Anonymous January 8, 2012 at 9:48 pm

Yes, you need WDS, I can second that: An access point (AP) does pass through the MAC address of your clients (L2 transparency), but a client (STA) does, not, it always puts in its own MAC address. So if you put a bunch of computers behind a device configured as STA (wireless client), they will all seem to come from the same MAC.

If you put that as a WDS-STA (WDS client) or WDS-AP (repeater) then there is full level 2 transparency again, and MAC’s are passed through. So configure your devices as WDS, even if you are not actually repeating, but just hooking up cables. Don’t worry about the fabled WDS overhead. WDS overhead only exists if you are actually repeating the wireless signal, not if you are converting it to a cable.