Access Point And Router

[CheeseMan42]

i just want to know what the difference between a router and access point

[caffeinejunkie]

I'm not positive but i'll give this a shot. The router would be were the main connection was. And the access point would just be there so you could take your wirless item farther. Lets say you have 1,000ft radius with the acess point you would have 2,000 since you could put the acess point 1,000ft away from the router and then that access point would alow you to connect your wireless item another 1,000ft away.

[H2O]

An access point is only a box that allows for wireless connection to your LAN. You will only have 1 wired input and the output will be wireless only.

 

A router offers the capability for you to connect multiple computers to 1 WAN connection. The input to the router is a WAN port [internet connection from your modem] and the output is multiple ethernet ports to your wired LAN.

 

It use to be that routers were for wired computers only. Nowadays with the advent of wireless, companies have also created wireless routers. Wireless routers are basically an access point + a router in 1 box.

 

In addition nowadays to simplify home networking, companies have been making routers more powerful by making 1 router box act as a gateway to your network + a multi-port switch + a wireless access point.

 

Hope this helps your understanding.