Jason Palmer, CPA, CITP

Cyber Insurance Auditing

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Wi-Fi® – Wireless Router vs. Wireless Access Point

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Wi-Fi® Routers act as a gateway and translate one external Internet IP address to many private internal IP addresses, one for each Wi-Fi® device.  Access Points act as a bridge and add wireless Wi-Fi® capability to a wired network.

Wi-Fi® – Is a certification mark developed by the Wi-Fi Alliance to indicate that wireless local area network (WLAN) products are based on the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers’ (IEEE) 802.11 standards.

When obtaining Broadband High Speed Internet access (Cable, xDSL, or FiOS) for your home or office, the Internet Service Provider (ISP) may give you the option of either a Broadband Modem or a combination Broadband Modem and Router with or without Wi-Fi® capability.

A Broadband Modem takes the broadband data signal from the Cable, xDSL, or FiOS and translates it in to Ethernet, which is the data signal format compatible with a computer.  It provides a single IP address. (Internet Protocol Address – think of it as unique phone number for your computer so the Internet can call you back after you call it.)  This is perfectly fine if there is only one computer device that needs Internet Access.

If the ISP give you a Broadband Modem, then to share the single IP address with multiple devices in your home or office, you need to use a Router with or without Wi-Fi® capability.  With the number of devices supporting Wi-Fi® such as Internet enabled TV’s, Blu-Ray players, Smartphones, Tablet computers, notebook computers, appliances, and Smartphones throughout the home, Wi-Fi® is no longer an optional luxery, it is now a necessity.

Most ISP’s are providing a combination Broadband Modem with Router functionality and Wi-Fi® as standard issue equipment included.

Router to Wireless Access PointThis is great except the placement of the ISP provided combination Wi-Fi® Router/Modem may not be optimal for full Wi-Fi® throughout your home or office.  The solution is the addition of a Wireless Access Point (WAP) to the network.  A Wireless Access Point is usually connected to the Router through one of the wired ports via specialized data network cable meeting a standard known as Category 5e or Category 6.  The Wireless Access Point is located in another part of the home or office away from the Wi-Fi® Router/Modem and acts as an additional transmitter of the Wi-Fi® signal.

If the home does not have any data network wiring available to provide a hard wire connection to the Wireless Access Point, then you can use Powerline Ethernet Adapters, which use the existing electrical wiring to connect the Router to the Access Point.  See my related post, “Powerline Ethernet – The Infrastructure in your Walls.”

The important point to remember is to only have one Router in the network, wired or Wi-Fi® enabled, to act as the gateway between the Internet and your home/office network.  If you need to add or extend wireless Wi-Fi® capability to other parts of the home or office, use a wired connection or Powerline Ethernet Adapter to one or many additional Wireless Access Points.

Configuration Note:  It is best to give the Wi-Fi® enabled Router and each Wi-Fi® Wireless Access Point its’ own “network name.”  I suggest that you name each wireless network based on the location in the home.  Use names like “Second Floor”, “Main Floor”, and “Basement”, as applicable.  If you try to name all of the wireless networks with the same name, the signals will overlap and collide as well as confuse the devices trying to attach.  It is also important to select different Wi-Fi® channels (1 to 11) or select the “auto channel selection” option during configuration and the Wi-Fi® Router and WAP’s will select different channels that do not overlap.

Security Note:  NEVER use any personally identifiable information as the name of your Wi-Fi® Wireless network name.  Since these names are usually broadcast so that the wireless device can see the network name in the “list of available wireless networks”, this would be advertising to anyone passing within range of the signal that it is your network.  Telling him or her that this is “Jason’s Network,” is the same as telling the criminal where you live.

Finally, it is critical that each wireless network be encrypted with a reasonably strong password which is used and stored with your Wi-Fi® enabled device for access to the network.  This helps keep your data private and secure.

Here are links to popular Wireless Access Points:

Netgear Wireless Access Points, click here.

