Network A+ Classifying items in OSI Question

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Hi Don when you were discussing Bridges as part of the network you indicated that they are not used that much now.

I wonder if bridges will be used more in the SOHO in the future. When an ISP provides their router/modem/wifi box with the Cable/ADSL plan it has their settings and does it all. However if you wanted to attach a better wifi router with more control, then changing the ISP box to bridge mode is an option so you can pass through to the new router. There are also different devices such as the ITUS network's Shield physical box that can be put before or after the modem.

What are your thoughts?

Thanks
Michael

Michael,

Bridging technology is just older technology and not really ASIC based and therefore slow.

Bridging and Firewall to a Modem or your wireless router to a modem is possible with the current hardware but you must get your ISP to allow you to reconfigure the modem to do so. Believe it or not that is the difficult part. Usually, your first call will end in "You're not supposed to do that." Just respectfully request the supervisor who will more than likely allow you to do so.

So I don't believe you're going to see a reversion back to an older system in the future of SOHO networks. I could be wrong and I've been wrong before, but it doesn't seem technologically necessary to do so.

Cordially,
Ronnie Wong
Host, ITProTV

Hi Ronnie

Thanks for information. I wondered if I was mixing my information. I do wonder when security on the rim as in home routers on the net are becoming a serious target and router companies are not always that proactive with updates that it may lead down the road. Time will tell, and as you say ISPs may not be happy with people turning 'their' boxes into bridges.

I was lucky with my ISP's modem/router/wifi box, it had the feature to bridge available on my box which I took as permission that I could use the feature. And I wanted an AC router which in the future I could flash with dd wrt, so backed up the config and connected the other router pointed my DNS to opendns and bob's your uncle.

Regards
Michael

The first switches back in the early 1990s were more "switching hubs" than bridges. For example, they didn't support spanning tree. But bridge functionality was soon added and soon switches had more features than bridges. Switches are really "multi-port bridges", but no vendor would call their switch a "bridge" today.

The IEEE 802.1 standards use the term "bridging" for the layer 2 functionality they define. So putting a device in "bridging mode" is correct terminology, and doesn't imply the device is a "bridge", just that it is operating at layer 2.