[Network] Bridge & Router operational Mode

[Network] Bridge & Router operational Mode 



Selecting Bridge & Router operational Mode

The operational mode of the wireless device should be selected according to the requirements and applications. The table below gives a brief outline of the pros and cons of each operational mode.

Bridge Mode	Router Mode
Does not block any broadcast or multicast	Blocks and provide protection against broadcast storms
Transparent bridge and can pass Non-IP protocols	Only IP protocol is supported
PPPOE protocol Pass-through	No PPPOE protocol pass-through
Able to transport VLAN tagging	Doesn't supports VLAN
No network segmentation. One broadcast domain	Network segmentation (Clients can be on different IP subnet)
Can only relay the DHCP client's request to the external DHCP server	Can Act as DHCP server & relay which Prevents IP conflict & DHCP Injection
Bridges maintains bridging table (Mac) & STP can be used to avoid loops	No STP feature; maintains routing table
External bandwidth Controller can be used to control the speed of the clients by Mac or IP address	External bandwidth Controller can be used to control the speed of the clients by IP only
In client device, it uses MAC address to associate which requires WDS compatible AP	Use SSID to associate, work with any 802.11a/b/g AP

Bridge mode

• 
  Device will act as a transparent bridge and will operate in Layer 2 - Mac layer


• 
  Bridge mode association is based on channel and MAC authorization only. SSID will not be used for the setting up a link.


• 
  If the remote is configured in a bridge mode and channel needs to be changed then channel needs to be changed at both the radios.

Router mode

• 
  Device will operate in Layer 3 to perform routing. It is pure routing and network provider has to take care of proper routing as there is no NAT feature in airHaul.


• 
  Association is based on SSID.

• 
  Remote configured in a Router mode will automatically follow the Root Bridge for any change in channel. Due to this, Remote Router mode is preferred for selecting a channel with low interference for setting up a link in the beginning

Reference :

• 
  Bridge versus Router Mode Differences, Advantages and Applications