In Media Bridge mode, a FreshTomato router connects via WiFi to a second router. The second router passes network traffic to LAN devices connected to the FreshTomato router's physical LAN ports. Support for Media Bridge mode started with r2021.6.

A common scenario for using this mode is when simple media devices have an Ethernet port, but no built-in WiFi. You could run a long cable between your primary router and the media device. However, a better solution would be to place the simple device near your FreshTomato router, connecting the two with a short cable. Then, the FreshTomato router would connect via WiFi to your primary router on behalf of the device. In essence, FreshTomato would act as a sort of “relay” between the device and the main network.

You can connect multiple devices to the FreshTomato LAN ports and they will all be relayed to the main network. Some examples of devices are NAS drives, PCs without WiFi, and printers.

The devices plugged into the FreshTomato router obtain their IP address from the primary router and appear to be on the same subnet as other devices in the network.

The initial setup can be done with the following steps:

1. Go to the Network menu.
   Scroll down to the section for the WiFi module you wish to use.
   For example: “wireless eth2”.
   
   
2. From the Wireless Mode dropdown, select “Media Bridge”.
   This will cause all WAN options to be hidden.
   
   
3. Set Wireless Network Mode to: “Auto”.
   
   
4. Set SSID to the same SSID as the one on the primary router.
   For example, if the primary router's SSID is “5 GHz WiFi”, set:
   “5 GHz WiFi” here.
   This will allow FreshTomato to connect to your primary router.
   
   
5. Set Channel to the channel on which the primary router is broadcasting.
   
   
6. Set Channel Width to: 20 MHz, 40 MHz or 80 MHz. It is best to
   find this value in your primary router's settings and match that.
   
   
7. Set Security to: WPAx, where “x” is the encryption protocol version.
   This usually means WPA2 Personal for homes or small,
   informal offices). As of 2026, WPA2 Personal is the common option
   for home use. However, this must your primary router's setting.
   
   (On a home network, your primary router probably uses WPA2 Personal).
   That router may refer to it as “WPA2-PSK” (Pre-shared Key).
   
   
8. Set Encryption to: “AES”. Again, this should match your primary router.
   In 2026, your primary home router probably uses AES 2026.
   
   
9. Set Shared Key to: <WiFi password of your primary router>.
   
   
10. Set Group Key Renewal to: 3600 seconds.

Still in the Network menu, under LAN Settings:

1. Configure bridge “br0” with the IP Address in the LAN you wish
   to assign to the FreshTomato router. (Say, “192.168.1.50” if your
   primary router is “192.168.1.1”).
2. Configure the Default Gateway. In our example: “192.168.1.1”
   (If the main router's address is: “192.168.1.1”).
3. Enter a Static DNS value of “192.168.1.1” (assuming the main
   router's address is “192.168.1.1”). Alternatively, selecting
   “Automatic IP”, will make the router
   obtain its IP address /Gateway/DNS servers via DHCP.
   This option became availabe in r2022.6.

Click Apply at the bottom of the page to proceed with the changes. FreshTomato will show a screen reminding you of the new IP address. Be sure to reset any custom network settings applied to your PC network settings so that the DHCP server of your primary router can correctly find and assign an IP address to your PC. If successful, you can now plug devices into the FreshTomato router and your primary router will detect them.

Media Bridge (MB) mode has several advantages over wireless Ethernet Bridge mode:

• MB mode will work with SDK7 ARM routers like the AC3200
  or the R8000
  (wireless Ethernet bridge mode isn't possible).
• MB mode will work with SDK6 MIPS routers like the Asus RT-AC66U,
  or the D‑Link DIR‑865L
  (wireless Ethernet bridge mode isn't possible).
• MB mode will work with SDK6 ARM routers like Asus RT-AC68U,
  or Netgear R7000.
  (Wireless Ethernet Bridge mode is also possible).
• IPv4 and IPv6 communication will work.
  (Wireless Ethernet Bridge supports only IPv4, except
  dual-core SDK6 ARM models, which support IPv6).

Do NOT use Virtual Interfaces, such as Virtual Wireless networks or VLANs when in Media Bridge mode.

Media Bridge mode (MB) will work for:

• SDK6.30 [MIPS RT-AC] (for example: RT-AC66U, D‑Link DIR‑865L)
• SDK6.37 (ex. RT-AC68U, R7000)
• SDK7 (ex. RT-AC3200, R8000)
• SDK714 (ex. RT-AC5300, RT-AC88U)

Wireless Ethernet Bridge (WEB) mode will work for:

• SDK5.10 (ex. WRT54GL, RT-N16)
• SDK5.110 (ex. E4200v1, RT-N66U)
• SDK6.37 (ex. RT-AC68U, R7000)
• SDK714 (ex. RT-AC5300, RT-AC88U)

Once you've finished configuring settings, adjust your PC's IP address back to that of the primary network. Clear any static IP addresses and set DHCP back to “auto”. The FreshTomato router in Media Bridge Mode will rely on the primary router to handle firewall and DHCP functions.

• Media Bridge mode is primarily for home networks. If you're trying to connect to an untrusted WiFi network, Ethernet Bridge Mode or Wireless Bridge Mode are better options to keep trusted devices on their own sub-network, isolated from the untrusted network.

In case of Connectivity Loss:

1. Try lowering the Wireless Client connection check time (supported in Media Bridge/Wireless Client/Wireless Ethernet Bridge modes). The default is 30 seconds. Adjust this to 15 seconds via the command prompt:
   
   

   root@FreshTomato-WlClientMode:/tmp/home/root# nvram set sta_chkint=15
   root@FreshTomato-WlClientMode:/tmp/home/root# nvram commit
   root@FreshTomato-WlClientMode:/tmp/home/root# reboot

   
   

2. Additional improvements exist. See this Media Bridge mode commit that started with r2023.4:
   Media Bridge Mode (SDK6/SDK7/SDK714): add ARPING (default 180 sec cycle) and improve stability .