68kMLA Classic Interface

This is a version of the 68kMLA forums for viewing on your favorite old mac. Visitors on modern platforms may prefer the main site.

Click here to select a new forum.
P2P wireless bridges.
Posted by: Schmoburger on 2026-08-21 10:44:38
As the title suggests, I'm looking into a pre-paired P2P wireless bridge setup as a network connectivity solution for some of my older Macs that either dont have WiFi capabilities (such as the 9600 and everything else of that vintage or earlier), or ones that have older AirPort which no doesnt have the capacity to properly interface with modern routers with much newer security protocols, namely my Pismo, my Sawtooth and also possibly the G5 and eMac (i only ever ran them wired righr beside the router so it was never an issue to explore).

Since i moved house in 2022 or so, my old machines havent been connected to a network, and the location of the router is nowhere near as convenient to my workspaces as it was in the old house. For what its worth, i really have no desire to go and route miles of ethernet cable through the house for the sake of machines that are no longer used regularly, but i do want them to still have internet and network access as required.

So, for those who are unaware of what a P2P wireless bridge does, it basically acts as wireless ethernet cable. There are two paired, externally powered devices with an RJ45 ethernet connection on each one that plug into your router, switch, or computer's ethernet port, and then each device converts data packets to wireless radio signals that are then received and then converted back to data packets by the other device and sent to the network device, and vice versa. As far as the computer, switch, router etc is concerned, its just receiving and sending packets as it normally would through a physical cable connection.

Now for what its worth, 20 or more years ago i loved the challenge of physically building wired network infrastructure, but ive shifted past that these days, preferring things to be a bit more convenient and elegant than salads of cablr and hubs and switches. So P2P wireless bridging seems like a very sound option to which i personally cant see any pitfalls other than maybe some compromises in speed, which if im being realistic, arent really an issue given we are talking abkut 20+ year old equipment anyway. I'm just wondering though whether anybody has any first hand experience with these types of bridging device, in particular when used in this way, to bridge older equipment, that can weigh in.
Posted by: aladds on 2026-08-23 09:00:48
I can't speak for wireless bridges, but I have a set of Ethernet over powerline network adaptors which essentially do the same thing but with your house wiring. The ones I have are devolo 500Mbps units and I can't fault them. I just have a single pair and they act like an Ethernet cable strung to the other end of the house. (I will note that I live in a 240v 50Hz country, so I don't know if that has an effect on how good these things are)
Posted by: NJRoadfan on 2026-08-23 18:01:46
These should work assuming that the devices on both sides properly pass AARP packets without mangling them. Anything Linux based should work as the routing code in the kernel properly handles the 802.11b-to-Ethernet transition for 802.3 SNAP packets properly.
Posted by: Fred1212 on 2026-08-23 21:36:14
I also use EOP adaptors to connect to my old Mac workshop
Posted by: Schmoburger on 2026-09-07 21:44:48
These should work assuming that the devices on both sides properly pass AARP packets without mangling them. Anything Linux based should work as the routing code in the kernel properly handles the 802.11b-to-Ethernet transition for 802.3 SNAP packets properly.
Yeh the primary concern is getting the G5 and Pismo back on the network, so I'm guessing these should all be fine as theyre running OSX. I guess if there s a problem child it is likely to be the 9600still running OS9?
1