Apple USB Ethernet Adaptor

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Can you use multiple USB Ethernet Adapters connected to a USB hub to be able to support multiple IP interfaces?

I use my Mac as a network testing device and currently rely on being able to create multiple vlan devices over a single interface. If this can allow my MAC to have 5 real physical interfaces (en0 to en4) then this would be awesome.

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    Yes, this does allow you to have multiple ethernet interfaces active at the same time. I have, on occasion, had cause to bridge three networks by using the built-in ethernet and a couple of these devices. My only word of caution is that if you have more than one plugged in it is sometimes difficult tell which device is which. The USB Ethernet Adapter does not have it's MAC address printed on it so if you just plug two of them in and go to Network Preferences you don't see which ethernet interface is in which USB slot.

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  • This is not necessary as Mac OS X allows you to duplicate the the en0 (or whatever) configuration and change the necessary ip/router/etc. information for the ip addresses you need. This makes it easy for computers with one NIC to serve multiple IP's. Simply open System Preferences; select Network; select the configuration (Ethernet on my preferences); select the "gear" icon at the bottom of the services list; choose Duplicate Service; set the necessary configuration information. This can also be done on a MacBook Air through the USB Ethernet Adapter.

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