Comparing Bridging, Repeating, Point-to-Point, and Point-to-Multipoint

These terms are about connecting parts of local networks which are often a distance apart.

If your network is not physically close together, say, perhaps, it goes across floors or to distant rooms, then you have various options:

1. Create a wired network, running cables the whole distance.

2. Create a wireless network, buying powerful equipment that broadcasts from a main antenna over a large area.

3. Create a wireless network, buying several pieces of less powerful equipment, leaving some areas with weak coverage.

In practice, it's often expensive and inconvenient to do the first. The second alternative grows very expensive after a certain distance. The third alternative is often the most practical, cheapest, and most flexible, since there's rarely a need to cover every square foot of a home or building with network access.

Common reasons for choosing the third alternative are:

· There's a large area between two parts of local networks that don't need wireless coverage.

· Your network needs to go through the air between buildings.

· Your network may expand in unpredictable directions (for example in a shared office environment).

· You want to focus a strong signal in one limited area.

Bridging and repeating are ways to jump the gap. When access points are used as bridges, that's the only function they have: their antennas aren't available to connect to a computer's adapters, for example.

· Point-to-point bridging is when one access point talks directly to one other:

· Point-to-multipoint bridging is when an access point talks directly to more than one access point:

NOTE: On Bridging, some of our models offer an option to Allow Wireless Client Association, which is the only way to permit the Access Points to authenticate client connections while working as Bridges, otherwise they can only serve as a wireless backbone.

· Repeating allows extending the Wireless reach of an existing AP adding a maximum of two hops, in order to connect two locations in the same network. This option does not allow Wireless Client Association and the SSID will not be visible.

NOTE: On older firmware and units (like the WG102), Repeating may allow client association while connecting both end points, effectively working in the exact same way to Bridging.

Since Repeater configurations communicate in half-duplex mode, the bandwidth decreases as you add Repeaters to the network. Also, you can extend the range of the wireless network with NETGEAR wireless antenna accessories. Bridges and repeaters must use the same channel. If you have areas where two repeaters are broadcasting strongly to the same place in between — the interference may cause a drop in performance. Regardless, an access point that is only used to transmit to another access point will be faster in dense traffic situations than one that also has to talk with adapters.

Related Topics:

What is an Adapter?
What is an Antenna?
What is an Access Point?
What is a Bridge?
What is a Firewall?
What is a Modem?
What is a Print Server?
What is a Router?
What is a Switch?
What are Throughput and Bandwidth?
What is VPN?