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Forum Discussion
R7450 Bridge Mode Configuration
I am new to Bridge Mode
I have a R7450 router and have managed to place it in bridge mode.
I chose to connect to 5GHz SSID on another WiFi router and got it to connect. Wired devices connected to the RJ45 ports on the R7450 work great and are able to get to the internet across the bridge.
The description in the User manual is rather vague so I want to ask a few questions to see if can get it to do more.
- If I am bridging using 5GHz radio is there a way to use the 2.4GHz radio (that is currently doing absolutely nothing) to work as an Access Point? That way wireless devices in the remote area can use the bridge too.
- There is no description in the manual about what can be used on the RJ45 ports. Can the WAN RJ45 port be used for anything while in bridge mode? Or is it just the 4 LAN ports I can use?
- Once in Bridge Mode how do I view the WiFi SSID I am currently connected to or chose a different WiFi connection?
Thanks
7 Replies
Can the WAN RJ45 port be used for anything while in bridge mode?
No. The WAN port will be useless in Bridge Mode.
how do I view the WiFi SSID I am currently connected to
Connect to the R7450 again, as described on page 70 of the user manual.
f I am bridging using 5GHz radio is there a way to use the 2.4GHz radio (that is currently doing absolutely nothing) to work as an Access Point? That way wireless devices in the remote area can use the bridge too.
No.
There is no description in the manual about what can be used on the RJ45 ports. Can the WAN RJ45 port be used for anything while in bridge mode? Or is it just the 4 LAN ports I can use?MIght see if mirror WAN to LAN is seen on the Routers debug page. If not there, then only the LAN ports work in bridge mode.
Once in Bridge Mode how do I view the WiFi SSID I am currently connected to or chose a different WiFi connection?
Should be seen on the status page on the bridge router.It would not be a difficult experiment to conduct.
- Does the SSID of the R7450 appear to WiFi devices as an available network?
- If so, what happens when a device attempts to connect to it?
Does the SSID of the R7450 appear to WiFi devices as an available network?
No
When in bridge mode the R7450 does not present a SSID. It is basically a WiFi device so you have to choose either 2.4Ghz or 5Ghz to connect (just like your cel phone).
I am disappointed in "Bridge Mode" it is a minimal design. It wastes 1 of the 2 radios. Too bad they didn't put a litter more effort into adding features like:
- Using both radios for the bridge for redundancy in case one frequency is having trouble.
- Allow you to use the other radio act as an AP
Brige mode is only meant for a connection with one frequency. The other radios can't not be used as would cause some interferences and how the system worked. Wireless bridge mode is only intended to work as a client mode configuration with one radio, either 2.4 or 5Ghz. How this has been for a long time. Seen with other mfr routers that support bridge mode. I have an ASUS router that does same thing. Pick one radio to connect with, all others are not used. Bridge mode has had a limited use for the average user and NG seems to have no longer supported this in there newer class routers. So bridge mode maybe doing away for some.
Yup I get how NG built the Bridging mode and all I am saying is that they could have put a lot more thought into it as they have basically bricked the radio that is not being used.
Just to put this in context and prove that the ability to do more is easily achievable. Years ago (5-7 years) I bought a cheap Chinese RS232 wifi adapter (Elfin EW10a) for under $10 brand new delivered. I was so impressed that a tiny cheap device could have an independent WiFi Server and Client running simultaneously. This little device could actually be connected as a client to your home wifi router and the device itself was serving and additional wifi server so you could connect directly to it for using another wifi device. It only had 1 2.4GHz radio but the Chinese figured out how to do both(server & client) at the same time using 1 radio. Point is the technology on the NG router is there it just a better firmware to add more features.
Maybe however maybe NG didn't want to do that or can't. Lots more behind the scenes than just making stuff work willy nilly. It's NGs stuff and how they run there business.
