Simulation and physical implementation are both valuable tools in evaluating ad hoc network routing protocols, but neither alone is sufficient. In this paper, we present the design and performance of PRAN, a new system for implementation of ad hoc network routing protocols that merges these two types of evaluation tools. PRAN (Physical Realization of Ad Hoc Networks) allows existing simulation models of ad hoc network routing protocols to be used—without modification—to create a physical implementation of the same protocol. We have evaluated the simplicity and portability of our approach across multiple protocols and multiple operating systems through example implementations in PRAN of the DSR and AODV routing protocols in FreeBSD and Linux using the existing, unmodified ns-2 simulation models. We illustrate the ability of the resulting protocol implementations to handle real, demanding applications by describing a demonstration with this DSR implementation transmitting real-time video over a multi hop mobile ad hoc network; the demonstration features mobile robots being remotely operated based on the video stream transmitted over the network. We also present a detailed performance evaluation of PRAN to show the feasibility of our architecture.