What is an ip "bridge"?

[John B]

I understand that it is a means of connecting ip hosts, on DIFFERENT
segments, that are on the SAME subnet.
A router, conversely, connects DISSIMILAR subnets, as defined by subnet
masking.

Please verify or correct.

What might be an ip "repeater," then?

 

[Anteaus]

Yep, you said it. A bridge would typically be used where you need to link
two segments of the same network, with the same IP range, but which are
physically separated from each other. For example two buildings linked by
fibre-optic cable.

A router allows one network to talk to another, where the two networks are
intentionaly separate and use differing IP ranges.

There are in fact two distinct meanings of the word 'router.' Classically
it means the above. However, through common parlance it has come to also mean
a NAT router - the kind of box you use to connect your internal computers to
the Internet.

A NAT router is not quite the same thing as a standard router, The NAt
router's function is to allow a number of computers to masquerade as a single
IP address on the Internet. The two are often confused.

AFAIUI A repeater is simply a signal-amplifier for long cable runs. It does
nothing in the way of changing the signal's content.

 

[Jack \(MVP-Networking\).]

Hi
There is a tendency in the networking world to use the same verbal terms in
describing different issues relating to networking.
As a result, I find it many times that when one is asking a question it is
important to add a sentence or two to describe more precisely what the term
is related too.
Ethernet bridging usually involves combining two (or more) Ethernet
interfaces under one single Bridge interface. Example can be found in
Windows XP Pro, http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb457038.aspx
TCP/IP repeater in the application layer. It repeats TCP and UDP from inside
to outside of a firewall, or from outside to inside.
CAT5/6 Repeater is a small device that extends a run of a Network cable to
more than 100Meters.
Jack (MVP-Networking).