Wireless technology it becomes more and more important and more necessary between humans, This is how all these last years have improved significantly, but despite all the improvements that it has had still do not offer a solution to be able to integrate all types of network users, especially regarding professional networks.
To try to solve these problems you can use the Access Points, which are ideal for large companies, While for smaller companies these problems can be solved with a Wifi router or network extenders. However the use of The Access Points is very important especially when you want create an external wireless network.
And is that the purpose of the AP is power establish a wireless connection between different types of equipment, this will definitely help improve communication within companies. So that you can understand all this a little more, here we are going to show you that are the Access Points and how is their operation, To do this, follow everything that we will teach you next in the post.
What is an access point and what is its advantage?
The Access Points (AP) or Wireless Access Points (WAP) or as they are also known by many as access point, are those devices that allow create a wireless local area network (WLAN), These are used mainly for large companies, large offices or large buildings where these types of networks are needed.
Therefore, its function is to be able connect a router by an ethernet cable and in that way achieve project a WiFi signal in the desired area within the company. Mainly commercial routers cannot cover many meters around them, so that WiFi signal that they send do not usually reach all desired zones, it is because of that install a Wireless Access Point near the desired area and connect it with a Ethernet cable it will always be a good solution.
In addition, being able to make use of APs will always grant you certain benefits which we will show you below:
- They are based on radio wave emissions, they are capable of power break through walls and walls, so they can be used to transmit the signal between nearby buildings, for this it is necessary to make use of powerful antennas in order to create a WLAN network up to a kilometer apart.
- Allows a greater number of connected users simultaneously than those allowed by the router.
- It has a radius of action that goes from 30 meters to 100 meters.
- Lets carry out connecting wireless devices to the network, that is, they can connect to the access point smartphone, tablet, laptops, among others.
- It offers you information about network status and decongest the network if necessary, for this divide the network into multiple networks and sends the information in parallel in a faster way than the conventional one.
Types of access points What are the main ones?
In the case of wireless access points These can work in three different ways, these are known as modes, in this case we find Master (Root), Repeater (Repeater) and Bridge (Bridge) modes.
So that you can understand a little more about each of them, here we explain them below:
Master Mode or Client Mode
This client mode act like a WiFi card with a network cable output. When configured master mode it is important to take two access points, one of them goes connected to computer while the other must go connected directly to the network. Once this is done, configure both, one of them must be in access point modewhile the other is configure in client mode.
It is important that before placing the AP directly on the network we configure the following points:
Access point
- Here you must go to the section of Wireless Settings and there you put it in mode “Access Point” and select in region “Spain”.
- Now in the option “Network” you must select “Static IP”.
- The following will be in “Wireless Security” you must place with key “WEB”, in the format of key “Key format” you must place “ASCII”, now select the key type 1, password 12345, and the type of password in 64 bit.
- In the window of “DHCP” you must go to DHCP Settings and the start IP “Start IP Address” we place 172.16.150.100, and at the end place 172.16.150.199, there you must assign the Gateway is 172.16.0.1 and the primary DNS will be the same.
- Then you will be told that they are connected pc03 and pc06.
- Now in Wireless Settings in operation mode you must place “Mode client” and then go to Survey to connect to the AP.
- After this in Network you must assign the static IP.
- Again from Wireless Security you must assign the same as The ap, since if this is not done do not open internet connection.
- Finally, you must configure DHCP DHCP Settings and you place the starting IP 150,200 and at the end you must place 150,210, while at Gateway you must assign 172.16.0.1 and in the primary DNS.
Repeater mode
This access point mode is used when the user wants extend the Internet signal much more, that is, it goes beyond current limits. So in this case you need place the access point in repeater mode within the area of a access point in Root or Master mode. This is what will allow the master AP signal can be extended with equal force by means of this repeater APThis will undoubtedly allow the range to be much greater.
For this, it is necessary to follow these steps:
- The first thing will be to take two access points, one of them must go in AP mode while the other in repeater mode, just as it was done in the previous mode. Here you must also select in the region “Spain” and click “Save”.
- Now you must configure DHCP, for this place the Start and end IP, at Gateway and primary DNS you must place the same.
- The following will be configure security by placing WEB, as a format of password select ASCII and in the password type 64Bit.
- Once all this is configured, you will have the status as follows: here you can see what is in Access point mode.
- This done, it must configure repeater mode, this is done so that connect to the other AP, allowing the equipment to be connected through a wireless connection.
- Here you must set repeater mode, but there are two types of mode repeater the WDS and the global, as the two APs that will be used are of the same brand, then select WDS.
- Then you must go a Wireless Settings.
- Now set the mode WDS repeater and click Survey so that connect to Access Point that has been previously configured.
- In order to configure security, you must go to the “Wireless Security” and there select the same configuration as for Access pointotherwise it will not work as a repeater.
- Then you must configure DHCP, for this go to the section DHCP and subsequently “DHCP Settings” and you configure it completely the same as the Access Point.
- You can finally look the Status to see the result, here you can see that it is in repeater mode.
Bridge mode
As its name indicates, this mode consists of establishing a wireless bridge between devices. Is AP connection used mostly when they are connected two buildings or separate locations where can installing a wiring is not easy or requires a large financial investment.
To be able to make these wireless bridges it is necessary to have two access bridges and two directional antennas. For this, the respective MAC or physical addresses so that in that way APs can recognize them. Depending on the distance from the buildings, you can use some software that helps verify connectivity between both computers.
To carry this out, you simply have to follow these steps:
- To start you must have two access points and one wireless wifi card, you have to configure them two in bridge with AP mode.
- Next you must place the two access points, one must go in the main computer and the other in the secondary computer, while the WiFi card it can be placed on either team.
- As you can see, the “Bridge with AP”.
- The following will be configure bridge mode and place it as you want, but in this case it will be placed in bridge mode as it appears in the following image.
- Then the DHCP configuration, the Gateway must be equal to the IP that has been given to access point.
- Now it must be configured the other access point, this setting must be made equal to that of the first access point.
- Here you must place it in the same way in “Bridge with AP” and then configure the other access point same as the first.
- Later you must configure DHCP, with Gateway 172.16.150.2 just like the access point.
- Finally, you must check if there is a ping between them and a WiFi card in any of access points in bridge mode to check if the other already has wireless connection via WiFi.