Bridge eMac Ethernet and Airport?

markashley · 03-02-2005, 12:43 PM

In Windows XP, I can bridge my Ethernet port and Wireless card so they have the same IP address. If I connect to a wireless router through the wireless card, then connect another machine to the ethernet port, the machine on the ethernet port will get an IP from the DHCP server in the wireless router and will be able to access the internal network and the Internet.

Is there any way to set up the same kind of network bridge using an eMac running running Panther 10.3.8? I have tried the connection sharing but it didn't work. The client connected to the Mac's ethernet port does not pick up an IP from the router. I tried setting a static IP but it still did not work.

Hopefully someone can help me!

Thanks
Mark

voldenuit · 03-02-2005, 06:16 PM

Could you please try to explain

1
Why you'd want to have the same IP on two different interfaces and how you'd deal with the obvious problems involved ?

2
What exactly you are trying to achieve ?

3
How your network topology looks like (machines, OS versions, switches/routers/APs) ?

mclbruce · 03-02-2005, 09:18 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by markashley


	Is there any way to set up the same kind of network bridge using an eMac running running Panther 10.3.8? I have tried the connection sharing but it didn't work. The client connected to the Mac's ethernet port does not pick up an IP from the router. I tried setting a static IP but it still did not work.

You are right, connection sharing doesn't do what you want. What it does is turn the eMac into a sort of roouter, not a bridge. The way you tried it you can get on the Internet from the Ethernet side but the computers on the wireless side can't see the computers on the Ethernet side.

I don't know of an easy way on the Mac to do what you want. On the other hand it may be possible if you don't mind getting under the hood and into the UNIX environment on the Mac.

It may be that buying a separate Wireless to Ethernet bridge box will be the simplest and most convenient way to do what you want. But, as voldenuit mentioned it depends on what you are trying to accomplish.

markashley · 03-04-2005, 01:30 AM

voldenuit -

In Windows, when you bridge the connections, it creates a new interface with a single IP address, let's say 10.0.0.2. The IP addresses for the connections you have bridged are no longer configurable. Traffic coming in through the Ethernet addressed to 10.0.0.2 would make it to the machine with the bridge installed. Also, traffic coming in through the Airport addressed to the same address would also make it. All other traffic on the 10.0.0.x network would simply be passed across the bridge from the ethernet to the airport or vice versa, depending on where the destination was located (ethernet or wifi). This makes it easier to interconnect the wired and wireless networks as you don't have to worry about routing between two different networks.

mclbruce -

Thanks for the info. I suspected that ICS on the Mac was attempting to function as a router. I'll have a look for some info on configuring routing on OSX. Maybe I can get it to work by adding a subnet on the other interface and routing it on to the airport network???

Mark

K1W1 · 03-04-2005, 05:28 AM

Why not just plug a wireless bridge into the ethernet port of the device that you are connecting to the E-Mac?
That would seem simpler to me.

markashley · 03-04-2005, 05:38 AM

Yes I have tried that, but the device I am plugging in to the Ethernet port (EyeHome) is streaming video from the eMac, and it doesn't work properly over wifi, which is why we connected it to the Ethernet port of the eMac. It's currently on a different IP range to keep it separate, and it works well for streaming the video and playing it on the TV, but we want the EyeHome to be able to access the Internet, which is why we want to bridge the Ethernet port with the Airport.

Mark

voldenuit · 03-04-2005, 08:19 AM

Thanks for the lecture on bridging.

FreeBSD documentation states there is kernel option that needs to be activated: http://www.freebsd.org/doc/en_US.ISO...-bridging.html

However, it looks like the Darwin people are not into bridging that much:
http://www.opendarwin.org/pipermail/...ry/004939.html

While it would indeed be interesting to investigate further, appropriate routing is probably all you need to get your setup going.

Bridging would have the only benefit to get netwide broadcasts and other unroutable stuff on the other side and as you don't try to use some crazy protocol such as DECNet, you should be fine.

voldenuit · 03-24-2005, 08:10 AM

While browsing around I stumbled into this website:

http://chrisp.de/en/projects/tunnel.html

The FreeBSD code has indeed been ported, so whoever needs a tunnel device can get one.

