A wireless adapter and access point do not necessarily forward frames whose source or destination MAC address differs from the Windows host's wireless address. Results therefore depend on the adapter, its driver, and the access point. Wired Ethernet is strongly recommended for DECnet, LAT, clustering, or multiple Avanti instances on one host.

For Npcap, first select the wireless adapter directly and test all required protocols. Avanti uses Ethernet-format packets; do not enable Npcap's raw 802.11 or monitor mode. Direct Npcap attachment does not guarantee that the wireless infrastructure will forward the emulated MAC address or non-IP protocols.

For MsiPcap, first try the wireless adapter directly. If host-to-guest or same-host guest-to-guest traffic is required and does not work, the MsiPcap TAP Bridging procedure is a possible workaround. A Windows Network Bridge that includes a wireless uplink is not supported by every wireless adapter or access point and is not a guarantee of external connectivity.

As another limited workaround, the virtual Alpha NIC can use the wireless adapter's MAC address. Do not assign the same TCP/IP address to Windows and the virtual Alpha. This approach is incompatible with DECnet Phase IV and DECnet Phase V compatibility mode because those protocols change the virtual Alpha NIC to a DECnet-encoded AA-00-04-xx-xx-xx address. Even without DECnet compatibility mode, MAC matching succeeds only when the wireless combination forwards the required protocols.

To diagnose a wireless path, capture traffic on the Windows host and on a wired system elsewhere on the network, then compare which frames reach each side. Verify every protocol the guest requires; successful TCP/IP traffic does not prove that DECnet, LAT, or clustering traffic is forwarded.