Linksys Wireless Access Points (Bridges), click here.

Dlink Access Points, click here.

 

Understanding the Wi-Fi® 802.11 Network Standard

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Wi-Fi® – Is a certification mark developed by the Wi-Fi Alliance to indicate that wireless local area network (WLAN) products are based on the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers’ (IEEE) 802.11 standards.

But the Wi-Fi® 802.11 network standard comes in many flavors – 802.11a, 802.11b, 802.11g, and 801.11n.  The key difference is the maximum speed at which data can be transmitted under optimal conditions as well as the frequency of the radio waves, 2.4Ghz or 5Ghz.

Router WiFiMost Wi-Fi® Routers (acts as a gateway and translates one external Internet IP address to many private internal IP addresses for each Wi-Fi® device) and Access Points (acts as a bridge and adds wireless Wi-Fi® capability to a wired network) are 100% backward compatible.  They support the highest speed of 802.11n which operates at up to 150Mbit/s, to 802.11g (54Mbits/s) down to the slowest speed 802.11b (11Mbits/s) and operate at 2.4Ghz.  Almost every modern Wi-Fi® certified device, such a Smartphones, Blu-Ray players, Internet Enabled TV’s, Tablet Computers, and Internet Radio’s support at least 802.11g with the newest devices supporting the current standard of 802.11n.

WiFi 802.11n CertifiedWhen shopping for a Wi-Fi® Router or Access point, look for the 802.11n standard.   When reviewing the number of products available, you may see those that claim greater than the standard indoor range of up to 230 feet.  The manufacturers are able to accomplish this by using a technology called MIMO (pronounced my-moh) which stands for “multiple input and multiple output.”   In simple terms, the manufacturers add more antennas to transmit and receive the wireless data signal.  This improves the efficiency and reliability of the Wi-Fi® data signal between the Router/Access Point and the Wi-Fi® enabled device.

Within reason, the claims of greater distance and better coverage are accurate.  A Router/Access Point that has three antennas is better than one with two antennas.  More antennas mean better coverage and range.

802.11a Logo802.11a supports up to 54Mbit/s like 802.11g but offers the advantage of operating in the 5Ghz frequency range which is significantly less crowded than the 2.4Ghz range.  The 2.4Ghz frequency is used by a number of devices including microwave ovens, baby monitors, cordless phones, remote controls, TV’s, Blu-Ray Players, Notebooks Computers, and is the most popular hence the crowding.

Although less crowded, the one disadvantage of 802.11a is that the higher frequency 5Ghz signal uses a shorter wavelength which is more easily absorbed by walls and other solid objects.  802.11a works best in wide open areas with line of sight between the Router/Access Point and the device you want to connect.

WiFi CertifiedSome manufacturers offer the best of both worlds:  Wi-Fi® Routers and Access Points that support both 802.11a and 802.11n/g/b operating simultaneously on both the 5Ghz and 2.4Ghz frequencies.  The Router/Access Point creates two separate Wi-Fi® networks: one at each frequency.  The particular device you are trying to connect will figure out which frequency/ Wi-Fi® network it supports and use the best signal available to the Router or Access Point.

Note:  It seems contradictory but in some cases Wi-Fi® operating at the 802.11b standard of 11Mbits/s with the ability to drop down to 5Mbits/s or even 1Mbits/s may have a greater effective range than the longer range 802.11g at 54Mbits/s.  This is because the slower speeds are subject to less interference.

Less expensive Routers and Access Points may only support the 802.11b/g standards but provide a value priced alternative.  They also offer the greatest level of compatibility for both old and new Wi-Fi® devices.  If you have devices that support 802.11n, then make sure to purchase a Router or Access Point that supports 802.11n to get the maximum benefit of the newer standard.

In short, the more expensive the Router or Access Point, the better the feature set and the more configuration options available for the best possible Wi-Fi® experience.