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I wanted to know what is the difference between a wifi router and an access point because I want to extend my homenetwork which is currently using 3 wireless router(configured as APs) connected via LAN with an decent switch (TL-SG2424)

I'm totally aware that a router does routing, etc. (if you don't turn it off like me) and an access point is only like a switch for wireless. However an AP has less funktions it is more expensiv than an wifi router with the same specs (and even brand).

I tried to google but I only found some basic informations about the functional differences (AP has not routing etc) like the following: Difference between wifi router and access point?

I was thinking that APs are maybe more professional for small business and so on and are not produced in high amounts because there are no real customer gear and therefore more expensive.

So I wanted to know which would be the better choice an cheaper wifi router or an Access Point?

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Fritz
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2 Answers2

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There is nothing from a network standpoint which is different than having separate router and WAP devices. There are "fat" WAPs in which you configure the AP, and there are "lightweight" WAPs (LWAPs) which get their configurations from a wireless controller, making it easier to manage a large number of WAPs in concert. The combination device seems more like a "fat" WAP since the combination box doesn't control other WAPs.

The difference is that a router/firewall/switch/WAP/etc. combination sort of thing really has all the individual devices within one box controlled by one OS/interface. A router/WAP combination is the same thing as a router with an external WAP attached, except that the OS/interface controls all of the devices.

The WAP in such a combination doesn't do routing, that is controlled by the router software, and the router doesn't know that the WAP is anything more than another network interface. The software stacks are still independent of each other, but the interface ties it all together.

There are plenty of consumer-grade, stand-alone WAPs produced for home or small business use. These can be placed where you wouldn't want to place a router, like in the ceiling in the middle of a room, and you could use multiple WAPs for better coverage (think multi-story dwellings). An enterprise would more likely use LWAPs with a wireless controller for this sort of thing.

Ron Maupin
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  • thx for the good explanation of WAPs but for me it stays still unclear if an AP would have benefits for me. Form this i think not really cause don't really care about using a central controller. For homeuse the money for power/features/speed/... is more important – Fritz Nov 30 '15 at 00:53
  • You didn't make that clear in your question. There is really no difference in performance, other than the difference which placement could make. The separate WAP can be more flexible in placement, thus achieving better coverage and/or signal by bringing the WAP closer to the clients. – Ron Maupin Nov 30 '15 at 01:01
  • sorry for being unclear in the question i wanted to know if performance is affected in any way. Your comment was pretty helpfull. I think placement is equal in my case cause I will note use PoE which is the only plus i found for APs. For 100€ you could buy 2 router or 1 AP so I would say a router is the better choice because you have better coverage and more bandwidth cause there a kind of redunant – Fritz Nov 30 '15 at 01:05
  • It certainly matters which WAP you are looking to buy. If your are looking at a high-end Linksys router/WAP combination, Linksys certainly has WAP that ar much cheaper than the router combination. The same holds true for many of the consumer-grade vendors. – Ron Maupin Nov 30 '15 at 01:08
  • I totally agree, if I would buy for a business i would go for a WAP router combination with central management and so on but for my budget of 100€ and the wish for a gbit interface i found only the D-Link DAP-1665 AP but over 20 W-Router (source is [geizhals.at](http://geizhals.eu/?cat=wlanap&xf=758_Dual+Band+(simultan)~7037_1)) – Fritz Nov 30 '15 at 01:16
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You already described the primary differences in your question.

Which kind of devices is better for your network depends on what price/features/quality trade-offs you want to make. But for anyone to answer that, you'd have to tell us what your budget and goals are, and what specific devices you're considering, and it would probably venture into "shopping recommendation" territory that Super User frowns upon.

Spiff
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  • I know that superusers and co don't like such things so I tried to ask in a way that noone downvotes my question. I was thinking of investing in an 5GHz (TP-Link) AP/W-Router between 50 and 100€ so not much and while I was researching I wondered why APs with the same specs cost more – Fritz Nov 30 '15 at 00:56