I recently started hanging out on some of the question and answer sites, such as Yahoo and Mahalo Answers. On Yahoo I answered a question about wireless routers that was eventually chosen as the best answer so I thought I would post my response here. So if you are looking for a wireless router, here are some basic guidelines to keep in mind. While my answer veered a bit from using a router to just adding in a wireless access point, the information is still relevant to people choosing both solutions and is just something more to consider when purchasing your hardware. We emailed back and forth a bit about the topic as well, so this post will jump back and forth to give you the full rundown of the situation. Hope this helps someone out there pick out your wireless equipment.
The original question:
Recently we need to upgrade our existing (Wired) connection to Wifi. We have a small office space, which is two stories building and the main office is on the ground floor. Can anyone help me to find out which is the best router for us? WHY? and your experience with that router. Thanks!
And my answer:
There is no definitive answer for the “best” router, but my recommendation would be to not use a router (from your description I get the impression the rest of the network is working well and you just want to add wireless capabilities). My recommendation would be to add a wireless access point (like the Linksys WAP54G (link below for reference). This would enable you to plug in the wireless adapter to your existing network thus enabling wireless devices to communicate without having to completely restructure your existing network.
You also mentioned that it was a 2 story building, if you were to go with the Linksys product I mentioned you could get a 2nd WAP54G, plug it into a connection upstairs (or even use it as the bridge to the downstairs connection to make the upstairs connected if you don’t have physical cabling in place) and spread your network further. I realize that statement wasn’t completely clear, and if you would like me to explain it in more detail you can let me know on my website (listed below). I don’t want to fill this response up with a bunch of data you may not require.
Source(s):
Linksys WAP54G
They then emailed me:
Thanks Tekamba for answering my question on Y! Answers. As you know, the answer weren’t completely clear. Perhaps I should clarify the situation first, See we live in a two stories building for which we use the ground floor as an Office. The office is connected with Ethernet (LAN)and it is working fine, but we like to extended our connection through Wireless to the 2nd floor of the building. So that we can connect to internet, printers and other peripheral devices. So what do you suggest the Router.
Thanks!
And my reply:
You have a couple options, if you are the only tenants in the building you can use a powerline ethernet adapter. This would be a bit more expensive as you would need to put one of these adapters in each area you would want to make wired. The benefit would be security as people wouldn’t be able to get onto your wireless network. You can see an example of these devices at this link: Ethernet over power. Please note that I don’t have any direct hands-on experience with these devices, but have heard that they work quite well.
If you wanted to go with the wireless solution I still suggest getting a Linksys WAP54G and plugging it into your network downstairs. You might need to do some experimenting with the best location of it to get a strong signal to the proper locations upstairs as going through floors can sometimes be a bit tougher due to the methods of construction being so much more higher (thus denser materials) than for walls. But you should be able to get an adequate signal by placing the device in the most central location to where you would like to use it upstairs.
Should that signal not be strong enough there is the option of getting a second Linksys device (and I’d need to do a bit more research but I believe the WAP54G would do it so you would need to purchase 2 of them) or you could purchase what is known as a wireless range expander like this one. The idea here is that you would plug in the wireless access point (WAP54G) downstairs, then place the Wireless G Range Expander upstairs where it gets at least a little of the signal from the WAP downstairs. It then bounces that signal out stronger so you will get much better coverage upstairs. The nice part here would be that you could install the WAP54G first, and if you are not getting a solid signal you could add the expander later.
One thing I HIGHLY recommend is to make sure you have security enabled on your wireless network. Especially if it is tied into systems used in an office where people might be able to get onto your network and cause some serious problems when they get sensitive data from your systems. Good luck with your project, feel free to contact me back if you would like more information.
And a final round:
Hi Greg, Thanks for your valuable information. But I have some question regarding the hardware. I was wondering why do I have to use wireless access point instead of Wireless router? I mean Wireless routers actually contain a wireless access point as part of their overall package. Or is there any specific advantage of WAP over wireless Router for our Home-cum-Office network? (actually I don’t even know the differences between these twoïŠ)
For an easy administration and maintenance, I would prefer only one device for the network (wireless) instead of adding other like G range expender. Moreover I think the network performance of devices connected through a range extender will generally be lower than if they were connected directly to the primary base station.
For better understanding our needs, I am giving you out our Networking hardware’s specifics:
Modem: HUGHES Model: HN7000S
D-Link 24-Port Switch Model: DES1024D
As I’m new to Wireless networking, I kindly request you to suggest me one (please be specific) and help me through out the process.
Thanks!
With my reply:
I apologize for the delay in getting this response to you, I had to do a reinstall on my laptop so haven’t been on top of my email much today. I’m almost fully back operational so should be able to respond quicker to future mailings.
Thank you for requesting more information. The reason behind my suggesting getting a wireless access point rather then a wireless router was due to the fact that you had mentioned you already have a wired network in place and functional. In that case then adding a wireless access point prevents possible issues due to having to reconfigure your entire network to work off a completely new router. A second reason behind it is to separate out your hardware. By getting a wireless access point that is not part of your router you wouldn’t lose your complete network in case one or the item fails. You could also unplug the wireless if you ever wanted to eliminate that section of your network. While you can disable wireless from the control panel of the device, unplugging is a much easier way to shut it off.
But all that becomes non-critical when I read your existing hardware. It doesn’t appear you have a router, which make me think that the Hughes modem is actually a router as well. This may create some other issues as you will end up having 2 routers in place. If you are not attempting to do anything special like play games, or create a VPN to another location, then it should be an issue having 2 routers in place. If that is the case you will need to find out how to disable the routing feature in the Hughes modem, or stick with just getting the wireless access point.
As far as picking out a wireless router, I would recommend you get any of the Linksys type of Wireless Routers you can find at many different retailers. Linksys products are now being produced by Cisco who is one of the largest names in networking hardware.
I hope that helps you to decide on some hardware to get and a method to solve your issue. Please keep me informed of how the process is going and I will be happy to supply more information wherever it may be of assistance to you. Good luck.
And finally
So there’s my two cents worth of thoughts on the subject. If you would like to discuss your own needs further with me or would like to know my recommendations based on your existing hardware, please use or Free Tek Support option to send me your request. I’d be happy to help guide you in your technology solutions. If you live in or around the Prescott Valley area of Arizona, then give me a call and we can schedule an in person review of your needs!
Greg Hicks
Tekamba Computers, LLC
(928) 458-5865