A LocalTalk-to-Ethernet bridge is a
network bridge that joins
AppleTalk networks running on two different kinds of
link – LocalTalk, the
lower layers AppleTalk originally used, and
Ethernet. This was an important class of products in the late 1980s and early 1990s, before Ethernet support became universal on the Mac lineup.
Some LocalTalk–Ethernet bridges carried only AppleTalk traffic, while others were also able to carry other protocols. LocalTalk only carried AppleTalk traffic directly, but
MacIP was a protocol that
tunneledInternet Protocol (IP) traffic in AppleTalk. A LocalTalk–Ethernet bridge supporting MacIP allowed e.g. any Macintosh without an Ethernet port to be part of an IP network, such as the Internet.