Introduction

A wireless client bridge is needed to connect two LAN segments with a wireless link.  The two LAN segments will be in the same subnet.  In this article, we will show the steps to configure the NETGEAR  WGR614L with DD-WRT firmware (v-24 SP1, downloadable by clicking here) as a client bridge.
Please note that when a router is working as a wireless client bridge, we cannot connect wireless clients to it .

Primary Router Setup

The primary router can be any brand of router.  In fact, it can even be a simple AP.  The DD-WRT firmware with wireless bridge mode needs only to be installed on the secondary router (NETGEAR WGR614L) which will be configured as a client bridge.

I have given my primary router (or primary AP) an IP address of 192.168.1.11.  You can assign any IP you wish, provided that both primary and secondary routers are in the same subnet.  Usually, DHCP should be enabled on the primary router so that it can assign IP addresses by DHCP.  Without DHCP enabled, your bridged peripherals may not be able to get onto the network.

If you want, you can disable DHCP on the primary router; however, in that case, you will need to manually provide an IP address to each of the peripherals connected with the secondary router.

Configuring Secondary Router (DD-WRT):

Step 1:  Open a browser on your PC and connect to the DD-WRT router – usually, its default address is http://192.168.1.1

Step 2:  Click Setup / Basic Setup.  Scroll down to Network Address Server Settings (DHCP).  Click to disable DHCP.  This will prevent the bridged router from assigning addresses, which will be the job of our primary router... or we will assign IP addresses manually to bridged devices.

Leave the WAN Connection Type  as : Automatic Configuration-DHCP and enable STP.

Step 3:  Click Wireless/Basic Settings. For Wireless Mode select “Client Bridge.” Set Wireless Network Mode to match your primary router – “mixed” is the safe default, unless your primary router is set exclusively to b or g mode.  My primary router is using “mixed” so I have kept the same setting for the secondary router.

Wireless Network Name (SSID ) (here “home_test”) and Wireless Channel (6-2.437Ghz) should match with the primary router.  Wireless SSID broadcast should be enabled and Network Configuration should be Bridged.

You can see this setup in the picture below.

Step 4:  Click Wireless/Wireless Security.  For Security Mode, select the appropriate choice that matches your primary router – either none, WEP, WPA or WPA2.  In this example, our primary router uses none.  As such, I have kept Security Mode disabled as shown below :

Step 5:  Click Status/Wireless. Scroll down to the bottom of the page, and you’ll see a button labeled “Site Survey.”  You now need to associate this router to your primary router to create the bridge as shown below.

Step 6: In our setup, there are several wireless networks available but we want to connect with wireless network with SSID home_test because that is our primary router.  Click the corresponding Join button to create the bridge.

DD-WRT will let you know that you’ve successfully joined the network. If joining is successful a message will pop up as the one shown below :

Testing your Bridge

You’ve now completed the bridge, congratulations!  You can test it by receiving an IP address from your primary router if DHCP is enabled there. Revisit Step 1 and set your IP address back to automatic assignment and it will get an IP address through DHCP server of your primary router.  Your temporary PC should receive an IP address assigned by your primary router.  You can test this by opening a browser and connecting to an Internet web site or by pinging the primary router.

If you have not enabled DHCP in the primary router, you can manually assign an IP address to your PC, keeping the subnet same and then ping the primary router.  Do remember to disable DHCP on the secondary router (DD-WRT router) as has been shown below. It will prevent bridged devices getting an IP from the DD-WRT router.

Your bridged devices should get an IP either through DHCP from primary router or through manual configuration.  Hopefully, your temporary PC has connected to the Internet or you are able to ping the primary router. Your bridge is working! You can now disconnect the temporary PC and connect the DD-WRT router to your intended peripheral(s), such as your printer or Xbox.

What To Do If Testing Fails

If your PC is not receiving an IP address from your primary router and can’t connect to the Internet, or if you are not able to ping the primary router, the bridge is not working correctly.   You will need to recheck all the steps from the beginning.  Please feel free to post comments for me in this article or on the MyOpenRouter forums if you have questions regarding this setup!

Quick Links:

Download DD-WRT v24 SP1 for WGR614L

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