A disclosed interface between an emulator and a network that is readily scalable. In one aspect, a scalable solution is achieved through a hardware interface board positioned between the network and the emulator to allow proper transfer there between. A computer is separated from and coupled to the hardware interface board and provides the necessary control signals. Because it is done in hardware separated from the computer, the interface board is readily scalable through the simple addition of network chip sets. In another aspect, the interface board can be placed in two modes of operation, a live test mode and a direct test mode. In yet another aspect, packet formats may be changed on the interface board so that it appears to the emulator as if the network is operating at a different data transfer speed than is actually the case.