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Forum Discussion
jeclark2006
Apr 28, 2020Aspirant
Cannot enable bridge mode on R6220
I searched previous posts on this topic, and the response was not what is desired for a 'bridge' configuration. A WIFI <-> Ethernet bridge is what is desired, where the WIFI is essentially transpa...
- Apr 28, 2020
I think the confusion lies in the term 'bridge'. I tend to use 'bridge' to mean 'collecting a set of interfaces' into an effective unit, as in the following on a linux system command line.
brctl addbr br-lanbrctl addif br-lan eth0 -- wired interface
brctl addif br-lan wlan0 -- wireless interface
... etc...
For a WDS 'bridge', I'd use the phrase 'WDS bridge', which would be two AP connecting two segments of the network.
From what I can tell setting up this device, the ETHERNET ports and and the wireless interface are in fact 'bridged' in the first sense, which was not clear from the documentation.
Initially I was using the WAN port to connect to the rest of the wired network. Upon realizing that the wired interfaces where in fact bridged with the wireless interface, I move the cable connecting to the rest of the network to one of 'lan' ports, disabled DHCP on the AP, and the DHCP clients received their IP config from the DHCP on the wired side of things.
So problem solved.
michaelkenward
Apr 28, 2020Guru - Experienced User
Do you have a problem of some sort?
I see no sign in the manual that you can use the R6220 in anything other than router or wireless access point (AP) mode.
By the way, as most people understand it, and as Netgear uses it, AP mode means with a wired connection back to a router.
The term "bridge mode" is something else and depends on what you are talking about.
If you visit the support pages:
Support | NETGEAR
you can feed in your model number and find the documentation for your hardware.
jeclark2006
Apr 28, 2020Aspirant
I think the confusion lies in the term 'bridge'. I tend to use 'bridge' to mean 'collecting a set of interfaces' into an effective unit, as in the following on a linux system command line.
brctl addbr br-lan
brctl addif br-lan eth0 -- wired interface
brctl addif br-lan wlan0 -- wireless interface
... etc...
For a WDS 'bridge', I'd use the phrase 'WDS bridge', which would be two AP connecting two segments of the network.
From what I can tell setting up this device, the ETHERNET ports and and the wireless interface are in fact 'bridged' in the first sense, which was not clear from the documentation.
Initially I was using the WAN port to connect to the rest of the wired network. Upon realizing that the wired interfaces where in fact bridged with the wireless interface, I move the cable connecting to the rest of the network to one of 'lan' ports, disabled DHCP on the AP, and the DHCP clients received their IP config from the DHCP on the wired side of things.
So problem solved.
- michaelkenwardApr 28, 2020Guru - Experienced User
Am I right in thinking that your "solved" tag is down to a revelation that you were barking up the wrong tree and that any confusion about "bridge" is at your end ?
Wouldn't want anyone to stumble on the Solved flag for this conversation and think that you have managed to get this R6220 to achieve the impossible.
Or maybe you have. That would be even more useful for fellow victims.
- jeclark2006Apr 28, 2020Aspirant
The 'revelation' was that rather than using the WAN port for connecting the AP to the wired network, to use one of the LAN ethernet ports, and turn off the DHCP server option in the AP.
Then packets from the AP client via the wireless interface, get bridged to the LAN wired network, and the WAN interfarce is not used.- antinodeApr 28, 2020Guru
> The 'revelation' was [...]
For a different "revelation", you might try the (should-be) obvious
thing: Visit http://netgear.com/support , put in your model number, and
look for Documentation. Get the User Manual. Read. Look for "Use the
Router as a Wireless Access Point".That, of course, assumes that what you really wanted was a WAP, not a
"bridge".