Regarding Verizon.Net :: A change on the PF firewall’s rule set. Forever the bridge was never in the ruleset and everything seemed to work just fine. Finally, because of the proper testing environment, found out it was my own problem all along. Added rules to address the bridge interface directly. Those rules never seemed to have been needed before … or were they?
Regarding the Wireless Router :: I gave up on it as the MBP17 acted flaky since I unplugged the hard wire … The MBP15 seemed okay with it and remained logged in to IRC room on #pf (which is where I was seeking firewall help) and I guessed at the bridge rule … It happened to work … Anyway, I plugged the cables back in and I think I’m going to try the router that I originally bought that fixed all the problems before … Last resort is to buy Apple’s wireless router.
Now digging through all old email, etc and finding email addresses that I need to send an update to … It seems I haven’t sent a newsletter since 2007 .. Hmpf! Well, no new is good news, right?