Wireless router mode or Access Point mode for second router?

[Muscless]

I'm not a fan of AiMesh, I prefer to select the router I connect to myself.

What are the pros and cons of having my second router in Wireless router mode vs Access Point mode?

What turns me off Access Point mode is that I can't see the IP address from what I'm told unless I download Device Discovery. On reading the forum, I hear Access Point mode is more stable?

 

[ColinTaylor]

What turns me off Access Point mode is that I can't see the IP address from what I'm told unless I download Device Discovery.

Yes you can see its IP address. If you configure the AP as a DHCP client it shows up just like any other DHCP client. More typically though you would configure it with a fixed IP address, either statically, or manually through a DHCP reservation. In either case you know what the IP address is because you defined it.

 

[CaptainSTX]

I'm not a fan of AiMesh, I prefer to select the router I connect to myself.

What are the pros and cons of having my second router in Wireless router mode vs Access Point mode?

What turns me off Access Point mode is that I can't see the IP address from what I'm told unless I download Device Discovery. On reading the forum, I hear Access Point mode is more stable?

I have been experimenting with Mesh for the past several months and after using APs for ten years and I am coming to the conclusion that Mesh is more marketing hype than benefit. Clients don't always seem to pick the correct router or mesh node to connect to and if you are using the same SSID on both radios then when the device connects or stays connected to a more distant radio it may end up switching to 2.4 Ghz band which may reduce the potential throughput. While there are numerous router and mesh settings that can get around some of these challenges it probably is just as easy to manually assign specific devices to specific SSIDs on either the router or AP and be done with it.

If you can afford/need commercial grade APs with their more sophisticated controllers, then that is probably the best solution if you have lots of mobile devices moving around your space though I have no personal experience with this type of setup.

IMHO currently consumer grade routers and nodes work maybe at best OK in a mesh setup.

 

[Muscless]

What are the pros and cons of having my second router in Wireless router mode vs Access Point mode?

 

[ColinTaylor]

Generally speaking, having it in router mode allows you to create a second network that is separate from your main network. In access point mode all the devices are connected to a single network regardless of whether they connect to your main router or the AP.

 

[RandomUser777]

Generally speaking, having it in router mode allows you to create a second network that is separate from your main network. In access point mode all the devices are connected to a single network regardless of whether they connect to your main router or the AP.

If daisychained in router mode, Opie will also experience double NAT.

 

[Muscless]

So there is no benefit from running AP instead of normal Wireless router mode?

 

[ColinTaylor]

So there is no benefit from running AP instead of normal Wireless router mode?

Well I just told you the difference. It's up to you to decide if either way is more beneficial to you.

 

[Tech9]

So there is no benefit from running AP instead of normal Wireless router mode?

Run the second router in AP Mode if you want all you clients on the same network and able to communicate with each other. Finding the AP IP address is not an issue as well as setting it as static during initial configuration as explained above.

 

[Muscless]

thanks for the feedback guys!

When choosing AP mode, you can assign the router IP in the setup. No need to choose in it the DHCP in the main router.

I'm guessing locally, like the other threads have said, that AP will be faster cause it has disabled many features. Logging in now, it seems faster for router 2 (AP).

*Router 2 is in AP now*