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In my small company (15 machines), we currently have a router which has the WAN connection. A switch is then connected to this router. And all other machines are wired to this switch. It works fine.

Now, this router with WAN connection may be taken away, and would be replaced with a wireless access point only. No way to plug a cable going to the switch then.

The goal is to keep sharing internet access to all existing machines.

I thought about using a Wi-Fi range extender which has an ethernet port, configure it to client mode and wire the switch there. But in all user manuals I've seen, only one device is shown as wired in this mode. I also couldn't find a wireless access point with client mode supporting up to 15 devices and maybe more in the future.

Buying a Wi-Fi USB adapter for each machine would work, but then I'd have to use Wi-Fi range extenders for the farthest devices, and the currently used switch + cables would be useless.

What would be the best way to share a main wireless connection to all currently wired machines?

Edit: add small architecture for clarification

enter image description here

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  • It's unlikely a range extender can be used as a router, as it would need to have a stateful firewall and support NAT, so a router will still need to be used between the modem and downstream devices, including the range extender. My previous suggestion would still apply, connect the range extender and router to the same switch via ethernet directly, or via ethernet powerline adapters.
    – JW0914
    Commented Apr 6, 2022 at 13:40
  • What is the wireless access point connecting to?
    – harrymc
    Commented Apr 6, 2022 at 14:30
  • I added a small architecture diagram to highlight the missing part I am looking for help on.
    – alleen1
    Commented Apr 11, 2022 at 7:33
  • @JW0914 I can't connect the router to the switch: there is no ethernet plug, the router provides WAP only.
    – alleen1
    Commented Apr 11, 2022 at 7:34
  • @harrymc that is what I am looking for, but it should ultimately provide internet connection to all 15 wired devices.
    – alleen1
    Commented Apr 11, 2022 at 7:36

2 Answers 2

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I believe that the missing part that you are looking for is a wireless bridge or switch adapter, which is a device that has WiFi as input and converts it into an ethernet connection.

Using such a WiFi network switch or bridge, your ethernet devices can have a wired connection to the WiFi bridge, so non-WiFi devices can still get ethernet connection.

Marketing research is not allowed on our site. A quick Amazon search for Wireless to ethernet came up with several devices, none of which I know enough to recommend, where one contributed this schema:

enter image description here

You may find more professional devices elsewhere from reputed router makers, which may perform better than the ones on Amazon.

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  • I thought about using one of those, but most of the devices I found support only a single wired device downstream (such on the above schema), while what we're looking for here is to support a whole LAN through the switch
    – alleen1
    Commented Apr 11, 2022 at 12:18
  • I took your schema to mean that the wireless bridge will connect to the ethernet switch, which will then distribute internet over the local network. In that case, only one wired device is needed - the ethernet switch. But don't expect the throughput to be more than is possible via WiFi.
    – harrymc
    Commented Apr 11, 2022 at 12:34
  • Thanks @harrymc I will try this out and give feedback!
    – alleen1
    Commented Apr 19, 2022 at 7:48
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I think the BrosTrend AC1200 wifi to ethernet adapter can connect your wired devices to Wi-Fi. By Using this Dual Band Ethernet to Wireless Adapter, your Ethernet-enabled Devices can Access the Internet via Wireless Connection, Powered by Electrical Outlet. Which is a faster wireless speed, up to 867Mbps on 5GHz WiFi or 300Mbps on 2.4GHz WiFi. enter image description here

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