Wireless Output Status while D-Link 2640b is in Bridging Mode

I plan to place my D-Link 2640b in bridging mode in a week or so and
allow an external router do my PPPoE login as well as the wired, and
wireless connections to my home network. I'm doing this to activate a
IPv6 tunnel and subnet on the external router using OpenWrt, something I
believe the 2640b can not handle by itself.

My questions is, does placing the 2640b in bridging mode totally turn
off the transmitter?

I don't want to leave an extra transmitter powered on if it can be
avoided. Possibly by turning off the transmitter prior to switching to
the bridging mode is the answer but I wonder if anyone here has checked
to see if the transmitter is actually disabled while the box is in the
bridging mode?

On Wed, 02 Mar 2011 10:57:27 -0600, GlowingBlueMist
<(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:

>I plan to place my D-Link 2640b in bridging mode in a week or so and
>allow an external router do my PPPoE login as well as the wired, and
>wireless connections to my home network. I'm doing this to activate a
>IPv6 tunnel and subnet on the external router using OpenWrt, something I
>believe the 2640b can not handle by itself.
>
>My questions is, does placing the 2640b in bridging mode totally turn
>off the transmitter?
>
>I don't want to leave an extra transmitter powered on if it can be
>avoided. Possibly by turning off the transmitter prior to switching to
>the bridging mode is the answer but I wonder if anyone here has checked
>to see if the transmitter is actually disabled while the box is in the
>bridging mode?

The only type of bridging I'm aware of is a bridge between the
wireless portion of the router and the LAN side of the device, (the
WAN port is left disconnected and is ignored), so yes of course the
radio would remain on. Technically, I believe this is called a
wireless client bridge.

Do you have another kind of bridging in mind?

On 3/2/2011 11:20 AM, Char Jackson wrote:
> On Wed, 02 Mar 2011 10:57:27 -0600, GlowingBlueMist
> <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:
>
>> I plan to place my D-Link 2640b in bridging mode in a week or so and
>> allow an external router do my PPPoE login as well as the wired, and
>> wireless connections to my home network. I'm doing this to activate a
>> IPv6 tunnel and subnet on the external router using OpenWrt, something I
>> believe the 2640b can not handle by itself.
>>
>> My questions is, does placing the 2640b in bridging mode totally turn
>> off the transmitter?
>>
>> I don't want to leave an extra transmitter powered on if it can be
>> avoided. Possibly by turning off the transmitter prior to switching to
>> the bridging mode is the answer but I wonder if anyone here has checked
>> to see if the transmitter is actually disabled while the box is in the
>> bridging mode?
>
> The only type of bridging I'm aware of is a bridge between the
> wireless portion of the router and the LAN side of the device, (the
> WAN port is left disconnected and is ignored), so yes of course the
> radio would remain on. Technically, I believe this is called a
> wireless client bridge.
>
> Do you have another kind of bridging in mind?
>
Yes, I plan to set the DSL portion in bridging mode (or so telco calls
it) so that the router and wireless portions of the box are totally
bypassed.

I know how to do the above but do not know if the wireless part of the
box would be left powered on sending an useless SSID or other stuff.

On Wed, 02 Mar 2011 14:44:44 -0600, GlowingBlueMist
<(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:

>On 3/2/2011 11:20 AM, Char Jackson wrote:
>> On Wed, 02 Mar 2011 10:57:27 -0600, GlowingBlueMist
>> <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:
>>
>>> I plan to place my D-Link 2640b in bridging mode in a week or so and
>>> allow an external router do my PPPoE login as well as the wired, and
>>> wireless connections to my home network. I'm doing this to activate a
>>> IPv6 tunnel and subnet on the external router using OpenWrt, something I
>>> believe the 2640b can not handle by itself.
>>>
>>> My questions is, does placing the 2640b in bridging mode totally turn
>>> off the transmitter?
>>>
>>> I don't want to leave an extra transmitter powered on if it can be
>>> avoided. Possibly by turning off the transmitter prior to switching to
>>> the bridging mode is the answer but I wonder if anyone here has checked
>>> to see if the transmitter is actually disabled while the box is in the
>>> bridging mode?
>>
>> The only type of bridging I'm aware of is a bridge between the
>> wireless portion of the router and the LAN side of the device, (the
>> WAN port is left disconnected and is ignored), so yes of course the
>> radio would remain on. Technically, I believe this is called a
>> wireless client bridge.
>>
>> Do you have another kind of bridging in mind?
>>
>Yes, I plan to set the DSL portion in bridging mode (or so telco calls
>it) so that the router and wireless portions of the box are totally
>bypassed.

Oh, I see. The 2640b is a combo "DSL modem + wireless router"! That
makes a difference. Ignore my previous comments.

>I know how to do the above but do not know if the wireless part of the
>box would be left powered on sending an useless SSID or other stuff.

Do you have a computer that can run InSSIDer?
<http://www.metageek.net/products/inssider/>

You could run InSSIDer and watch the 2640's SSID. If it disappears (or
not) when you enable bridge mode, you'll have your answer. I expect
the wireless transmitter to turn off, but I don't really know.

On 3/2/2011 3:05 PM, Char Jackson wrote:
> On Wed, 02 Mar 2011 14:44:44 -0600, GlowingBlueMist
> <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:
>
>> On 3/2/2011 11:20 AM, Char Jackson wrote:
>>> On Wed, 02 Mar 2011 10:57:27 -0600, GlowingBlueMist
>>> <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:
>>>
>>>> I plan to place my D-Link 2640b in bridging mode in a week or so and
>>>> allow an external router do my PPPoE login as well as the wired, and
>>>> wireless connections to my home network. I'm doing this to activate a
>>>> IPv6 tunnel and subnet on the external router using OpenWrt, something I
>>>> believe the 2640b can not handle by itself.
>>>>
>>>> My questions is, does placing the 2640b in bridging mode totally turn
>>>> off the transmitter?
>>>>
>>>> I don't want to leave an extra transmitter powered on if it can be
>>>> avoided. Possibly by turning off the transmitter prior to switching to
>>>> the bridging mode is the answer but I wonder if anyone here has checked
>>>> to see if the transmitter is actually disabled while the box is in the
>>>> bridging mode?
>>>
>>> The only type of bridging I'm aware of is a bridge between the
>>> wireless portion of the router and the LAN side of the device, (the
>>> WAN port is left disconnected and is ignored), so yes of course the
>>> radio would remain on. Technically, I believe this is called a
>>> wireless client bridge.
>>>
>>> Do you have another kind of bridging in mind?
>>>
>> Yes, I plan to set the DSL portion in bridging mode (or so telco calls
>> it) so that the router and wireless portions of the box are totally
>> bypassed.
>
> Oh, I see. The 2640b is a combo "DSL modem + wireless router"! That
> makes a difference. Ignore my previous comments.
>
>> I know how to do the above but do not know if the wireless part of the
>> box would be left powered on sending an useless SSID or other stuff.
>
> Do you have a computer that can run InSSIDer?
> <http://www.metageek.net/products/inssider/>
>
> You could run InSSIDer and watch the 2640's SSID. If it disappears (or
> not) when you enable bridge mode, you'll have your answer. I expect
> the wireless transmitter to turn off, but I don't really know.
>
Thanks for the InSidder link. My existing laptop's wireless card was
not compatible with the old standby Netstumbler program.

Like you I suspect the transmitter to go silent with the configuration
change but I did not trust my Windows 7 built in laptop software to
actually tell me what went on. With the InSSIDer program I can be sure
of the transmitters status.