traceroute bridge and network/interfaces

[Thufir Hawat]

How do I find out about the *** network?

thufir at dur:~$ 
thufir at dur:~$ traceroute google.com
traceroute to google.com (173.194.33.7), 30 hops max, 60 byte packets
 1  192.168.1.1 (192.168.1.1)  0.305 ms  0.338 ms  0.381 ms
 2  * * *
 3  tl15fl.vs.shawcable.net (64.59.147.169)  18.444 ms  19.884 ms  19.941 
ms
 4  66.163.68.201 (66.163.68.201)  25.567 ms  26.477 ms  27.171 ms
 5  66.163.78.218 (66.163.78.218)  28.594 ms  29.720 ms  30.306 ms
 6  72.14.195.246 (72.14.195.246)  22.778 ms  18.910 ms  19.718 ms
 7  66.249.94.212 (66.249.94.212)  17.622 ms  18.409 ms  57.878 ms
 8  209.85.253.24 (209.85.253.24)  24.866 ms  25.783 ms  24.183 ms
 9  sea09s01-in-f7.1e100.net (173.194.33.7)  22.232 ms  27.047 ms  27.002 
ms
thufir at dur:~$ 


What I have is a an IO gear universal wifi adapter:

http://www.iogear.com/product/GWU627/

which connects to a computer, or router, with ethernet cable. It is 
acting as, I believe, a bridge.  Is that correct terminology?

Currently the IO gear wifi adapter connects to the internet port on my 
router, and then the computer is connected to the router.  The IO gear 
wifi adapter gets its connection from a *different* router, wirelessly.

Is the IO gear wifi adapter acting as a bridge?

Clicking on requirements shows:

    Operating System
        Windows® XP, Windows® Vista, Windows® 7
        Mac OS X v10.4 and above
        Linux® Fedora 10 (Kernel: 2.6.27.5-117)  <----

http://www.iogear.com/product/GWU627/


While I managed to get the device working, that was only because of some 
magic which the router performed:

http://askubuntu.com/a/265056/45156

How did the router determine those settings?  How do I know what settings 
are required for /etc/network/interfaces with this device?


thanks,

Thufir