Wireless Access Point in Bridge mode
 

Hello all,

I have a couple of quick questions:

1. Is it possible to use a linux-box as a bridge between a wired and wireless network? I have read that some cards will not work/are difficult to get working (the card that would be used is a netgear WG311 v2).

2. I also read that in order for a wireless access point to allow traffic through that has been bridged from a wired network, I need to configure my router to act in bridge mode. If I configure my USR9106 wireless AP/router/modem in bridge mode, will it still act as an access point to other devices, or just the one with the MAC address I choose to bridge with?

3. Is this a secure solution? Are packets that are bridged from the wired lan onto the wireless lan any less secure than those originating from the wireless lan (i.e. not encypted)?

My situation is that in my room, I have a few computers connected over a wired 10/100 LAN. The rest of the house is connected using an 802.11g network (hence the USR9106), so there is one PC in my room with a wireless card, which is required to act as a bridge/router between the two networks.

Any help on this matter, even if it doesn't directly answer the above questions would be appreciated. I am trying to avoid having to buy more wireless NIC's.

Thanks in advance.

Pete