Question Network bridge security ?

Jun 22, 2023
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Hello. My setup is like this: one computer that is always ON and getting internet from WiFi router, connected via cable to a switch and other computers getting internet from him. Now... I just want to disable discovery of any device beyond bridge computer... So, anyone connected to a router via Wifi or cable should not be able to see shared files and folders after the switch. Made a little drawing, hope it helps you to understand. Thank you in advance

Edit: If it matters, the OS is Windows 7.
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Your "bridge" computer is working as a router, if you want to isolate the clients on its LAN side I believe the more adequate solution would be to use a firewall on that machine. You could try just disabling "File and Printer Sharing" on the wifi interface. I don't know if that will do it, and it still leaves the rest of the communication untouched.

It should be possible to create the adequate firewall rules on Windows Defender Firewall with Advanced Security, so that only things like HTTP/HTTPS are allowed from LAN to WAN, an nothing from WAN to LAN. Might be a bit of hassle, as the interface is meant to manage a firewall for local connections.

If you have a bit of resources available on that machine you could virtualize a pFSense instance and configure a proper router/firewall.