VSCOM NetCom Plus 111, NetCom Plus 413 POE, NetCom Plus 211, NetCom Plus 213, NetCom Plus 811 User Manual

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User Manual

NetCom Plus

Edition: September 2016

Tel: +49 40 528 401 0 Fax: +49 40 528 401 99 Web: www.visionsystems.de Support: service@visionsystems.de

The software described in this manual is furnished under a license agreement and may be used only in accordance with the terms of that agreement.

Trademarks

VScom is a registered trademark of Vision Systems GmbH. All other trademarks and brands are property of their rightful owners.

Disclaimer

Vision Systems reserves the right to make changes and improvements to its product without pro- viding notice.

Vision Systems provides this document “as is”, without warranty of any kind, either expressed or implied, including, but not limited to, its particular purpose. Vision Systems reserves the right to make improvements and/or changes to this manual, or to the products and/or the programs described in this manual, at any time.

Information provided in this manual is intended to be accurate and reliable. However, Vision Systems assumes no responsibility for its use, or for any infringements on the rights of third parties that may result from its use.

This product might include unintentional technical or typographical errors. Changes are period- ically made to the information herein to correct such errors, and these changes are incorporated into new editions of the publication.

September 2016 NetCom Plus User Manual 2

Contents

1 Overview 11

2 Introduction 11

2.1 About this Manual . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11

2.2 Features . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12

2.3 Product Speciﬁcations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12

2.3.1 Common characteristics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13

2.3.2 Device speciﬁc Characteristics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13

2.3.2.1 NetCom Plus 111 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13

2.3.2.2 NetCom Plus 113 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14

2.3.2.3 NetCom Plus 211 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15

2.3.2.4 NetCom Plus 213 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15

2.3.2.5 NetCom Plus 411 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16

2.3.2.6 NetCom Plus 411 POE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16

2.3.2.7 NetCom Plus 413 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16

2.3.2.8 NetCom Plus 413 POE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17

2.3.2.9 NetCom Plus 811 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18

2.3.2.10 NetCom Plus 811 POE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18

2.3.2.11 NetCom Plus 813 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19

2.3.2.12 NetCom Plus 813 POE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19

2.3.2.13 NetCom Plus 811 DIO . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20

2.4 Packing List . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21

3 Hardware Description 22

3.1 Serial Port Conﬁguration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22

3.2 Serial Signal Assignment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23

3.3 RS422/485 Electrical Conﬁguration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24

3.3.1 Termination Resistors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24

3.3.2 BIAS Function . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24

3.4 Serial Port Simple Settings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24

3.5 Digital Input/Output . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25

3.5.1 Input Connection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25

3.5.2 Output Connection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25

3.6 Network . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25

3.6.1 Ethernet and LED . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25

3.6.2 WLAN Conﬁguration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26

3.6.3 WLAN Antenna . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26

3.6.4 WLAN LED . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26

3.7 Power Supply . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27

3.7.1 Terminal Block Power . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27

4 Windows Virtual COM Driver 28

4.1 Installation Procedure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28

4.1.1 Start the Installation Wizard . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28

4.1.1.1 User Account Control (UAC) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29

4.1.1.2 Methods of Installation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29

4.1.1.3 Proceed Installation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30

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4.1.1.4 Request for Trust . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31

