Ok, after trying a few other desktop virtualization products, I'm finally learning that VMware pretty much has it all over the rest - especially in the advanced networking area, in which lies my problem.
First off - I'm probably trying to do the impossible. But I've been told that before and it hasn't stopped me yet. Now for the issue...
I have a laptop with a wired and wireless network adapter. I have VMware Workstation v10 installed as a trial. I have 1 VM configured with 2 network adapters - the first is connected to VMnet0 with auto-bridging configured for both wired and wireless network adapters, and the second is a host only network. I have disabled all of the protocol bindings for both wired and wireless network adapters on the host - all for the exception of the VMware Bridge Protocol.
If I bridge the VM's network to my wired network (which has DHCP), the VM will receive an IP address and communication takes place as expected. If I bridge the VM to the wireless network (which also has DHCP), the VM does not receive an IP address and no communication occurs. However, if I enable (in addition to the VMware Bridge Protocol) only IPv4 on the wireless adapter on the host, the VM will receive an IP address and communication resumes as expected.
My question - why can I remove all protocols except for the VMware Bridge Protocol on the wired adapter and have it function the way I need, but the IPv4 protocol must be enabled on the wireless adapter to achieve the same thing?
