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This is my current network configuration:

  • First, I have the ISP modem-router (router A)
  • Second, I have a tp-link router (router B) wired to router A. The purpose of this router B is to extend the wireless coverage to the other side of my apartment where router A is too far. This is a tp-link TL-WR840N router.

According to what I have read, router B can be configured in two different modes (among others):

  • Router Mode. According to tp-link's instructions, this is for when this router connects to a modem.
  • Access Point Mode. According to tp-link's instructions, this is for when this router connects to another router, to extend the wireless network.

I understood that in my case I have to configure router B in Access Point Mode. However, by default it was configured in router mode, and it worked perfectly. After changing to access point mode, function was exactly the same. With both configurations, router A showed two devices: router B connected to LAN, and my laptop, which was connected to router B, in both cases appeared as wirelessly connected to router A.

So, after explaining my situation, my question is: is there a difference between configuring my router B as Router Mode or as Access Point Mode? If so, what is that difference? If not, why does this "Acess Point mode" exist?

Thank you very much!

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  • You neglect to mention how you connect the "tp-link router (router B) ... to router A.". I.E. do you use the WAN port of router B or one of the LAN ports? "in router mode, ... it worked perfectly." -- Look up "double NAT.
    – sawdust
    Commented May 27, 2022 at 21:40
  • If you are running both routers in router mode you have two distinct networks and not all devices in each network can see all the other devices. If you just look at the property Internet works then there is no difference.
    – Robert
    Commented May 27, 2022 at 22:21
  • You can connect Router B to Router A LAN port to LAN port, give Router B a static IP on your network, turn DHCP OFF on Router B. Then everything is on the same network, files are easily shared and printers are easily found. I have that setup here.
    – anon
    Commented May 27, 2022 at 23:32
  • @john what you are describing is essentially making a router into an AP.
    – davidgo
    Commented May 28, 2022 at 4:15
  • That method of hooking up leaves all the router functions in place and working. It may technically be an access point, but I like using a router and keeping the functions.
    – anon
    Commented May 28, 2022 at 9:05

1 Answer 1

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When you are using the router in Access Point (AP) mode, you are in effect turning that router into a wireless switch/hub - ie the device is handling ethernet packets but knows nothing of TCP/IP (IPv4 / IPv6) - its simply passing the data on to your router which sees it exactly as if it was a switch.

In router mode, each ethernet packet is examined and moved between interfaces based on the contents of the packet - ie moving traffic between the LAN and WAN interfaces based on source and destination IP address.

So, in your case, both will work fine - in AP mode the heavy lifting (IP address assignment, network address translation) is done by your ISP router, with your AP simply converting WIFI to Ethernet. In router mode, both devices are acting as routers.

As you are using this device to extend your network, I would argue that AP mode is more appropriate as running it as a router has at least 2 drawbacks - (1) it makes device discovery harder - for example, if you have a printer connected to your main router, it is unlikely a device connected to the second router will be able to discover it and (2) roaming between devices won't work as well, as the IP address of the computer will change, and it will take longer to reconnect, breaking tcp streams. On the other hand, if you have it set up as an AP, with the same SSID and password you can almost (not quite, but very close to it) have the device switch between your AP and router depending on its location without any loss of connectivity.

On the other hand, if you have a home office, and its desirable that the office be isolated from the rest of the home network, running the second device in router mode with its own SSID is more appropriate.

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