Nowadays, everyone is using the internet connection, whether for personal or professional purpose. Thus, sometimes it becomes difficult to get enough internet connectivity if you are using multiple devices to connect to a single router for connectivity purpose. Under such a condition, one can use a router in bridge mode for connecting multiple devices to get faster internet connectivity. A wireless bridge often receives signals from the wireless router and sends it out to the wired devices. Therefore, if you know how to bridge a router then it will be quite easier to extend your wireless network connectivity.
Bridging a router will make it easier for you to expand your network coverage to the far corners and that too without sacrificing the wireless convenience. If you are using Linksys router, then for Linksys bridge mode, you will need two WiFi routers- one will be set up as a router while the other will be set up in bridge mode.
Benefits of Using the Router as a Bridge:
There are many advantages of using the router as a bridge. These are:
- A bridge managed incoming traffic and reduces bandwidth waste by preventing all unnecessary flow of data between network segments. In this way, it can effectively ensure the optimal performance on both sides of the network segment.
- A network bridge increases the size of the network without the need for hardware equipment such as cables and software constraints such as firewalls.
Step-by-Step Guidance on How to Use a Router as a Bridge:
The following are some easy and simple steps which will help you to know how to bridge a router. And to do that, you need to go through the below steps:
Step 1
Use the Ethernet cable to connect your computer with the router. Make sure that the cable should be plugged into one of the LAN port, not the WAN port or Internet.
Step 2
You can follow the manual in order to log in the router’s configuration application. To do this, you need to enter the IP address of the router into the address bar of a web browser. After that, you need to enter the user name and password for the router and click on login button. Now, the main configuration page will come up on your computer screen.
Step 3
Find out the page which allows you to set the IP address of the router. Make sure that the IP address you entered is different than the default address and not as same as another device on the network.
Step 4
You have to locate the Settings for the DHCP and DNS servers that are built into the router. Both servers need to be deactivated as the main router on the network will now assigning an IP address and translating network address.
Step 5
You have to disable all the firewall of the router and all the access controls to be used as a bridge. The router will also perform this task.
Step 6
You have to delete all the entries in the Port forwarding section of the router. These settings help certain application access to the internet on specific ports.
Steps 7
You have to save all the settings which you have changed. After that, you need to reboot the router for the changes to take effect.
Now, your router works as a bridge on your network. Hopefully, by reading this article thoroughly, you understand the benefits of Linksys bridge mode and also know how to use the router as a bridge. Hope this article will be a good help for those users who are not a tech expert and still want to bridge their router for better connectivity.
