Can I connect to a router's wired network via WiFi for gaming purposes?

Question

I currently have 4 Windows XP machines in my basement that are connected via ethernet to a Wireless router/switch. These machines aren't equipped with WiFi. We play the game BZ-Flags on these machines and the network works great.

I am trying to add more computers to this network, and being that there aren't any more ports on the router, I was wondering if I could somehow connect some newer computers (MacBooks, iMac, etc) to this existing wired network via WiFi.

Is this possible? If not, what other options do I have to expand the wired network, without getting the machines on the internet?

Answer 1

Yes, not only is this possible, this is done by many people.

Your router creates a network, and all devices connected to it (both by wire and wireless) are then placed inside that network, and the router controls how all clients interact with each other and the internet.

The only limit you'll have is how the LAN is setup. By default, the DHCP server will have a scope of about 100 clients, which means 100 clients can connect before the DCHP server is full and can't hand out another IP address. But of course this can be changed and increased. There may be a limit in how many devices can connect through wifi at the same time, but your router will have something like this mentioned in its manual.