Access Point Help

PlymouthJoseph

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Jan 26, 2014
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Okay guys, just a warning... I have very little knowledge with networking.

I have been looking into buying a Access Point for my house as 1 side has very low signal from my main router. That point has already got a PC which is connected via Ethernet and get's full gigabit connection speed. What I am wanting to know is; if I were to buy a dual-band WiFi Access Point on eBay and connect it to the Ethernet cable going to the router. Would this be okay? I just want better WiFi signal where my desktop is because my phone cuts out very often and it would also give WiFi access to anyone in the garden.

I have also been thinking about making a cheap NAS with some old systems and HDDs I've got lying around, but I don't have the room in the living room (Where the router is located) for one. So, would it also be possible to make a NAS and connect it to the AP and have it work without an issue?

As I said before, I don't know much about networking... So sorry if this seams really vague. My router is the Virgin Media SuperHub-3, and I was planning on buying something like this: https://goo.gl/WPucSN and just have it in the corner of the room. Would this work okay, or do I need to look for something better.

Hope you can help, and once again... Sorry for not having much knowledge in networking.

- Joe
 
Solution
That is a really cheap price...be careful. You can find videos on how to use a router as a AP. It is actually pretty trivial to setup. You cable lan-lan, you disable the DHCP one the router that is going to act as the AP, you change the IP address on your AP router so it does not conflict with the main router.

The device acts as a switch on the lan ports. It will have little to no impact on your network. Even on your main router the traffic will go between the lan ports for traffic going to the NAS. It does not go out the WAN port so it will not affect your internet. You could unplug the internet and your NAS would still function.
Be somewhat careful to read the description of the product you buy. Many true AP only have a single ethernet port so there would not be a place to plug your NAS into. Any router can be used as a AP even those that do not have a special AP feature. I am having issues with ebay displaying things today but I suspect the device you linked only has a single ethernet port.
 

PlymouthJoseph

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Thank you for your input guys.

@Hardware Brad - if I were to connect it wirelessly, wouldn't I run into bottleneck issues?

@bill001g - So, would it be easier if I keep an eye out on a dual band router (Such as a SuperHub 2 maybe?) and it would work as a AP? I'm just wondering as I don't want to land up buying a new router, just to find out it doesn't work. But, for what I want, I would need at least 3 Ethernet ports, right? (Internet, NAS and my desktop)
 

Hardware Brad

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I don't foresee any bottleneck issues. Whether it is wired or wireless, it is still on the same network, going through the same router. Wired is typically better due to it having less interference like a wireless signal would, just transferring files to and from the NAS you may not notice a difference.
 

PlymouthJoseph

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Do you think a TalkTalk HG635 would be okay? Remember that it'll be connecting to the router for the internet, then connecting to my NAS, my desktop and my brother's PS4. Do you think it would be okay for this?

Also, is it going to be easy to set up? I've never really done anything like this before so I don't know what I'm doing. :/
 
That is a really cheap price...be careful. You can find videos on how to use a router as a AP. It is actually pretty trivial to setup. You cable lan-lan, you disable the DHCP one the router that is going to act as the AP, you change the IP address on your AP router so it does not conflict with the main router.

The device acts as a switch on the lan ports. It will have little to no impact on your network. Even on your main router the traffic will go between the lan ports for traffic going to the NAS. It does not go out the WAN port so it will not affect your internet. You could unplug the internet and your NAS would still function.
 
Solution