SMB wireless LAN setup
Advice for setting up a WLAN for a SMB.
I have a wireless DLink 624 router connected to my LAN, and I also have an access point, a hub, as well as several wired network computers in my basement. My question is, can I connect the wired computers to the wired hub, then connect the wireless access point to the hub, and then use the access point to connect to my router upstairs to get Internet access?
To establish a wireless association from your basement AP to your upstairs router, the AP would need to behave as a wireless bridge or repeater. Some residential APs can do this, but many cannot. APs that can operate in bridge mode usually need to associate to another AP from the same vendor; unfortunately, your DLink 624 doesn't support bridge mode.
But you can accomplish what you want in several other ways:
- You could run a single Ethernet cable from your basement hub to one of the LAN ports on your Dlink router. Everything connected to your basement hub (including the basement AP and any Wi-Fi clients associated to that AP) would then be part of the DLink router's LAN.
- You could use a pair of HomePlug adapters to connect your basement hub to one of the LAN ports on your DLink router. HomePlug devices plug into AC outlets and use the power distribution wires inside your house as a replacement for Ethernet cables.
- You could replace your basement AP with a basement router that has a Wi-Fi WAN interface. That router would associate to your upstairs DLink router like any other individual Wi-Fi client. However, because it is a router, it can replace your basement hub, or your basement hub can be plugged into one of the router's LAN ports.
