Many businesses are moving to Mexico for “nearshoring” their products and services. While it may be a challenge to receive your residential mail in Mexico without it being stolen, Mexico is a hot bed of activity for United States and Chinese corporations wanting to avoid the logistical challenges revealed during COVID pandemic.

What is Bridge Mode?

Bridge mode essentially allows two routers to coexist by shutting off all router functionality and becoming a modem for the replacement router. Bridge mode passes off the WAN IP to your router and you are off and running – in other words, it dumbs down the router to being just a modem.

It’s not everywhere that modems and routers are integrated into all-in-one devices that include Wi-Fi, but the industry is unfortunately trending in that direction. This is unfortunately the case on the business side of things: You find integrated routers with Wi-Fi where you can set the device to bridge mode, but in most cases, they also push their own Wi-Fi hot spots. Bridge mode setup in Mexico becomes a jumbled mess of equipment you never wanted in the first place, but I digress.

Why Do I Want Bridge Mode?

Many individuals and businesses like the idea of managing their own router, especially with network technology stories like Huawei and other Chinese companies stealing American intellectual property. While Huawei is everywhere in Mexico, the idea of taking their router and configuring it into bridge mode or passive mode (or mode puente in español) gives you more of the warm fuzzies from having control and security over your network.

How Do I Configure a Bridge Mode Setup in Mexico?

Unfortunately, bridge mode setup in Mexico is very difficult on the consumer side, and nine out of ten times the representative is confused about what you are requesting on the business side. 5G wireless home internet through Telmex is the only service I have found that has bridge mode available unless it’s legacy DSL service, but who wants that?

It is my understanding you will have better success requesting a modem or bridge mode with Total Play than any other Mexican internet service provider.

5G Telmex Wireless Home Internet Contract

With this contract, you’ll be paying month to month and will have to commit to a two-year contract; there is no trial service. Once you sign, you are committed to 50 megabits or zero megabits service, and you will also have to pay for the cost of 5g modem/router. 5G wireless developers called this the “trash can” device because it has the cylinder shape of a can and its service can be trash.

Other business-grade 5G modem options are Cradlepoint, Sierra Wireless, Peplink, and Global Telecom, but Global Telecom 5G router appears to have the best price point for a business grade solution.

What If I Just Want to Port Forward Using the Provider’s Router?

The best success for port forwarding is with the residential Nokia router equipment that is popular in Telmex deployments. I am not aware of business networking solutions. Follow these instructions to set it up:

• Head over to Application under the left-hand pane and select port forwarding.
• Retain the same ports both WAN and LAN.
• Make sure you maintain the current WAN connection list default, then adjust everything else as illustrated below.
• Select the internet device you wish to port forward. It will show up as the device name below once added.

Bridge Mode Settings in Mexico

While it may be easy in this Nokia router interface and most other router interfaces, bridge mode setup in Mexico is simply asking for trouble. I have not seen a situation yet in Mexico where setting the router to passive or bridge mode has not killed the internet service. It does not pass on the WAN IP but it definitely brings down your internet service. Expect a week to ten days after you notify the company that the internet is down for it to be restored.

Need help with Sonicwall Port Forwarding? Check out our instructional post here.

Curious about phone plans and internet speeds? Get all the info here.

Port Forwarding and Bridge Mode Setup in Mexico Summary

There are ways around this, but it’s not for the faint of heart. I encourage you to look into business internet or 5G wireless solutions if you are dead set in configuring bridge modem for your home or business. If you need a personalized and professional opinion, reach out to us – we’d be happy to help with any of your questions or concerns!