Hello everyone, in this video we're going to be
talking about wireless bridge mode. Now wireless bridge mode is a feature that's built into
a Wi-Fi router that wirelessly connects two networks together and makes them one network. And
it does this by using a router's wireless signal to connect to another router's wireless signal to
bridge the two networks together. So as an example let's say that in this building there's an office
and this office has a network where you have computers, a server, a Wi-Fi router, and a modem
with an internet connection. And we'll call this the main office. And let's say that a short
distance away in another building this same business has a second office. And this office
also has a network with computers and a Wi-Fi router, but it doesn't have an internet connection.
So these two offices are part of the same business but their networks are separated because they are
in two separate buildings and the second office doesn't have internet access. So the owner of this
business wants to figure out a way to combine or bridge these two networks together and make them
one network. Because by creating one network, the computers in both offices will be able to
directly communicate with each other and the computers in the second office will be able to
access this server and also access this modem to give them internet access. Now this can be done by
using a cable to connect the two offices together. But if using a cable is not an option for certain
reasons, there is another and more convenient way to do this without a cable. And that way is to
set up a wireless bridge. Setting up a wireless bridge will turn these two local area networks
into one local area network. So to set up a wireless bridge the first thing you need is you
need to have two Wi-Fi routers and the type of routers we're going to use are SOHO routers which
stands for small office / home office. These are Wi-Fi routers that not only broadcast a wireless
signal so that wireless devices can connect to, but they will also have a built-in switch in the
back so that wired devices can be connected using Ethernet cables. So each office will have one of
these Wi-Fi routers. Now the main office's router doesn't need any special configuration to set up
a wireless bridge, it's fine the way it is. You just need to know the name of the SSID, which is
the name of the wireless signal and the password. But the router in a second office needs special
configuration. So you need to log into the second office's router and go into its configuration
page. Now depending upon which router you have, finding the wireless bridge mode feature is going
to be a little bit different. So you need to find out exactly where it is on the configuration page.
But when you find this section, you'll find a few options that say router mode, bridge mode, or
wireless bridge mode. So you need to select wireless bridge mode and enable it in the router.
Then once you select it it's going to ask you to put in the SSID or the name of the Wi-Fi network
and password of the router that you're going to connect to, which in our case will be the router
in the main office. Then once that is complete the second office's router will wirelessly
connect to the router in the main office and the two networks will be connected or bridged
together creating one network. So now these are no longer two networks, this is now one local
area network which means that all the computers in both offices can directly communicate with
each other and the computers in the second office can now access the server and they will also be
able to access this modem to give them internet access. Now if you watch some of my other videos I
explained that a router is what defines a network. A router is the gateway or doorway to a network.
It's what separates a network from another network. So this Wi-Fi router here is no longer
acting like a router, it's acting as a wireless bridge to connect this network to this network.
And because it's no longer acting like a router that means its firewall and NAT service is turned
off. And its DHCP service, which is a service that automatically assigns IP addresses to devices,
is also turned off. So it's no longer assigning these computers IP addresses. But the router
in the main office is now in charge of both offices because this is now one network. So it's
assigning all the IP addresses to every device in both offices. Now depending on which brand
and model router you're using some routers when they are in wireless bridge mode will only pass on
the network connection to wired devices that are connected using the router's switch. For example
these desktop computers here are connected to the router using Ethernet cables which enables them to
be part of this one network. However some routers can do both. The network connection is not only
passed on to wired devices connected to the switch but they will also broadcast their own independent
wireless signal so that wireless devices can connect to it and join the network. So for example
this laptop here can wirelessly connect to this router's wireless signal which enables it to be a
part of this one network. So for example I have a Netgear router that when wireless bridge mode is
enabled it passed on the network connection only to wired devices. But with my Linksys router, it
passed the network connection to wired devices and it broadcasted a wireless signal for wireless
devices to connect to. Now as a bonus if we go back into the router's configuration page some of
you might be wondering, well what is bridge mode? Well bridge mode does the same thing that wireless
bridge mode does but the only difference is, is that with bridge mode the routers are connected
using a cable rather than being connected wirelessly. So once you select bridge mode you
have to connect the routers together using a network cable by plugging an end to each router's
Ethernet port. And that's all there is to it. So this concludes the lesson
on wireless bridge mode. And if you want to become a member
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