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For example, can a smartphone or computer connected to wireless access point 1 (WAP1) access a web server on a MacBook which is connected to WAP2?

Is it true that if the WAP is a strict WAP, then it'd work, but if the computer running the web server is actually connected to a wireless router (wirelessly), then other devices connected to the other WAP cannot access it? Can it be made to work? For example, what if the wireless router has some Ethernet port, and the other WAP (or wireless router) is plug into that port? (I cannot try them easily as they are set up downstairs and upstairs for now).

For example, is the principle this: when a wireless router is used, it creates an isolated LAN? (if somebody understands it and know how the subnet mask works with this, could you tell us how it works?). So theoretically, if we have 2 wireless routers connected to the same switch, then a computer connected to the WR1 supposedly cannot access any computer or device on WR2?

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    There's insufficient information to answer the question. You've only described the physical connections (i.e. wireless). There's no IP-layer information. IOW the two hosts could still be in the same LAN but using different SSIDs.
    – sawdust
    Aug 20, 2021 at 8:44

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For example, is the principle this: when a wireless router is used, it creates an isolated LAN?

Yes, sort of, but for different reasons – it's not inherently isolated just because there's a router.

  1. Routers don't automatically know all their routes. If you connect two routers together, even though there's no deliberate "isolation", they simply won't know where to send packets to a distant network unless you tell them (by defining a route).

  2. Most "wireless routers" are designed specifically to sit between the internet and a LAN, so they additionally have firewalling and NAT to accomodate this. Even with correctly defined routes, the firewall may still block packets in one direction (under the assumption that they come from the internet).

how the subnet mask works with this

It doesn't do much. The subnet mask only informs devices about which addresses should be considered local (i.e. physically on the same layer-2 network and therefore can be accessed without using a router/gateway).

Is it true that if the WAP is a strict WAP, then it'd work, but if the computer running the web server is actually connected to a wireless router (wirelessly), then other devices connected to the other WAP cannot access it? Can it be made to work? For example, what if the wireless router has some Ethernet port, and the other WAP (or wireless router) is plug into that port? (I cannot try them easily as they are set up downstairs and upstairs for now).

Depends on how they're connected. Most "wireless routers" have a built-in switch as well – all 'LAN' Ethernet ports are bridged together (and bridged with the Wi-Fi network), and the router only sits between the 'LAN' bridge and the 'WAN' port.

  • If you connect the 2nd router's LAN port to the 1st router's LAN (leaving the WAN port unused), you still have exactly one network. Everything connected to Wi-Fi or Ethernet LAN of both routers will belong to the same subnet, will use the same addressing, and will be able to access each other directly.

    Essentially this turns the 2nd router into just a WAP – packets are bridged through, without routing. Note that if you do this, you must disable a few of the "router" features in the 2nd router (specifically DHCP service and UPnP) so that they don't interfere with the DHCP advertisements from the 1st one.

  • If you "chain" or "nest" the two routers (so that the 2nd router's WAN port is connected to the 1st one's LAN ports), then you'll have two separate subnets. Connected this way, devices on the 2nd router could access devices on the 1st one, but – by default – not the other way around.

    To make connections "inwards" work, the outer router (or the individual devices on the outer subnet) needs a route configured towards the inner subnet, specifying the inner router as the 'gateway'. Meanwhile, the inner router needs to have its firewall filtering disabled to allow those connections through (and ideally it should also have NAT disabled, as "double NAT" is somewhat undesirable).

    (This is assuming that the networks of the two routers are numbered differently and do not conflict. If both routers have identically numbered networks, e.g. if both of their LANs are 192.168.1.0/24)

So theoretically, if we have 2 wireless routers, then a computer connected to the WR1 supposedly cannot access any computer or device on WR2? (Both WR1 and WR2 are connected to the same Switch first).

If the switch goes to the routers' "WAN" ports – yes, by default, they cannot. The two routers have distinct "LAN" networks physically (meanwhile the WAN ports and switch exist in a third network), and neither of them knows where to reach the other network.

However, it should be possible to add custom routes on both routers, specifying that the "other LAN" is reachable through the other router. This is very similar to the "nested" situation above, except now it's symmetric.

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  • good to know... I never knew that we can connect the "LAN" port of 2 wireless routers... yes, so what I mean is from WR1's LAN port to WR2's WAN port. Also, when you say bridge, that's like "fused" together? Just like if we have an 8-port switch, the 8 ports are "fused" together? (as if they are the same port)... Aug 22, 2021 at 1:25
  • so I guess somewhat "up the chain", there is a DHCP server, so if I connect a switch to the cable modem, and then connect 5 devices to the switch, then it is the cable modem's DHCP server that assigned different local IP addresses to the 5 devices. Somehow I found more people understand programming than networking. Aug 22, 2021 at 1:26
  • Yes, bridging is basically what a switch does. (A 'switch' specifically means a device that uses a hardware-based "switch fabric" to forward the packets at high speeds, whereas 'bridge' is a broader term that doesn't imply anything about the mechanics.) Many home wireless routers actually use an internal hardware switch for bridging the four "LAN" ports, so an old router can be re-used as a 4-port switch + WAP (simply by disabling unnecessary features like DHCP). Aug 22, 2021 at 12:43
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No that doesn't sound right to me..

For one computer to access another, they have to be on the same network.

If you have two WAPs and you want them connected, it's normally done with a wire. so e.g. an ethernet cable connecting the two WAPs.

There may also need to be some configuration to make sure the two WAPs can see each other. I haven't messed around with WAPs that much, but i've heard that to connect two, one would use a cable. And then no doubt they can communicate.

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  • "For one computer to access another, they have to be on the same network" is oversimplified to the point of just being wrong and misleading. Whatever your definition of a network is, computers routinely access other computers in other networks - that's what routers are for. Aug 21, 2021 at 17:22
  • @user1686 What I wrote is correct. The computer I am typing on, is on a network called The Internet. Just as your computer is. We are both On The Internet. That's a network. Within a network there can be networks. If a computer from one network is able to access a computer on another network, then those two networks are networked. And broadly part of a large network.
    – barlop
    Aug 21, 2021 at 17:29
  • it seems if we connect two wireless routers WR1 and WR2 to our ISP cable modem by Ethernet cable, now WR1 and WR2 are "in their own world". A computer connected to WR1 cannot access another computer connected to WR2 Aug 21, 2021 at 17:47
  • @nonopolarity While I haven't tried it, I can't imagine that to be the case.. for two reasons. Firstly, if all IPs are the same domain/subnet then why not. Secondly, if it were advanced enough to do routing then it could handle multiple subnets. But if it were not capable of that, then back to my first reason. If they're the same subnet then why not.
    – barlop
    Aug 21, 2021 at 23:03
  • @nonopolarity Your "ISP cable modem" with a cable socket for the cable going into the wall. And with multiple sockets on it for ethernet cables.. Is a "home router". A router with two "sides" to it, one side for the wall and the other side, your LAN side, has a wired switch attached to it internally. . So the sockets you see are teh switch. The wired switch doesn't know there's all this wireless stuff going on. It just sees .. hmm... I think it'd see all the computers connected to the WAP. A WAP is a wireless network switch.
    – barlop
    Aug 21, 2021 at 23:07

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