Do i need a bridge or access point for this?

[maw]

in a nutshell, here's what i want to do.

I have some computers that i use for work on one side of my house, they only have ethernet connections, no wireless. However, i want them to connect to the internet, but my cable modem and router are on the other side of the house. so i want something to act like a "wireless cable", i.e. - as if i had run an actual cable across the house to the ethernet switch in the office. Now my router is wireless, so i was wondering if there was a way to send the wireless signal to a device in the office that will receive that signal and feed it to the ethernet switch for the work machines to use.

now i do not need to create another subnet or anything like that. i just need to a way to get the ethernet switch to connect to the router without using wire in between them.

i'm admittedly a bit confused as to the difference between a bridge and an access point, as they both seem to claim to do the same thing. BTW, my router is a Linksys WRT54GS if that helps.

thanks for any help with this.

 

[AMD_Gamer]

you need a bridge,

access point is just for wireless adapter cards to connect to, think of the bridge is for the ethernet cable to connect to then the computer connect to the ethernet cable via the standard network card

 

[Madwand]

An access point is typically wired to your network, and allows wireless clients to connect to it and thereby your network.

A wireless bridge connects wirelessly to your network, and allows wired clients to connect to it and thereby your network.

Wireless bridges come in different packages. There are two major variants -- WDS and client mode. WDS bridging requires two-way compatibility for WDS between the AP/router and the bridge, and some implementations have restrictions on the encryption supported in WDS mode. Client mode bridging doesn't require anything special of the AP/router because it connects as a client, and generally supports any mutually-supported encryption. But client mode bridging doesn't provide a repeater / wireless range extension feature.

Some access points support WDS and client mode bridging. Some wireless routers support WDS, and some even client mode bridging. Linksys WRT54G variants are often used for this purpose with 3rd-party firmware such as DD-WRT -- see the recommended hardware list before picking up a WRT54G specifically for this purpose. I've heard somebody even say that a recommended Buffalo unit supports client mode bridging out of the box, but I'm not sure about that.

Other devices that support client mode bridging out of the box are marketed variously as "Wireless Bridge", "Ethernet Converter", "Gaming Adapter", and even "Wireless Print Server".

 

[maw]

thanks for clearing that up.

one other question. what's your opinions on those "powerline" bridges? do they work well, or am i better off with a wireless bridge?