Are WAPS layer 2 or Layer 1?
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Jcushing,
Great question and I appreciate you posting this so that others can learn a great concept that you're pointing out. That point is that there are difference between what really is and what the answers may be on the exam!
In all reality, the WAPs (Wireless Access Points) that you or I may buy are actually multi-layer devices. It breaks down like this: These devices generally have a single port that we connect out to the internet (Cable modem or DSL modem) that is a router port--sometimes labeled as the WAN port (Layer3), also a simple multi-port non-managed switch--the LAN or Ethernet Ports (Layer2), and the Access Point--the Wireless Antennae (Layer1). Marketing is what makes vendors label these things generically so as not to confuse the non IT world.
CompTIA doesn't officially see the entire WAP as a single device but as the separate components--Router, Switch and AP. So when the exam calls out a Wireless Access Point. They are just looking at the Access Point. Wireless Access Points are in reality just a wireless hub, they function in the same manner of a hub. Like a hub they are a Layer1 device. This is true in reality as well as on the CompTIA exams.
Cordially,
Ronnie Wong
Host, ITProTV