4.1.2 Find and Conﬁgure NetCom+Devices . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32

4.1.2.1 Conﬁgure IP Parameters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33

4.1.2.2 Conﬁgure Firewall . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35

4.1.3 Install Drivers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35

4.2 Verify the Installation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36

4.3 Update the Drivers and Tools . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37

4.4 Conﬁguration of the Virtual COM Driver . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38

4.4.1 Conﬁgure the Serial Ports . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38

4.4.2 Performance Issues . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39

4.4.3 Network & Misc Properties . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41

4.4.4 Remote Settings Properties . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43

4.4.5 Installation of NetCom Plus Servers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45

4.4.5.1 Changing the Installation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47

4.5 Uninstall the Drivers and Tools . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48

5 Conﬁgure with NetCom Manager 50

5.1 Starting NetCom Manager . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51

5.2 NetCom Server Settings – Info . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52

5.3 NetCom Server Settings – Ports . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53

5.4 NetCom Server Settings – Firewall . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54

5.5 Manual Detection/Installation of a NetCom . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55

5.6 Firewall Traversal Conﬁguration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55

5.6.1 SOHO Firewall example . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55

5.6.2 SOHO Virtual Servers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56

5.6.3 NetCom Detection through SOHO Firewall . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56

5.6.4 Serial Ports through SOHO Firewall . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57

5.6.5 DMZ and Virtual Servers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58

5.6.6 Firewalls in Foreign Networks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58

5.7 Dynamic IP Address and OpenVPN™ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58

6 Conﬁgure the Operation Modes 59

6.1 Accessing the Conﬁgurations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59

6.1.1 Web Browser Conﬁguration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59

6.1.2 Telnet Conﬁguration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60

6.1.3 Serial Conﬁguration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62

6.2 NetCom Conﬁguration Options . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62

6.2.1 Server Conﬁguration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62

6.2.1.1 Server Info . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63

6.2.1.2 Server Parameter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63

6.2.1.3 Wireless Parameter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66

6.2.1.4 Encrypted Communication . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67

6.2.1.5 viaVPN Remote Management and Access . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68

6.2.1.6 Modbus GPIO . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70

6.2.1.7 Authentication . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71

6.2.1.8 Date & Time . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71

6.2.1.9 Save . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72

6.2.2 Serial Port Conﬁguration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73

6.2.2.1 Serial Settings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74

6.2.2.2 Transfer Settings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76

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6.2.2.2.1 Driver Mode . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77

6.2.2.2.2 TCP Raw Server . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78

6.2.2.2.3 TCP Raw Client . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79

6.2.2.2.4 Null Modem Tunnel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80

6.2.2.2.5 TCP Advanced Settings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 82

6.2.2.2.6 UDP Data Transfer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83

6.2.2.2.7 IP-Modem . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 84

6.2.2.2.8 Print Server Function . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85

6.2.2.3 Save . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85

6.2.3 NetCom Tools . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85

6.2.3.1 Ping . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 86

6.2.3.2 Statistics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 87

6.2.3.3 Netstat . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 88

6.2.3.4 Wireless . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 89

6.2.3.5 Firmware . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 90

6.2.3.6 Save and Load Conﬁguration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91

6.2.3.7 Logging and Debug . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91

6.2.3.8 Save . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 92

6.2.4 Reboot . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 92

6.2.5 Save&Exit Menu . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 92

6.2.5.1 Save Parameter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 92

6.2.5.2 Exit . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 93

6.2.5.3 Reboot . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 93

6.3 Erase Conﬁguration of NetCom . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 93

7 Operation in Linux 94

7.1 Via Fixed TTY Pseudo Serial Port (socat) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 94

7.2 Via TCP Raw Server Mode . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 95

8 IP Modem Function 96

8.1 Some possible Scenarios . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 96

8.2 Serial Signals and Cables . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 96

8.3 Operation Modes by IP Modem . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 97

8.4 Hayes Commands . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 97

8.4.1 AT command set . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 98

8.4.1.1 Standard AT-Commands . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 98

8.4.1.2 Extended AT-Commands . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 98

8.4.1.3 Non-AT commands . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 99

8.4.2 S-Registers for Conﬁguration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 99

8.4.3 Sample Commands used by Windows . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 99

8.5 Description of AT–Commands . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 99

8.5.1 AT D (dial) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100

8.5.2 AT O (online / data mode) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100

8.5.3 AT A (answer call) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100

8.5.4 AT B (modulation) [ATB1] . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100

8.5.5 AT E (echo) [ATE1] . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 101

8.5.6 AT Q (quiet) [ATQ0] . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 101

8.5.7 AT V (verbose) [ATV1] . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 101

8.5.8 AT H (hangup) [ATH0] . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 101

8.5.9 AT I(n) (information) [ATI0] . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 101

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8.5.10 AT S (setup) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 102

