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what is a good way to connect router or access points OVER WIFI. i dont have wired backhaul in my office and it would be fairly cumbersome to build one. are th

what is a good way to connect router or access points OVER WIFI. i dont have wired backhaul in my office and it would be fairly cumbersome to build one. are there APs with two radios each - one for backhaul and one for service?

esaym 10y ago
Most netgear prosafe products have a wifi bridge mode (a few variants of it actually) Just search for "bridge" in one of their user manuals and see if that is what you need: http://tinyurl.com/j9nwuqs http://tinyurl.com/j9nwuqs
nine_k 10y ago
With packet-switched network, one radio may suffice for both purposes. Likely you're looking for a wifi repeater.
- MartijnBraam 10y ago
  The wifi repeaters are horrible because they interfere with the source AP so the total signal quality goes down if you use them.
  - JoeAltmaier 10y ago
    Aren't they directional? They would make no sense at all unless they were directional. Or wired and sufficiently far from the source.
gh02t 10y ago
Lots of routers support this, even single-radio consumer stuff with DD-WRT but it dedicates half your bandwidth to uplink and half to clients. Others you can use e.g. the 5ghz radio for uplink and 2.4ghz for clients. I presume there is some enterprise gear that does it too. I know there are consumer products like Eero or Ubiquiti's AmpliFi line have mesh networked repeaters. Especially the AmpliFi might be good enough for you, depending on how demanding your usage is.
- flyinghamster 10y ago
  I've done this exact thing with my second DIR825-C1, with a 5 GHz uplink. It works well as long as there aren't too many obstacles between the two boxes. Aside from acting as a repeater, I can plug wired devices into the second unit as well.
jon-wood 10y ago
Honestly, there isn't one. Ironically the secret to a good wireless network is lots of wires, you can just about make do with wireless uplinks between your access points but in my experience it tends to have far more problems than running some CAT6 around the place. Its not quite as reliable as real network cables, but you could try powerline networking - performance varies pretty wildly depending on your wiring, but it will usually beat wireless.
nandemo 10y ago
As others said, if you have a wifi router that supports DD-WRT you can turn it into a client bridge or a repeater bridge. https://www.flashrouters.com/blog/2011/10/19/what-is-the-difference-between-client-bridge-wireless-repeater-modes-in-dd-wrt/ https://www.flashrouters.com/blog/2011/10/19/what-is-the-dif...
jagermo 10y ago
you might want to look into the Netgear Orbi line, a wifi mesh solution. I tested one at home, the wif connection of the satellite ist really fast and responsive, better than any repeater I tried.
- sp332 10y ago
  I've heard good things about these. They have two separate antennas and radios for the client-facing part and the backhaul part. That way you don't get the bandwidth-halving effect of a store-and-forward repeater.
  - jagermo 10y ago
    Exactly, the transfer rate between the access points is also higher than the possible transfer rate for 2.4 and 5 ghz clients. They are expensive, though.

esaym 10y ago

Most netgear prosafe products have a wifi bridge mode (a few variants of it actually) Just search for "bridge" in one of their user manuals and see if that is what you need: http://tinyurl.com/j9nwuqs http://tinyurl.com/j9nwuqs

nine_k 10y ago

With packet-switched network, one radio may suffice for both purposes. Likely you're looking for a wifi repeater.

MartijnBraam 10y ago
The wifi repeaters are horrible because they interfere with the source AP so the total signal quality goes down if you use them.
- JoeAltmaier 10y ago
  Aren't they directional? They would make no sense at all unless they were directional. Or wired and sufficiently far from the source.

gh02t 10y ago

Lots of routers support this, even single-radio consumer stuff with DD-WRT but it dedicates half your bandwidth to uplink and half to clients. Others you can use e.g. the 5ghz radio for uplink and 2.4ghz for clients. I presume there is some enterprise gear that does it too. I know there are consumer products like Eero or Ubiquiti's AmpliFi line have mesh networked repeaters. Especially the AmpliFi might be good enough for you, depending on how demanding your usage is.

flyinghamster 10y ago
I've done this exact thing with my second DIR825-C1, with a 5 GHz uplink. It works well as long as there aren't too many obstacles between the two boxes. Aside from acting as a repeater, I can plug wired devices into the second unit as well.

jon-wood 10y ago

Honestly, there isn't one. Ironically the secret to a good wireless network is lots of wires, you can just about make do with wireless uplinks between your access points but in my experience it tends to have far more problems than running some CAT6 around the place. Its not quite as reliable as real network cables, but you could try powerline networking - performance varies pretty wildly depending on your wiring, but it will usually beat wireless.

nandemo 10y ago

As others said, if you have a wifi router that supports DD-WRT you can turn it into a client bridge or a repeater bridge. https://www.flashrouters.com/blog/2011/10/19/what-is-the-difference-between-client-bridge-wireless-repeater-modes-in-dd-wrt/ https://www.flashrouters.com/blog/2011/10/19/what-is-the-dif...

jagermo 10y ago

you might want to look into the Netgear Orbi line, a wifi mesh solution. I tested one at home, the wif connection of the satellite ist really fast and responsive, better than any repeater I tried.

sp332 10y ago
I've heard good things about these. They have two separate antennas and radios for the client-facing part and the backhaul part. That way you don't get the bandwidth-halving effect of a store-and-forward repeater.
- jagermo 10y ago
  Exactly, the transfer rate between the access points is also higher than the possible transfer rate for 2.4 and 5 ghz clients. They are expensive, though.