understanding repeater access points

[SCOTT]

A repeater access point is not connected to the wired LAN; it is placed within radio range of an access point connected to the wired LAN to extend the range. A repeater access point is not connected with the wired LAN, it is placed within radio range of an access point connected to the wired LAN to extend the range of your infrastructure or to overcome an obstacle that blocks radio communication.

You can configure either the 2.4-GHz radio or the 5-GHz radio as a repeater. In access points with two radios, only one radio can be a repeater; the other radio must be configured as a root radio. The repeater forwards traffic between wireless users and the wired LAN by sending packets to either another repeater or to an access point connected to the wired LAN. The data is sent through the route that provides the best performance for the client.

When you configure an access point as a repeater, the access point's Ethernet port does not forward traffic. You can set up a chain of several repeater access points, but throughput for client devices at the end of the repeater chain will be quite low. Because each repeater must receive and then retransmit each packet on the same channel, throughput is cut in half for each repeater you add to the chain.

[rocky123]

Repeaters extend the coverage area of your wireless LAN, but they drastically reduce throughput. Use repeaters to serve the client devices that do not require high throughput.
Use repeaters when most if not all client devices that associate with the repeaters are Cisco Aironet clients. Non-Cisco client devices sometimes have trouble communicating with repeater access points.