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Virtual Wi-Fi bridging profiles

⚠ IMPORTANT:
This section is only valid if the Virtual Ethernet WiFi Bridge is ENABLED

This profile allows to setting up the bridging of Ethernet and WiFi. This makes the two interfaces act as one, allowing wired and wireless access to the same network.

Next in the list of Network Profiles is the Virtual Ethernet-WiFi bridging profiles in this section we will be looking in how to configure this option.

Profile name

Name of the bridged connection, this is a read only value which can not be changed.

Active

This option allows to enable or disable the bridging of Ethernet and WiFi. This makes the two interfaces act as one, allowing wired and wireless access to the same network. When bridging is enabled, all other individual Ethernet and WiFi profiles become locked and disabled, because the corresponding interfaces now below to the bridge. Also, should the Ethernet or WiFi device be disabled when bridging becomes enabled, then these interfaces will be reenabled automatically. This needs to happen, because bridging requires both interfaces to be present and active.

Routing metric

Routing metric, lower values have higher priority. Set to -1 for automatic assignment based on interface type. This option will allow you to prioritize one interface over the other when accessing the internet, depending on interface or connection availability.

  • default = -1

Operating mode & Security

SSID

SSID of the Wi-Fi network.

  • default: CR3171_<<LAST 4 DIGITS OF MAC>>
Hide SSID

This option controls if the SSID of the Wi-Fi network is hidden or visible.

  • default: OFF
Security type

Key management configuration for the WiFi connection.

Options:
  • unencrypted , No further setting required WPA/PSK
  • SAE
  • OWE
  • WPA/EAP
Password

In case of WPA/PSK , the Password is the Pre-Shared Key for the WPA secured connection.

In case of security type SAE , the password will be handled according to the SAE Authentication method.

When the WPA/EAP (Extinsible Authentication Protocol) option is chosen, some more settings has to be entered.

Username

Available when security type is set to WPA/EAP , is the EAP Username.

  • default: <empty>
Password

Available when security type is set to WPA/EAP , is the EAP password.

  • default: <empty>
Anonymous identity

Available when security type is set to WPA/EAP , is the EAP Anonymous identity.

  • default: <empty>
Domain

Available when security type is set to WPA/EAP , is the EAP Domain.

  • default: <empty>
CA Certificate

Available when security type is set to WPA/EAP , is the EAP CA certificate in PEM format.

  • default: <empty>

Band and IP configuration method

Band

This option configures the 802.11 frequency band of the network, i.e. the device will not join the network if the band does not match, even if all other options are compatible.

Options:
  • auto
  • A (5 GHz)
  • B/G (2.4 GHz)
Channel

When either band option A or B/G are selected one need to set the Wireless channel.

Wireless channel to use for this connection, the value of zero means, that the channel will be chosen automatically. Explicitly setting this option will ensure that the device only joins a network on the specified channel.

IP configuration method

IP configuration method, by default the interface is set to use link-local, i.e. auto-ip configuration which makes sure that the device does not disrupt an existing network when plugged in.

Options:

  • manual , static IP settings will be used,
  • shared , the default, interface is set to act as a DHCP server.
Shared

In the shared mode the Network Manager will configure the DHCP server to provide a static IP range for static IPs which is 10% of the range with a max of 8 IPs. The remaining IP in the range are for dynamic assignment.

Manual

In manual mode, the IPV4 Address defines the network and mask, the device IP is set through IPV4 Gateway, which is described below.

IPV4 Address

IP address used for either static IP, when method is set to manual or DHCP server configurations when the shared method is selected. The CIRD notation is used to define the subnet mask.

By using e.g. 192.168.82.1/24 the device will be part of the 192.168.82.0 network and will allow access or communication from IPs in the range of 192.168.82.1 - 192.168.82.255

🎯 Tip: As security measure it is advisable to tighten the allowed IPs on the network as possible, for instance to use /29 or 255.255.255.248 subnet to only allow 6 address on the network, as 192.168.82.0 is the network address and 192.168.82.7 is the broardcast address and 192.168.82.1 - 192.168.82.6 remains available.
Example - default setting

192.168.82.1/24 will result in:

  • Network = 192.168.82.0/24
  • Host = 192.168.82.1
  • Static IP range = 192.168.82.2 - 192.168.82.10
  • Dynamic IP range = 192.168.82.11 - 192.168.82.254
  • Broadcast IP = 192.168.82.255
Example 2 - Ready for controller and display & secure

When a network is setup with ifm controllers and displays which are by default respectively configured with 192.168.82.247 and 192.168.82.245 , it make sense to

192.168.82.240/29 will result in:

  • Network = 192.168.82.240/29
  • Host = 192.168.82.241
  • Static IP range = None as only 6 addresses are available (6/10) = 0
  • Dynamic IP range = 192.168.82.242 - 192.168.82.246
  • Broadcast IP = 192.168.82.247
⚠ The Broadcast IP unfortunately collides with the IP address of the controller, for this there are two solutions:
  • more secure: change the (static) IP address of the controller and keep the pool of 6 available IPs.
  • no change needed: set the subnet mask to /28 instead of /29 , this will the increase the available IP range from 6 to 14, which is less secure but no change is needed of the controller IP address.
Example 3 - higher host IP, lower half of range

192.168.82.100/24 will result in:

  • Network = 192.168.82.0/24
  • Host = 192.168.82.100
  • Static IP range = 192.168.82.101 - 192.168.82.108 , but also 192.168.82.1 - 192.168.82.100
  • Dynamic IP range = 192.168.82.109 - 192.168.82.254
  • Broadcast IP = 192.168.82.255
Example 4 - higher host IP, upper half of range

192.168.82.200/24 will result in:

  • Network = 192.168.82.0/24
  • Host = 192.168.82.200
  • Static IP range = 192.168.82.192 - 192.168.82.200 , but also 192.168.82.201 - 192.168.82.254
  • Dynamic IP range = 192.168.82.1 - 192.168.82.191
  • Broadcast IP = 192.168.82.255
IPV4 gateway

If the manual mode is selected one can setup the Static IP address of the gateway. Keep in mind this should be in the given subnet range.

DNS servers

It is possible to setup three additional DNS servers if required.