Can I have:
1) A trode net (or a datajack) connected to an external commlink via wireless?
2) A trode net (or a datajack) connected to an external commlink via fiber optic cable?
3) A trode net (or a datajack) connected to an external commlink via skinlink?

yep, at least, I'd allow any of those if I was the GM. I assume Wireless is the default connection type for basically everything in SR4. Fiber Optic Cable would be next one down. I dunno how exactly you could connect a datajack to a commlink via skinlink, but there's probably a way to integrate the skinlink into the datajack, or perhaps buy/create some kind of 'adapter'

Simple, you purchase the Skinlink Module for the Comlink, and then you buy it for the Datajack. Each costs 50 Nuyen.

1) Yes.
2) Yes.
3) Yes, if you equip both trodes/datajack and commlink with a skinlink.

Thank you

For the record, option A is a bad idea, you should avoid having your DNI having a wireless link.

You'd go with fibre optic? I dunno dude - a cable from your headband to your 'link is pretty uncool.

If you're worried about security then do what everyone else does and slave your peripherals. That's just as secure in terms of hacking. Still suffers from jamming though.

i would run a cable from my datajack to one of my commlinks, which has a skinlink to reach my other commlinks, gun, and so on. datajack to A(wireless off with skinlink, as a PAN router), skinlink to B(ghosting), and active decoy C. to reach your PAN, the enemy now has to find your ghost and hack two commlinks.

the datajack cable is a line of defense, a way to quickly unplug in case your PAN is hacked. a simple reboot can solve many problems, if you can do it in time.

for trode nets, if its in a helmet then your much more stylish (and armored). you could even put a commlink with trode net (or full simrig) into a helmet and run with that.

A Simrig is a full-body suit. I don't see one fitting in a helmet and being useful any time soon. Best to stick with trodes

Some things to consider

On question 1:
I would consider a trodenet an intra-PAN device and only give it a signal rating 0 (about 3 meters) [SR4A pg. 222]. I think the best example of trodes is the movie Strange Days

Question 2:
I'm pretty sure this is the way people have been getting on the Matrix for years.

Question 3:
Thats a lot of information to be sending over a connection like that you could do it but are you sure you want to (I'd apply some modifier)

Shadowrunners shouldn't care about being uncool, they should care about being dead. Besides, slaving one thing to another isn't some sort of ultimate protection, it just makes it easy to figure out which access id you need to spoof orders from.

Um, what? You think it's of no use at all?

It forces the intruder to spoof, which is not as good as hacking, unless he hacks the master. It means you don't need everything in your PAN to have lots of expensive IC and programs. Ultimate protection, no. Useful security technique, yes.

So how is it easier to get the AID of the PAN's master node than the PAN's owner? I don't see it.

I believe you're thinking of something else, probably from Unwired.

SR4a p.328 "Simrig: An advanced version of the trode net ..."

While it's not spelled out well enough in it's entry, it converts all senses, including tactile. The cyberware equivalent is listed as Bodyware, while the Datajack, the equivalent of a trode net, is listed as Headware. Simrig is intended to gather data from the extended nervous system as such, whether implanted or worn.

Which just means that a Simrig cannot be implanted in the cranium. That is all...

Perhaps we should ask for a ruling on that one, then. If it cannot be implanted in the cranium, then it's likely too bulky to be easily concealed, at the very least, which should be mentioned.

The descriptive of the Simrig is that it is an Advanced Trodenet. As such, no ruling is needed. I see it as being minimally more bulky at best, and only becasue it adds a Sim Module to its structure.

For comparison, A Bike Helmet (Capacity 6) can have a Simrig (5 Capacity Cost) installed, but a SWAT Helmet (Capacity 4) cannot. The rules already describe the installation limitations of the Simrig, why do you need more?

Unless I missed some errata or obscure notation, the Simrig presented in both Electronics and Cyberware [Bodyware] sections of SR4A do not list a size or capacity rating in which they can be contained. The Electronics version says that it's an advanced version of the trode net, but does not list any size for itself, though it's likely more bulky and generally more obvious than a simple trode net due to complexity. This plus the equivalent being bodyware seem to indicate that it'd be closer to the gyromount rig in bulk than the interior of a bike helmet.

See Arsenal... Capacity is listed there. And as such, it can fit easily in some Helmets. It is not as big as you seem to think it is.

Et tu, page 44, sidebar in the upper right corner? ;_;

Wish I'd seen that before. I'd be having more of a field day...

Heheh... Indeed...

I need a clarification then. I think I've been misreading the skinklink rules. I thought the skinklink was just another cyber-implant, but from reading the above it sounds like you need to put it on all your devices...? Or do you need both?

Any device that you want to have skinlinked MUST have a Skinlink Module. These cost 50 each. You can add such devices to anything, including a Datajack or Trodes. Each device MUST have its own Skinlink module to participate in the Skinlinked system.