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WiFi device on a wired network

Mister_Fish

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Posted January 11, 2013 at 10:03AM

I have a small Ethernet (wired) network at home. For some of the work that I do it is a requirement that I have a wired network, (a wifi network, or a wifi accessible network is not permitted).

For my wife’s birthday recently I bought her an Iphone5. When she is out and about she is able to connect to the internet via either a cellular connection or via the various wifi hotspots around the city.

Unfortunately it seems that there is no way to connect an Iphone5 to a wired network, the assumption on Apples part is that everyone has a wifi network.

Can anyone recommend a product that I can buy that I can plug into my Ethernet switch that will provide wifi access when she needs it but can then be unplugged entirely from the system when she doesn’t.

There seem to be a large number of products that allow the connection of a wired-only device to a wifi network but perhaps not so much in the other direction.

Thanks folks.

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mgmcc

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Posted January 11, 2013 at 3:40PM

Apple's Airport Express will do what you want - plug it into one of your router's ethernet ports and the iPhone can connect wirelessly. It also supports "AirPlay", so any music on the iPhone can be played wirelessly through speakers plugged into the Airport Express.

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Mister_Fish

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Posted January 11, 2013 at 4:44PM

Great. Thanks for that.

I am guessing that that would be pretty much a plug in and go solution. I am assuming that it will still allow my wired router to assign IPs (unlike a wireless router might. Am I right?

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mgmcc

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Posted January 12, 2013 at 10:11PM

"I am guessing that that would be pretty much a plug in and go solution."

Yes, it is. The AirPort Express acts as a Wireless Access Point so that you can connect WiFi devices to your router. IP addresses continue to be allocated by your wired router, but this is no different from the behaviour of a wireless router.

A wireless router is simply a wired router with a built-in Wireless Access Point. You will be using a separate plug-in Wireless Access Point.

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Mister_Fish

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Posted January 12, 2013 at 11:35PM

Okay. Thanks. I've ordered one.

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