Managed mode Layer 2 Bridging - Solution?

[Jouni Malinen]

On Thu, Apr 29, 2004 at 01:54:44AM +0300, paravoid wrote:

> I've read and understand why a layer 2 bridge can't work with a hostap in
> managed mode.
> I've seen though layer 2 bridging working in the following situations:
> a) Linksys WRT54G's proprietary binary module + binary utility (only after
> "wl wet on")
> b) Cisco's Aironet driver (Windows only)
> c) External Client Bridges (D-Link DWL-810+, DWL-900+)

These may be using WDS links in which case they require that the AP
supports such a special mode.

> As far as I can understand, those devices when participating on a bridge and
> working in managed mode, associate on the AP all the MACs coming from the
> other side of the bridge. So in the Associated stations in the AP menu you
> can see all the MACs of the ethernet devices behind the bridge.

Hmm.. Have you verified that this is the case? This is indeed one way of
doing the bridging, if the wireless client is able to handle multiple
MAC addresses at the same time. Would you be able to capture frames
(including IEEE 802.11 headers) of this kind of operation when the
client is bridging packets for at least two other devices?

> Is this possible by writing code on the driver side or this feature needs
> additional code on the firmware? If it is, are there any plans developing
> this?

WDS link version is already implemented (see wds_type=2). Associating
multiple MAC addresses is not supported and it would require changes to
the firmware (and maybe even to hardware, depending on the internal
design of the chip).

-- 
Jouni Malinen                                            PGP id EFC895FA