As it is well hidden (at least I didn't find it when doing fast research to answer this thread) I think, it might be useful pointer.

03-02-2005, 12:43 PM	#1
markashley Major Leaguer Join Date: Mar 2005 Posts: 322	Bridge eMac Ethernet and Airport? In Windows XP, I can bridge my Ethernet port and Wireless card so they have the same IP address. If I connect to a wireless router through the wireless card, then connect another machine to the ethernet port, the machine on the ethernet port will get an IP from the DHCP server in the wireless router and will be able to access the internal network and the Internet. Is there any way to set up the same kind of network bridge using an eMac running running Panther 10.3.8? I have tried the connection sharing but it didn't work. The client connected to the Mac's ethernet port does not pick up an IP from the router. I tried setting a static IP but it still did not work. Hopefully someone can help me! Thanks Mark

03-24-2005, 08:10 AM	#8
voldenuit Hall of Famer Join Date: Sep 2003 Location: Old Europe Posts: 4,969	Not in OS X, but there's a BSD-port ! While browsing around I stumbled into this website: http://chrisp.de/en/projects/tunnel.html The FreeBSD code has indeed been ported, so whoever needs a tunnel device can get one. As it is well hidden (at least I didn't find it when doing fast research to answer this thread) I think, it might be useful pointer.

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03-02-2005, 06:16 PM	#2
voldenuit Hall of Famer Join Date: Sep 2003 Location: Old Europe Posts: 4,969	Could you please try to explain 1 Why you'd want to have the same IP on two different interfaces and how you'd deal with the obvious problems involved ? 2 What exactly you are trying to achieve ? 3 How your network topology looks like (machines, OS versions, switches/routers/APs) ?

03-04-2005, 01:30 AM	#4
markashley Major Leaguer Join Date: Mar 2005 Posts: 322	voldenuit - In Windows, when you bridge the connections, it creates a new interface with a single IP address, let's say 10.0.0.2. The IP addresses for the connections you have bridged are no longer configurable. Traffic coming in through the Ethernet addressed to 10.0.0.2 would make it to the machine with the bridge installed. Also, traffic coming in through the Airport addressed to the same address would also make it. All other traffic on the 10.0.0.x network would simply be passed across the bridge from the ethernet to the airport or vice versa, depending on where the destination was located (ethernet or wifi). This makes it easier to interconnect the wired and wireless networks as you don't have to worry about routing between two different networks. mclbruce - Thanks for the info. I suspected that ICS on the Mac was attempting to function as a router. I'll have a look for some info on configuring routing on OSX. Maybe I can get it to work by adding a subnet on the other interface and routing it on to the airport network??? Mark

03-04-2005, 05:28 AM	#5
K1W1 Major Leaguer Join Date: Feb 2005 Posts: 299	Why not just plug a wireless bridge into the ethernet port of the device that you are connecting to the E-Mac? That would seem simpler to me.

03-04-2005, 05:38 AM	#6
markashley Major Leaguer Join Date: Mar 2005 Posts: 322	Yes I have tried that, but the device I am plugging in to the Ethernet port (EyeHome) is streaming video from the eMac, and it doesn't work properly over wifi, which is why we connected it to the Ethernet port of the eMac. It's currently on a different IP range to keep it separate, and it works well for streaming the video and playing it on the TV, but we want the EyeHome to be able to access the Internet, which is why we want to bridge the Ethernet port with the Airport. Mark

03-04-2005, 08:19 AM	#7
voldenuit Hall of Famer Join Date: Sep 2003 Location: Old Europe Posts: 4,969	Thanks for the lecture on bridging. FreeBSD documentation states there is kernel option that needs to be activated: http://www.freebsd.org/doc/en_US.ISO...-bridging.html However, it looks like the Darwin people are not into bridging that much: http://www.opendarwin.org/pipermail/...ry/004939.html While it would indeed be interesting to investigate further, appropriate routing is probably all you need to get your setup going. Bridging would have the only benefit to get netwide broadcasts and other unroutable stuff on the other side and as you don't try to use some crazy protocol such as DECNet, you should be fine.