Network interoperability is presently limited due to the existence of many different and often incompatible hardware implementations and communication protocols, where products from competing manufacturers are often not interoperable; and due to the number of protocols already in existence, there is little hope that standards can fully solve the problem in a reasonable time span. Vast potential benefits could be reaped if networks of various types could be accessed and shared regardless of their underlying network protocols and/or physical media, and also increased or unlimited interconnectivity would greatly increase the value of networks. The present invention proposes a novel method to achieve network protocol independence, consisting of a protocol-independent network communications model, that allows communication between device nodes belonging in networks based on diverse physical architectures and protocols, which can therefore be regarded together as hybrid networks.