Joined Nov 2011
L10: Grand Master
Forum Thread
Linksys Router in Bridge Mode: No Internet Access on Guest Network
July 29, 2025 at
06:36 PM
I have a question to network gurus:
I have a Linksys wireless router in Bridge Mode which is connected to an upstream Asus router which provides internet access. The connection is via an Ethernet cable between the WAN port on the Linksys and a LAN port on the Asus.
The Linksys provides two Wi-Fi signals: The main Wi-Fi network for LAN devices and a guest network. Internet access works just fine for all LAN devices connected to Linksys's main Wi-Fi network. However, there is no internet when a device connects to the guest network.
I can tell that devices connected to the Guest Wi-Fi do not get an IP address. With the Linksys router in the Bridge Mode, many features are disabled. I don't see any way to control the Guest Network's settings (other than the network name and password).
I'd appreciate an advice: Am I doing something wrong or is there no way to get the Guest Wi-Fi to work? Why would there even be an option to enable the Guest network in Bridge Mode if it weren't going to work?
Thank you.
I have a Linksys wireless router in Bridge Mode which is connected to an upstream Asus router which provides internet access. The connection is via an Ethernet cable between the WAN port on the Linksys and a LAN port on the Asus.
The Linksys provides two Wi-Fi signals: The main Wi-Fi network for LAN devices and a guest network. Internet access works just fine for all LAN devices connected to Linksys's main Wi-Fi network. However, there is no internet when a device connects to the guest network.
I can tell that devices connected to the Guest Wi-Fi do not get an IP address. With the Linksys router in the Bridge Mode, many features are disabled. I don't see any way to control the Guest Network's settings (other than the network name and password).
I'd appreciate an advice: Am I doing something wrong or is there no way to get the Guest Wi-Fi to work? Why would there even be an option to enable the Guest network in Bridge Mode if it weren't going to work?
Thank you.
About the OP
10 Comments
Your comment cannot be blank.
Sign up for a Slickdeals account to remove this ad.
I found this on a quick search
https://kb.netgear.com/24105/What...EAR-router
It seems that the guest network implementation on the Linksys, when it is in Bridge Mode, is faulty. Theorethically, it should create a subnet with a different IP address range, assign IPs from that range to guest clients and have a static route for that subnet to the internet gateway which is the Asus router. But the Linksys does none of that and provides no such controls (when in Bridge Mode specifically).
Linksys understandably disables many features when the router is in Bridge Mode. Why the guest network feature remains available when there is no way to configure it correctly is a puzzle.
I assume you've confirmed Guest Network internet access works on the Linksys when you use it without putting it in bridge mode?
Assuming it does work when not in bridge mode, I wouldn't call it 'faulty,' rather the engineers chose to design it this way for reasons only they will know...
The problem is, in bridge mode, your linksys (would apply to most routers) doesn't actually have the ability to impose these restrictions on a guest network. In this case it sounds like guest internet is blocked as a result. Some routers/APs can put clients of a particular BSSID in a special subnet but that would assume your ASUS can be set up with a guest subnet (unlikely).
If you switch the linksys to normal mode it should work, but guests would have access to anything connected directly to the ASUS router and devices connected directly to the ASUS router would have a hard time connecting to devices behind the Linksys.
What are you trying to accomplish with your guest wifi? Are any device connected directly to the ASUS router?
What are the specific models of the routers involved?
What are the specific models of the routers involved?
The Linksys works well enough as a router (routing, switching and Wi-Fi), and it could replace the Asus just fine. Except the Linksys's USB port is either faulty or doesn't like my external hard drive (which works fine as a network share on the Asus). So I am forced to keep the Asus just to use it's USB port for the networked storage. So my Plan B is to let the Asus handle the routing and the storage and to use the Linksys as a Wi-Fi access point.
Right, it does disable most features. Yet, somehow, Guest Network remains available (but not working).
Meaning I would bet you can connect to your guest network and then ping / connect to other devices on the guest network and possibly other devices on your normal network, you just can't get outside your network (internet) due to the restrictions in bridge mode.
Sign up for a Slickdeals account to remove this ad.
I don't know if the Local network / DHCP Server configuration on it is just a remnant of the full setup when it was in the full router mode. It's like a ghost town in there: The lights are on, but no one is inside.
Connection Type: Bridge
Internet Address:
Subnet Mask:
Default Gateway:
DNS1:
DNS2:
DNS3:
MTU:
DHCP Lease Time:
Local Network
Local MAC Address: 80:69......
IPv4 Address: 10.252.1.1
IPv4 Subnet Mask: 255.255.255.0
IPv6 Link-Local Address: fe80:0000:0000:0000......
Prefix Address:
DHCP Server
DHCP Server: Enabled
Start IP Address: 10.252.1.10
End IP Address: 10.252.1.254
Client lease time: 1440
Static DNS 1: 208.67.222.222
Static DNS 2: 208.67.220.220
Static DNS 3:
WINS:
What is the screenshot you posted above? ipconfig? I assume it's details of your router as it says 'bridge mode.' Can you disable DHCP or is that just relaying the DHCP settings on your ASUS?
Or you could try connecting and assigning an IP address manually.
What is the screenshot you posted above? ipconfig?
Perhaps I am expecting too much:
- If the Asus assigns IP addresses to the Linksys-connected guest devices and the Linksys passes them through (as it does for all connected non-guest devices), wouldn't those guests be on the same subnet as and not segregated from the non-guest LAN?
- And if the Linksys assigns IP addresses to the guests, so they are on a different subnet (which they should be, right?), would the Linksys also need to create a static route to the internet via the Asus as the gateway?
The second scenario is plausible, but would a static route need to be created on the Asus? Probably not, because I wouldn't care (nor want) for any LAN traffic from Asus to be going to the guest subnet on the Linksys. Ultimately, I feel like the Linksys should NOT have the Guest Network option available in Bridge Mode (if they are also not enabling the obvious configuration options which would be necessary to get it to work correctly).