Exploring ways to connect an ISP router as a bridge to another router.
Exploring ways to connect an ISP router as a bridge to another router.
I am planning to purchase an external router such as the one from TPLink to boost Wi-Fi coverage and possibly improve speed. Before making the decision, I want to confirm I can install it correctly, so I conducted some research and discovered that enabling bridge mode is necessary. However, I’m not able to see this option in my current ISP IP address (Airtel Fiber). Should I need to reach out to their customer care directly to activate it, or will it only become visible after connecting an external router to my ISP’s network?
Welcome to the forums, newcomer!
It might be helpful to share the make and model of your ISP's router. Note that this option isn't available in your router's IP settings—it will be a function or radio button inside the router's interface. There could be cases where it's restricted for certain customers.
Also, most of the site and its users are based in the USA. I noticed Airtel operates in Africa and Asia. If you're not sure what to look for, consider uploading your images to a platform like Imgur and sharing the link here.
Occasionally it's referred to as "pass through mode" instead of bridge mode. There should be an option available to connect your router to the modem, although you'll need to reach out to Airtel's customer support for details (for Airtel a static IP is necessary).
You can still grow your network without relying on bridge mode. Based on your setup, you might need to turn off DHCP and NAT on your new router at least. You could also assign a static IP that aligns with the DHCP range in your existing configuration or let it automatically detect an IP (this may change each time it starts up, which can complicate login attempts).
Ensure its IP address is outside the range of other devices on the network to avoid conflicts if you configure it manually. Using the standard ports on your new router will prevent using the yellow port (WAN) for connecting to other routers or switches, which should maintain stable performance and simplify setup. This method shouldn't significantly impact speed, and it's generally easier to manage.
If this doesn't help much, please let me know. Airtel can sometimes be strict about bridging their equipment, but many users have managed it successfully.
My guess is you can't. A big factor is if you really have a fiber coming into your house or if this is the stupid "AIR" fiber that is really just mobile broadband. Why would a company advertise you can run fiber over the air when fiber is a physical glass media not some data protocol.
I have not seen a cellular router that can run only as a modem.
In the end it really doesn't matter if it is fiber or mobile broadband or if you can put the router into bridge mode or not. They likely are not even giving you a public IP which tends to be the main reason people need to put a ISP router into bridge mode. Since you goal is fixing some wifi issue you have a couple options.
1. Just pretend the ISP router does not exist and plug your router into the ISP router and use that.
2. Plug your router into the ISP router and turn off the wifi radios on the ISP router.
3. The best option is to put your new router into bridge mode...ie run it as a AP. You would still turn off the wifi radios in the ISP router. The difference between this option and option 2 is that your router is not running NAT which likely doesn't make much difference in your case.
What you could also do is leave the ISP radios on, run your new router in bridge/AP mode and place it in a different location than the main router. You would have then increased the wifi coverage in your house. If you change both the ISP router and your AP to use the same SSID and password devices should connect to the closest and strongest signals.
I know nothing about airtel but most ISP routers are now as good as the best routers you can buy in the store....at least when you are looking at WIFI. They use the same wifi radio chips as the store bought routers. ATT latest fiber router has wifi7 on it and is included in the monthly plan cost.