Difference Between Wireless Routers and Wireless Access Points?

[PohTayToez]

My boss wants me to set up wireless internet in the restaurant that I work at. I've done work with wireless routers, but looking on Newegg they have wireless routers and they also have wireless access points, and I don't think that I'm real clear on the difference. Are wireless access points basically just wireless switches, that can't assign IPs like routers can?

 

[Shady]

Short answer: Get a router.
Long answer: Access point is used to link you to an existing network... A router performs the the same as Access point with more features at the same time.
for example ... a router can set a DHCP server and assign IPs to computers in the network.... It has NAT capabilities.
If you want to set wireless Internet in the restaurant, Get a wireless router.

 

[PohTayToez]

That's what I thought. So, basically a wireless access point has the same functionality as a switch in a wired network?