Legacy Open Mesh: Can I use my Open Mesh Access Point as a router?

Question

Can I use my Open Mesh access point as a router?

Environment

• Open Mesh Access Points

Answer

You should not use Open Mesh access points as router substitutes. We strongly recommend using a router to manage your local network, internet routing, and firewall, and using Open Mesh Access Points as wireless access points for your network.

Limitations of trying to use an Open Mesh access point as a router include:

• a lack of user-configurable firewall or port forwarding.
• default firewall rules optimized to run on a local network.
• no control over the DHCP address range.
• no control over services exposed to the internet (e.g., DNS/SSH).
• bridged SSIDs will likely not function due to exhausting your available allowed IP addresses from your ISP. They should be considered a security risk, as users would be bridged directly onto the internet with no firewall.
• roaming between APs on different internet connections will not work.
• a limit of one wired gateway per IP address allowed by your internet provider.