(3) A device that connects two LAN segments together, which may be similar or dissimilar, such as Ethernet and Token Ring. A bridge is inserted in the network to keep traffic contained within the segments to improve performance. By monitoring which station acknowledged receipt of the address, bridges learn which nodes belong to the segment and maintain their own address tables. Multiport bridges have more than two ports and perform a switching function just like a LAN switch.
Bridges Vs. Routers
Bridges work at layer 2 and are not protocol dependent. Routers work at layer 3 and are protocol dependent. Bridges are faster than routers because they do not have to glean routing information. See LAN, transparent bridge, repeater, router, gateway and hub. See also conference bridge.
