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I will be extending the Wi-fi coverage in my home.

My first thought was to run an ethernet cable from my router to the uncovered area and connect it to a wireless access point device. However, searching for an AP device online, I've been having a hard time finding one that folks seem satisfied with. On the other hand, I've found many wireless routers with lots of positive reviews, so I've been thinking of maybe getting one of those instead. I found it puzzling that devices with more components (wireless routers) should be more satisfactory than those with more limited functionality (WAPS).

Is there any disadvantage in using a wireless router where just a wireless access point is really called for?

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You need to reword your post so that it doenot sound like you are asking for views and opinions –  Shakehar Aug 9 '13 at 14:12
As a suggestion - you can try netgear powerline adapters –  Shakehar Aug 9 '13 at 14:13
@Shakehar: You need to reword your comment so that it says what about my question appears to be asking for views or opinions. If you read it (carefully?), you'll see that I'm not asking for brand/model recommendations; I'm asking about a puzzling device quality phenomenon (which Richard has already shed some light on) as well as another technical question. –  Isaac Kleinman Aug 9 '13 at 14:25
Pure speculation, but it might be because the demand is higher for routers with wireless than just plain access points, so that's where the development and QA resources go . . . –  ernie Aug 9 '13 at 14:50
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3 Answers

I use a spare wireless router in my home and it works fine. A wireless router pretty much is just a router and wireless access point in one. Wireless access points were designed to be cheaper but because of the massive boom in wireless networking and the sales of wireless routers, routers seem to be even cheaper now. Just use an old router lying around. I just have an ethernet cable connecting the 2 routers and even without changing any settings the one without the internet connection just changes into an access point automatically. However I cannot access the 2nd routers setting page to change the wireless password and what not whilst it is connected like this. You have to disconnect the 2nd router from the first one to get so it swaps back to being a router, then you can get on it's settings page. Apart from that it works perfectly.

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Do you put the ethernet cable into the WAN or LAN port on the second router? I would have guessed WAN but Joel's comment seems to suggest using the LAN port. –  Isaac Kleinman Aug 9 '13 at 14:19
On my router I just connected an ethernet cable from a LAN port of router 1 to a LAN port from router 2. –  Richard Powell Aug 9 '13 at 14:25
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While there is nothing wrong with having a router act like an access point; access points often offer the advantage of being smaller, POE, and can extend your wireless range considerably. I would recommend trying these;


They are a breeze to setup and offer pretty awesome coverage. If you do plan on using an existing router, make sure you plug into the LAN, not WAN. WAN should be reserved for your internets.

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I recommend PoE - there is an adapter which will plug in elsewhere in the house and give you good wireless coverage there - with another adapter wired into the router. I've never had much success with wireless extenders and so on but I am very happy with my (3) Solwise adapters.


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