>} > 'cause its illegal...each device on each net must have a globally
>} > unique address. The fact that you can make it work is irrelevent.
>
>Actually, if you're speaking DECnet, it's required.  Since DECnet Phase IV 
>doesn't have the equivalent of ARP, DECnet speaking nodes reprogram the
>their Ethernet addresses based on their DECnet Area and Node numbers.

No and Yes.  You are not allowed to have more than one station with the
same physical address on a LAN.  It breaks things (like bridging, DECnet,
LAT, ...).

>From my archive of networking trivia:
>   The Ethernet address may be calculated by the formula of (Area*1024) + Node.
>   These 2 bytes are swapped and used as the last 2 bytes of the address. The
>   first 4 are always AA-00-04-00.

While true, it has nothing to do this discusssion.  The address must be
unique.  (Not that Phase IV Prime does not require a change of physical
address).


-- 
Matt Thomas               Internet:   matt@3am-software.com
3am Software Foundry      WWW URL:    http://www.3am-software.com/bio/matt.html
Westford, MA              Disclaimer: I disavow all knowledge of this message