can have wifi on your main router, run an ethernet cable a couple rooms down to where the access point is, then the access point would have wireless that extends farther then the router. When using multiple wifi sources, you need to set tem to different wifi channels to avoid interference.

You can always use a powelrine adapter to connect the router to the access point if you cant run an ethernet cable that far away.

With an access point yes you can use the 3 open ethernet ports (with an access point you connect the line from the router into the lan port NOT the wan port).
Im thinking you have some confusion about the difference in devices.

A router merges (the proper term is bridges) the connection from your ISP to your home network and provides address to your home computers as well as security, and being able to ultimatly router your data to/from its desired location.

An access point is an extension of a router. All it does is it allows more devices to connect to the router via its wired and wireless ineterfaces (you can easily convert a router to be an access point). An A.P. requires a wired ethernet connection from the router.

A wireless bridge. This is similar to an access point but instead it connects to the router wirelessly and then uses its ethernet ports to connect to a device without wifi.

A repeater/extender. This device takes a wifi signal and rebroadcasts it. At first glance this sounds like a great device, except that to do it the repeater is now a middle man and has to split its bandwidth in half in order to communicate between the router and communicate with the devices connected to it. Most off the shelf repeaters are also not equiped with good hardware inside so they are very unstable and just not advised in any way shape or form.



When it comes down to it, there is no better connection to a device then a wired connection like ethernet (fiber optic is even better but we are years away from that being an affordible solution). WiFi wil always be slower then a direct cable connection because it takes more time for the signal to go through the air and be intuprted by the router. Even the 1350mbps AC is not as fast because of the latency above, and the fact that the 1350 speed is a in-a-lab max speed number, not real world.

A power line adapter is better then wifi in latency but about the same in real network speed. Powerline adapter sends ethernet data over a powerline for people who cant run an ethernet line direcetly from router to the device.
 
For things like gaming or live voice/video the powerline is beter over wifi because you need to send small amounts of data with no lag (latency). For things like netflix of HD movies, latency is not as big of an issue because you dont care if the movie takes 2 more seconds to start playing, you want to send large amounts of data so the faster network speed is more important then the latency/responsiveness.
 

Alex_P98

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Sep 22, 2014
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4,510


Ok, this helped a lot thanks mate. So would a access point not actually improve the range of wireless?? Surely it would improve it as well as adding more clients? I'm really confused to what I need now. A wireless bridge sounds good because i have some wired devices that i would like to wire but are to far away from hub, but then I also wanted to improve wireless range too. Would the solution for me actually be having 2 routers?? If i have a wireless access point would i be able to use the Ethernet ports on the back?

Just a bit confused because you said all a access point does is let you have more clients but surely by doing this it extends the wifi coverage/speed mate? Would it be perfect for me then so I can turn a router into a AP and plug Ethernet PS4 to it, and it'll also improve wifi range?
 
Access points improve wifi range because you can have wifi on your main router, run an ethernet cable a couple rooms down to where the access point is, then the access point would have wireless that extends farther then the router. When using multiple wifi sources, you need to set tem to different wifi channels to avoid interference.

You can always use a powelrine adapter to connect the router to the access point if you cant run an ethernet cable that far away.

With an access point yes you can use the 3 open ethernet ports (with an access point you connect the line from the router into the lan port NOT the wan port).
 
Solution