Differences and connections between wireless routing, Wireless AP and Wireless Bridge

With the development of the routing industry, wireless technology has become its development direction. Here we mainly explain the differences and connections between wireless routers, wireless APs and wireless bridges, I hope to have a deeper understanding of wireless devices. With the rapid development of wireless networks in the past one or two years, enterprises and families have begun to experience "free Internet access" in different fields. Some friends are constantly asking the following questions: what is a Wireless AP, a wireless router, and a wireless bridge? The answer is displayed.

1. Differences based on names

First, let's take a look at the Wireless AP, which is the abbreviation of an English access point. It is translated as a "Wireless access point" or "Wireless access point, you can connect your machine with a wireless network card to the network. It mainly provides wireless workstation access to the wired LAN and from the wired LAN to the wireless workstation. Wireless workstation within the access point can communicate with each other through it. In general, Wireless AP is a bridge between wireless networks and wired networks. Because the coverage of a Wireless AP is a circular area that spreads outward, the Wireless AP should be placed in the center of the wireless network as much as possible, in addition, the linear distance between each wireless client and the Wireless AP should not be too long to avoid communication failure due to excessive signal attenuation.

A Wireless AP is equivalent to a wireless HUB. It is connected to a vswitch or vro and assigned an IP address from the vro for the wireless Nic connected to it. Wireless routers can be identified by their names as they provide routing functions. You may have some knowledge about Wired Broadband routers, then we can say that a wireless router is a combination of a balanced Wireless AP and a Broadband Router. With the help of the router function, it can achieve Internet Connection Sharing in the home wireless network, to achieve wireless shared access between ADSL and residential broadband. In addition, the wireless router can allocate the terminals that use it for wireless and wired connection to a subnet, in this way, it is very convenient for various devices in the network to exchange data.

A wireless router is a collection of wireless APs, routing functions, and hubs. It supports wired and wireless networks to form the same subnet and directly connect to upper-layer switches or ADSL cats. Most wireless routers support the PPOE dialing function. Speaking of wireless bridges, you should first understand the concept of bridges, also known as bridges. They are storage and forwarding devices that implement LAN interconnection at the link layer. The bridge has the function of generating signals between different network segments, which can effectively connect two LAN segments), so that local communication is restricted within this network segment and the corresponding signal is forwarded to another network segment. A bridge is usually used to connect a small number of network segments of the same type.

A wireless bridge is a bridge between two or more networks. A Wireless Bridge is also a branch of a Wireless AP ). In addition to the basic features of the above-mentioned wired bridges, wireless bridges are easier to deploy than other wired network devices.

Many friends who have used Wireless AP and wireless router may say that many Wireless AP and wireless router also have the bridge function. What is the difference between them and Wireless Bridge? Indeed, in principle, the Bridge functions of the above two devices are the same as those of the Wireless Bridge. If they are different, they are generally the same when talking about the wireless bridge separately, it refers to the "Wireless AP" suitable for outdoor long-distance transmission. It generally has specialized antennas, power amplifiers, and some features suitable for outdoor work.

Ii. Appearance of three devices first recognized

Through the above introduction, we are sure you have a preliminary vague understanding of the three devices. OK. Let's take a look at the appearance of the three devices, in order to have a more intuitive understanding.

Wireless AP

The appearance of a Wireless AP is relatively simple. There is usually a wired RJ45 network port, power interface, USB port or web interface configuration) and several status indicators.

Wireless Router

Compared with Wireless AP, in terms of appearance, the biggest difference between the wireless router on the market is that there are four more wired network ports. Generally, there is a WAN port used for uplink upper-level network devices, four LAN ports can be used to connect a computer with a wired network card in the Intranet, and the corresponding indicators are also more.

Wireless Bridge

Due to the outdoor work of the Wireless Bridge and the need for long-distance transmission, many components of the Wireless AP and wireless router are required. In terms of device composition, the Wireless Bridge is mainly composed of the wireless transceiver of the main device of the Wireless Bridge) and the antenna. A wireless transceiver consists of a transmitter and a receiver. The transmitter encodes the data obtained from the LAN into a specific frequency signal and then sends it out through an antenna. the receiver is opposite, decodes the frequency signal obtained from the antenna, restores it to data, and sends it to the LAN. Due to outdoor work, some components are usually used to prevent water and lightning strikes between the antenna and the main device of the Wireless Bridge.

Iii. networking topology

I have a conceptual understanding of the three devices and an intuitive understanding of the product appearance. Next let's take a look at what their respective networking topology looks like during specific networking, strictly speaking, here we want to talk about an ideal topology, because there are many Wireless AP or wireless routers that also have Bridge functions, therefore, when the bridge mode is set, the network can also be established based on the structure of the bridge. However, this is not considered for the convenience of writing.

As a central device of a wireless LAN, a Wireless AP connects to a computer with a wireless network card in its coverage, and then connects to a switch or HUB in a wired network through a twisted pair on the Wireless AP, therefore, the structure is very simple. The structure of a wireless router is similar to that of a Wireless AP. The difference is that a twisted pair can also be used to connect a computer in a wired manner to achieve communication between wired and wireless networks. A wireless bridge is generally used for interconnection between two or more buildings that are far away from each other. Its typical networking structure is as follows:

Wireless AP has the lowest investment cost. Currently, the simplest Wireless AP on the market is generally less than 200 yuan. It is suitable for friends who have laptops in their families to experience wireless Internet access and have some small soho office environments. In addition, some outdoor wireless APS allow you to experience the fresh experience of outdoor Internet access.

Compared with Wireless AP, the price of wireless router is slightly higher, but it provides more comprehensive and more powerful features than the price, suitable for building a wired and wireless hybrid network with both Laptops and Desktops. In addition, wireless firewalls, virtual servers, and other functions are usually available in wireless routers. It is the best choice for families and sohoans. Wireless Broadband routers have gradually become the mainstream in the market. Therefore, we recommend that you select the preferred Wireless Broadband Router no matter whether or not the MODEM you are using has a route. The price of a dedicated wireless bridge is much more expensive than that of the former two. The specific price varies greatly with the product brand and function, ranging from several thousand to tens of thousands. However, in which long-distance transmission is required, you can either build your own optical cable or lease it. The cost is relatively small and the service is highly reusable. There are also obstacles that can be overcome by cable.