An access point acts as a central transmitter and receiver of wireless radio signals. Mainstream wireless APs support Wi-Fi and are used in homes, public internet hotspots, and business networks to accommodate wireless mobile devices. The access point can be incorporated into a wired router or a stand-alone router.
What Is a WAP Used For?
Stand-alone access points are small physical devices that closely resemble home broadband routers. Wireless routers used for home networking have access points built into the hardware and work with stand-alone AP units. When you use a tablet or laptop to go online, the device goes through an access point, either hardware or built-in, to access the internet without connecting via a cable. Several mainstream vendors of consumer Wi-Fi products manufacture access points, which allow businesses to supply wireless connectivity anywhere they can run an Ethernet cable from the access point to a wired router. AP hardware consists of radio transceivers, antennas, and device firmware. Wi-Fi hotspots commonly deploy one or more wireless APs to support a Wi-Fi coverage area. Business networks also typically install APs throughout their office areas. While most homes require only one wireless router with an access point built in to cover the physical space, businesses often use many. Determining the optimal locations for access point installations can be challenging even for network professionals because of the need to cover spaces evenly with a reliable signal.
Use Wi-Fi Access Points
If the existing router doesn’t accommodate wireless devices, which is rare, you can expand the network by adding a wireless AP device to the network instead of adding a second router. Businesses can install a set of APs to cover an office building. Access points enable Wi-Fi infrastructure mode networking. Although Wi-Fi connections technically do not require the use of APs, they enable Wi-Fi networks to scale to larger distances and numbers of clients. Modern access points support up to 255 clients, while old ones support only about 20. APs also provide the bridging capability that enables a local Wi-Fi network to connect to other wired networks.
History of Access Points
The first wireless access points predated Wi-Fi. Proxim Corporation (a distant relative of Proxim Wireless) produced the first such device, branded RangeLAN2, in 1994. Access points achieved mainstream adoption soon after the first Wi-Fi commercial products appeared in the late 1990s. While called WAP devices in earlier years, the industry gradually began using the term AP instead of WAP to refer to them (in part, to avoid confusion with Wireless Application Protocol), although some APs are wired devices.
