I'm not sure he's talking about the same network in the two threads. In the other thread, his messages suggested that his router was already handling the public addresses correctly and routing them through to his computers (as the Windows laptop was apparently working on a public address). I'm under the impression that once he had the gateway set on the FreeBSD machine, that was working as well.
This thread sounds more like a standard home set up where he has a normal ADSL router/modem connecting via something like PPPoE or DHCP, and he wants to bridge the WAN of the router through to the LAN ports so he can use a FreeBSD machine as his router.
If it's all the same network then I'm confused.
Not all xDSL/Cable modems support this though.
Being incredibly pedantic, but a
modem is always "effectively" a bridge. An ADSL modem for example will have an RJ11 interface which negotiates an ADSL connection to the telephone exchange. It will then allow data to flow through its Ethernet port, over the ADSL connection, to an Ethernet network at the ISP's end, basically giving an Ethernet bridge from the internal side of the modem right through to the ISP. You then use a router/computer/whatever connected to the modems RJ45 port to create the Internet connection, usually with PPPoE (at least in the UK). If you order FttC/Infinity in the UK you actually get a BT vDSL modem provided, which is great, as you can connect the Ethernet on their modem to whatever kit you want and just run a PPPoE client.
It's when you have a combined router/modem that you have the problem. The router wan is internally connected to the modem, so you need to be able to bridge the LAN and WAN ports on the internal router in order to allow devices connected to the LAN ports on the back to talk directly to the modem. As mentioned many router/modem combos don't provide this function.
