Has anybody experimented with virtual lan software?

Hey -
I have had some super LAN games over the years and from time to time every christmas or two since the game came out I get the urge to try and make it work online...
So.... computers are faster , latency is lower, vram is bigger... PO is hopefuly lower!
I wonder is it time to start experimenting with some softwares that emulate a LAN connection? I remember trying this a few years ago when I had a fixed IP address at home and I had no luck (usualy with the game mismatch error) - anyway I am feeling sentimental and optimistic so wondering if we have any successful reports of playing a LAN race though using software to fool gp4 it is on a lan???