A network bridge assists in joining PCs to a network in cases where there are no ports available on the router and WI-FI connectivity is not possible. First and foremost, at least two network adaptors are needed. One will be used to connect to the internet and the second one to another computer. Also as a result of setting up a bridge, the primary network adaptor will lose connectivity. To regain connectivity, one needs to set a static IP address to the computer manually. This calls for the need to search for an IP address on the computer. This article therefore outlines the steps taken to create a network bridge on a win PC.
Follow the following steps so as to successfully create a network bridge using your PC.
- Open the power user menu by pressing windows + x keys and select network connections
- Select the two adaptors. That is the one connected to the internet and that that will be used in the bridge connection.
- Right click on the selection and click bridge connection.
- At this point, the device connected to the bridge port should have access to the network and internet with the IP address information coming from the router, but the computer hosting the bridge won’t be able to access the internet unless you have a third network adapter that is also connected to the network or a static IP address.
- After setting up the bridge there is the need to regain internet access. This arises to the following procedure.
- Open the power user menu by pressing windows + x keys and select network connections
- Right click the bridge adaptor and select properties
- Select the network adaptor that connects to the internet.
- Select Internet protocol version 4 (TCP/IPv4)
- Click properties.
- Select the Use the following IP address option
- Use the IP address information you collected at the beginning of this guide to assign a static IP address like is shown in the screenshot below
- Click OK
- Click Close to complete the task
The above procedural steps assist in the setting up of a bridge connection
