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I have organized an IPv4 schema for my company's equipment that allows us to know what type of asset it is and the unit number. I'm trying to grant this equipment roster access to a wireless network that will always have the same SSID and credentials. I of course need all equipment IP addresses to be static.

Currently, we place an expensive Phoenix Contact WLAN 5111 link in the equipment box to receive the WiFi signal from an onsite 4G router and provide switch functionality to the 2-3 devices per that equipment to get them joined to the network. A topology I found from someone with a similar issue is almost identical to our scenarios: enter image description here

I have read a LOT of articles, most a few years old, that tend to conclude that you can't do this without using some kind of DHCP or DNS masquerading service (like dnsmasq) in between to tunnel information.

I found a link here that looks promising, but I don't know if it would work with all of my end devices being configured with static IPs: Bridge wifi and ethernet

Have there been any updates to Buster to easier facilitate such a thing? The router that accesses the internet has a limited range DHCP service for several guests into our data center, but that is it's only use. The rest must remain static. All devices reside on the same subnet, all devices need internet access for remote management.

Thanks

user111484
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  • I do not understand your setup. You have a main network with a wifi access point. You want to connect RasPis by wifi as clients/stations to the access point to get access to the main network. Is it this? Why do you want on each RasPi to bridge the wifi interface with the wired interface (if you mean that with ethernet)? – Ingo Nov 22 '19 at 23:02
  • Ingo, sorry for my lack of a clear explanation. I have updated the post to more accurately describe the requirement. – user111484 Nov 22 '19 at 23:34

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First of all: you cannot bridge the interface from the built-in wifi device on any Raspberry Pi including RPi 4B if you use it for a client connection (uplink) to a hotspot. This is due to a hardware limitation with WDS and 4addr. For further information look at Raspberry Pi WiFi to Ethernet Bridge for a server?.

Fortunately there is a workaround with proxy arp. It is not a real bridge but it behaves like one and you need some helper programs. How to use it you can look at Workaround for a wifi bridge on a Raspberry Pi with proxy arp. I suggest to use section ♦ Static configuration of proxy arp because it is simpler to setup and fit your needs.

Ingo
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