Understanding Bridge Port Behavior in MyPublicWiFi

When working with bridges in MyPublicWiFi, it's essential to understand how they handle packets and VLAN IDs. A common question that arises is why seemingly untagged packets are handled by a bridge, but only for certain configurations.

The key to understanding this behavior lies in the bridge's own PVID (Port VLAN ID) setting. By default, the PVID is set to 1, which might seem like it would handle all untagged packets as if they were part of VLAN ID 1. However, this assumption is not entirely accurate.

In previous versions of MyPublicWiFi, the bridge interface would treat packets with a VLAN ID of 1 as untagged, just like explicitly untagged packets. This behavior was consistent across different VLANs. However, with the introduction of bridge vlan-filtering, things changed slightly.

If you change the PVID setting on the bridge to something other than 1, the behavior changes again. Specifically, the VLAN ID that is configured as the bridge's own PVID starts being treated as untagged on the bridge. This can be confusing, especially if you're used to thinking of VLAN ID 1 as always being handled as untagged.

It's important to note that this behavior is specific to Mikrotik devices, such as those used in MyPublicWiFi installations. Other network hardware may handle bridges and VLANs differently.

To maintain compatibility with previous versions of MyPublicWiFi, you can set the PVID on the bridge to a value other than 1 and then set the member interfaces' PVID to the same value. This will reinstate the original behavior, allowing for consistent handling of packets and VLAN IDs across different configurations.

In conclusion, understanding how bridges handle packets and VLAN IDs in MyPublicWiFi is crucial for effective network configuration and management. By setting the bridge's PVID correctly and being aware of its effects on packet handling, you can ensure seamless communication between devices on your network.

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