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I have a wired device to hang off an existing wifi network.

So I got a little wifi router, and I can set it to AP Bridge mode. I expected that in bridge mode it would have me auth to the existing wifi, but it does not.

What am I misunderstanding?

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    AP = "access point" means the router acts as an access point, sets up its own wifi, and doesn't connect to "existing wifi". And while you can bridge a Wifi AP and LAN, you cannot bridge a Wifi Client ("existing wifi") and LAN (and that's a FAQ, google, and read up on 3-address-mode and 4-address-mode).
    – dirkt
    Commented Mar 22, 2020 at 10:23

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It sounds like you're thinking of a different bridging scenario than what your device supports. Every wireless router knows how to act as an AP and bridge (transparently forward) traffic between its wireless clients and its LAN ports. That is rightfully called bridging, but it's not the kind of bridging you're looking for.

Not every wireless router knows how to be a WDS wireless bridge to connect two Ethernet LANs via a wireless link between WDS wireless bridges. Similarly, not every wireless router knows how to make its radio act as a wireless client to join another AP's network. And even fewer know any of the tricks that would allow them to bridge traffic from other devices across that client-mode connection to the other AP (some security-related provisions of the IEEE 802.11 standard make this tricky).

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  • So what I want is "WDS Bridge" ? (I am not familiar with the term) That IS an option on my device. I will try that path.
    – Jonesome Reinstate Monica
    Commented Mar 22, 2020 at 16:00
  • Thanks again! I tried the WDS bridge option, but have not got it actually working yet.
    – Jonesome Reinstate Monica
    Commented Mar 22, 2020 at 19:12

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