Firewire networking

[filburt1]

Is it possible to configure OS X 10.3 (or 10.4) to connect to a LAN through Firewire, and if the connection is not available, fall back to the normal Ethernet connection?

I know that you can do IP over Firewire, but I don't know about the fallback functionality. What I'm planning to do is get my (future) Mac system to connect directly to my PC over Firewire. That way, when both are on, I'll have up to 400 mbps transfers between the two. If the PC is off, the Mac will still have access to the LAN, only over my slower 10 mbps hub.

 

[technologist]

The fallback functionality is automatic under OS X.

For example, if I have both an AirPort and a wired ethernet card, and I disconnect the ethernet cable, it will automatically switch over to AirPort. When both are connected, it uses ethernet, because it's faster. (I'm not exactly sure how it knows that it's faster, but it seems to.) It works the same way for any available (active) network connection.