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I've bridged networks before using wired bridges but just want to check that this is also possible via Wi-Fi. In the attached diagram on the left there is the pretty common laptop connected via Wi-Fi to a Wireless router which is then plugged into the internet. The laptop has a gateway of 192.168.1.1 (the router) and the router then routes all traffic to/from the internet.

However, there is a printer sat on a completely separate network that can be reached by it's own Wi-Fi network. I'd like, if possible, to allow the laptop to also reach the printer network without having to switch Wi-Fi networks.

If everything was wired, I'd stick in a bridge between the 192.168.1.x network and 192.168.100.x and then set-up manual routing on the laptop so that 192.168.100.x would route via the bridge (192.168.1.2) and not the Wi-Fi router.

But in this case, one can only reach the printer network via Wi-Fi so my question is "Are there low-end devices that can act like the Bridge Router" shown in the diagram? I'm guessing this is putting the router into bridge mode but I've not had much experience with consumer end devices. No chance of a level-N Cisco switch here.

Am I barking up the right tree?

enter image description here

Rob Nicholson
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1 Answers1

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Personally, I would look at using DD-WRT on a consumer Linksys or Dlink router if you are on a budget. Alternatively, if you are on the same power supply, then consider Powerline adapters and a budget wired router at one end of the link.

GingerBeardGeek
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