Your home or office is full of devices that need wifi, but your router can only handle so many connections at once.
You probably have a lot of questions about how to bridge wifi routers. How do I connect them? What are the benefits? Won’t it slow my internet down?
By bridging your wifi routers, you can create one large and powerful network that can handle all of your devices. In this artical, Edon Lazaj will show you how to bridge wifi routers.
Introduction to wifi bridge mode
What is bridge mode?
In networking, bridge mode is a mechanism for interconnecting two local area networks (LANs) that have different architectures and uses. For example, you might want to connect a home network of Wi-Fi devices to a small office LAN. In this case, the home network would be bridged to the office LAN.
Bridge mode is also sometimes used to expand the number of available IP addresses on a single LAN by connecting multiple routers together. This can be useful if you have a lot of devices that need IP addresses and your ISP only provides you with a limited number.
Why use bridge mode?
There are several reasons why you might want to use bridge mode:
- To connect two LANs with different architectures – for example, connecting a Wi-Fi network to an Ethernet network.
- To expand the number of available IP addresses on a single LAN by connecting multiple routers together.
- To improve network performance by reducing latency and traffic congestion.
How does bridge mode work?
Bridge mode works by effectively turning off the NAT and firewall features of your router or modem/router combo, and passing all incoming and outgoing traffic directly to the connected device. This means that your router will no longer be able to perform tasks such as DHCP address assignment or VPN passthrough, so you will need to ensure that these functions are handled by another device on your network.
It is also worth noting that when using bridge mode, your devices will no longer be protected by the NAT firewall of your router. This means that you will need to take steps to secure your devices and network against external threats.
Next, we will have a look at the pros and cons of bridge mode.
Benefits and drawbacks of bridge mode
Benefits of bridge mode
- Allows you to connect two LANs with different architectures.
- Expands the number of available IP addresses on a single LAN.
- Improves network performance by reducing latency and traffic congestion.
Drawbacks of bridge mode
- Your router will no longer be able to perform tasks such as DHCP address assignment or VPN passthrough.
- Your devices will no longer be protected by the NAT firewall of your router.
Guide to bridge wifi routers
Before you start
This guide assumes that you have two wifi routers, both of which are connected to the internet and are able to communicate with each other. You will also need to know the IP address, subnet mask, and default gateway of both routers.
If you’re not sure how to find this information, consult your router’s documentation or contact your ISP.
Step-by-step guide to bridge wifi routers
- Connect the first router to the second router using an Ethernet cable.
- Open the web interface of the first router and navigate to the network settings page.
- Disable the DHCP server on the first router. This will ensure that the second router will be responsible for assigning IP addresses to devices on the network.
- Change the IP address of the first router to something in the same subnet as the second router. For example, if the second router has an IP address of 192.168.1.1, you could change the IP address of the first router to 192.168.1.2.
- Save your changes and close the web interface of the first router.
- Open the web interface of the second router and navigate to the network settings page.
- Enable bridge mode on the second router. This will allow it to act as a bridge between the two networks.
- Save your changes and close the web interface of the second router.
Your two routers should now be bridged. You can verify this by checking the IP address of a devices connected to the first router. It should be in the same subnet as the second router.
How to create a wireless bridge using an old router?
If you have an old router that you’re not using, you can easily turn it into a wireless bridge. This can be useful if you want to connect a device to your network that doesn’t have Wi-Fi capabilities.
To do this, you will need to flash your old router with new firmware. There are many different types of firmware available, but we recommend using DD-WRT or OpenWrt. These are both open source firmwares that are designed for use with routers.
Once you have installed the new firmware on your router, follow the steps in the “Guide to bridge wifi routers” section above to configure your router as a bridge.
F.A.Q How to bridge wifi routers?
How do I bridge two wireless routers?
To bridge two wireless routers, you will need to connect them together using an Ethernet cable. Once they are connected, you will need to disable the DHCP server on the first router and enable bridge mode on the second router.
What is bridge mode in Wi-Fi router?
Bridge mode is a feature that allows a router to act as a bridge between two networks. This can be useful if you want to connect two LANs with different architectures or expand the number of available IP addresses on a single LAN.
Can you connect 2 wireless routers to same network?
Yes, you can connect two wireless routers to the same network. To do this, you will need to connect them together using an Ethernet cable and configure them as described in the “Guide to bridge wifi routers” section above.
How do I setup a wireless router as a bridge?
To setup a wireless router as a bridge, you will need to connect it to another router using an Ethernet cable and configure it as described in the “Guide to bridge wifi routers” section above.
Conclusion
If you’re looking for a way to extend the range of your home or office wifi, you may be interested in learning how to bridge wifi routers. By creating a bridge between two wireless routers, you can essentially create one large network that covers more ground. While this process used to require some technical know-how, there are now plenty of tools and resources available to help even the most novice user get started. In this article, we’ll walk you through the basics of bridging routers and provide some tips on how to make the process as seamless as possible. Let’s get started!