Network Basics: What Is Network Access Point & How Does It Work?

What is network access point and how its work? This blog post will explain everything about them and lay down the basic concepts one needs to know about them. 

What is network access point?

A network access point (NAP) is used to share a high-speed wired Internet connection. NAPs are used to provide internet access for power users and other people who want to share a high-speed wired Internet connection. They're also useful because they don't require any special software or hardware on your computer, so you can use them even if your computer doesn't have all that extra stuff installed. A NAP is similar to an Ethernet switch but can only connect one source (computer or device) at a time.  

NAP acts as an intermediary between wireless devices on the network and the wired end of the network, so you must have as few wireless devices on your wired LAN as possible when you set up your wireless access point. Before deploying a wireless access point, be sure that you've provided adequate wiring between your switch and any printers or other devices plugged into the wall outlets in your home or office space—you don't want to fill those ports with extra gadgets! For example, if you're going to use a printer plugged into an outlet behind the desk by your local ISP, consider using one of those pluggable power strips, which will eliminate some of those wires. 

How do NAPs work?

When you think of network access points, you might think of a router. That's not exactly right, but it can help you understand how they work. NAP offers Internet access for a limited number of devices in one area. A router is essentially a NAP with more functionality; it can be used as a NAP and also provide other services such as Ethernet switching (switching between wired and wireless networks), wireless bridging (bridging two separate wireless networks), and VLAN tagging (identifying different kinds of traffic). Modems are another common type of device that offers dial-up Internet access; modems are similar to routers but only support connections over telephone lines rather than wirelessly through radio waves as WiFi does. 

The idea behind a NAP is that it makes it easy for people to offer internet access in their homes or businesses. For example, if you have a business and you want to share your high-speed wired Internet connection with customers who don't have one, a NAP would be used. The way this works is the customer would connect their computer directly to the router port on the NAP (this device looks like a small piece of hardware), then they would connect through that single cable into whatever room they wanted to use as their "hotspot." 

NAPs are usually located near the modem or router, but they can also be placed elsewhere in your home. The best location for a NAP depends on what you're doing with it and how much space you have available.

If your router is located by the modem and not in another part of your house, installing a NAP there will allow you to connect multiple devices that share an Internet connection at once—for example, if someone else in the family wants to use their laptop while they watch TV or surf on their phone simultaneously. You could also put one near each computer so everyone has access when they need it without having to go through complicated security measures like port forwarding (which we'll talk about next).

Using NAPs in a Network

Before you can connect a computer to a NAP, it must be authorized. The NAP must be allowed to access the internet by the router, modem, and computer. The NAP identifies each computer by MAC address, then all computers share their IP addresses and can communicate with other devices on the same WAN (both Wi-Fi routers & modems).

Most routers today are configured through their built-in web interface; they'll show up on a port scan if they are not properly configured and secured with network security protocols such as WPA or WEP encryption or firewalls can be used to block them from being accessed from outside of your local area network by filtering out their IP address ranges.

Pros of Using a Wireless Access Point

A wireless access point is a great way to increase your network’s range and speed. If you have multiple devices on the same Wi-Fi network, an access point can help ensure that all of them are getting enough bandwidth. This can be especially beneficial for streaming video or audio files from various sources (like smartphones) because it will keep the data moving smoothly between each device to reduce interruptions caused by slow connection speeds.

 Wrapping Up: 

This concludes our conceptual post on the basic question of " what is network access point". They are used to share a high-speed wired Internet connection and are commonly used in current network environments.