13: Bridging
PremierWave EN User Guide
89
Bridging Operation
During initialization, both eth0 and wlan0 are enabled and controlled by the bridging subsystem.
Important aspects to keep in mind:
If eth0 physical link is down, wlan0 is the Primary Interface.
If eth0 physical link is up, eth0 is the Primary Interface.
When eth0 link is up, wlan0 link is established, and the Bridging MAC Address is acquired (via pre-
configuration or auto-detection), Bridging enters the Active state. If either link goes down, bridging
falls back to the Inactive state.
When in the
Active
state, all packets that arrive on the wlan0 interface are bridged out the eth0
interface. Similarly, all packets that arrive on the eth0 interface are bridged out the wlan0 interface.
However, exceptions to this behavior include:
Ethernet packets directed specifically to the Ethernet (eth0) MAC Address are terminated
internally and are not bridged to WLAN.
ARP Requests for the Primary Interface's IP address are terminated internally and are not
bridged to WLAN
Ethernet packets which are not originated from the Bridging MAC Address are discarded
Bridge Configuration
A bridge may be configured between an Ethernet interface and a WLAN interface. A bridge
represents a relationship between the interface minor numbers. For example, br0 is a bridge
between eth0 and wlan0.
Table 13-1 Bridge Settings
To View or Configure Bridge Settings
Using Web Manager
To view the Bridge status, click
Bridge
on the menu, select a particular bridge and click
Status
.
To configure Bridge settings, click
Bridge
on the menu, select a particular bridge and click
Configuration
.
WLAN Profile WPA & WPA2
Settings
Description
State
Enable or disable bridging.
Bridging MAC Address
Specify the MAC address of bridgeable traffic between the Ethernet and
WLAN interfaces. When bridging is active, this MAC Address will be used as
the MAC address of the WLAN interface. Packets received on the Ethernet
interface from this address will be bridged to the WLAN interface (except
traffic directed at the Primary Interface). If this field is not configured, then the
device waits for the first packet to arrive on the Ethernet interface and uses
the source address as the bridging address.
Note:
if a Bridging MAC Address is not configured, then once it is obtained
and configured dynamically, it remains in effect until a reboot.