8.5.11 AT L (loudness) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 102

8.5.12 AT M (speaker) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 102

8.5.13 AT N (auto baud) [ATN0] . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 102

8.5.14 AT Z (reset) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 102

8.5.15 AT &F (factory settings) [AT&F0] . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 103

8.5.16 AT &C (DCD conﬁguration) [AT&C1] . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 103

8.5.17 AT &S (DSR conﬁguration) [AT&S0] . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 103

8.5.18 AT &D (DTR conﬁguration) [AT&D2] . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 103

8.5.19 AT &K (handshake) [AT&K3] . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 104

8.5.20 AT \Q [AT\Q3] . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 104

8.5.21 AT &V (view proﬁle) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 104

8.5.22 AT &W (save proﬁle) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 104

8.5.23 AT &Z (save destination) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 104

9 Print Server Operation 105

9.1 Printer Queue . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 105

9.2 Printer Reset . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 105

9.2.1 Init String Deﬁnition . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 105

9.2.1.1 ASCII Text . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 106

9.2.1.2 ASCII Control Codes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 106

9.2.1.3 Numeric Codes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 106

9.2.1.4 Modem Control Signals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 106

9.2.1.5 Timing Options . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 106

9.2.2 Reset Example . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 106

9.3 Operation in Windows® . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 107

9.3.1 Add a New Printer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 107

9.3.1.1 Create new printer port . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 107

9.3.1.2 Name the new Printer Port . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 108

9.3.1.3 Conﬁgure the Printer Port . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 109

9.3.1.4 Install Printer Driver . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 109

9.3.2 Modify an Existing Printer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 109

9.3.2.1 Open the properties . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 109

9.3.2.2 Add the Print Server Port . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 110

10 OpenVPN™ Encryption 111

10.1 OpenVPN™ Installation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 111

10.2 NetCom OpenVPN Conﬁguration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 112

10.3 OpenVPN™ Conﬁguration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 113

10.3.1 Create OpenVPN™ Conﬁguration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 113

10.3.2 Create OpenVPN™ Certiﬁcate and Keys . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 114

10.3.3 Start NetCom Plus with OpenVPN™ active . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 115

10.3.4 Start OpenVPN™ by Context-Menu . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 115

10.3.5 Start OpenVPN™ by Command line . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 116

10.3.6 Start OpenVPN™ as Windows Service . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 117

10.4 OpenVPN™ without Encryption . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 118

10.5 Reconﬁgure Virtual Serial Ports for OpenVPN™ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 119

11 viaVPN Remote Access System 120

11.1 Obstacles when used via Internet . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 120

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List of Figures

11.2 How viaVPN solves the above Issues . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 120

11.3 Conﬁguration of viaVPN Parameters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 121

11.4 Operation with viaVPN System . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 121

12 Modbus/TCP for Digital-Input/Output 123

12.1 Speciﬁcations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 123

12.2 Examples . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 124

12.2.1 Read two input signals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 124

12.2.2 Write one output signal . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 124

13 TCP/IP Description 125

13.1 Recommended Settings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 125

13.1.1 Static Conﬁguration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 125

13.1.2 DHCP Conﬁguration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 125

13.1.3 Automatic Conﬁguration (APIPA) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 126

13.1.4 Other Conﬁguration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 126

14 Troubleshooting Guide 127

15 Glossary of Terms 129

16 History 131

List of Figures

1 NetCom Plus 111 / 113 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14

2 NetCom Plus 213 Top, Front, Left and Back Side . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15

3 NetCom Plus 411 / 413 Front side . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17

4 NetCom Plus 411 / 413 / 413 POE Rear side . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17

5 NetCom Plus 411 POE Rear side . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18

6 NetCom Plus 811 / 813 Front side . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19

7 NetCom Plus 811 / 813 / 813 POE Rear side . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20

8 NetCom Plus 811 POE Rear side . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20

9 NetCom Plus 811 DIO . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21

10 Connector

DSub-9 male . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23

11 DIP NetCom Plus . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24

12 Terminal Block Input . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25

13 Terminal Block Output . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25

14 Power Terminal Block . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27

15 Installation Wizard . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28

16 User Account Control . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29

17 NetCom+Driver Installation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29

18 Start Driver Installation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30

19 Copy Driver Files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31

20 Install Request . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31

21 Firewall options . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32

22 Discover and Select NetCom+Devices for Installation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33

23 NetCom+in Manager . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33

September 2016 NetCom Plus User Manual 7

List of Figures

24 Deﬁne NetCom+s IP Conﬁguration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34

25 DNS Name for NetCom+Server . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34

26 Sending Parameters to a NetCom+. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35

27 Virtual Com Ports installing in Windows 7 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35

28 Virtual Com Ports installing in Windows 10 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36

29 VScom drivers in the Start Menu . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36

30 NetCom+in Device Manager . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37

31 NetCom+COM Port Serial Settings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38

32 NetCom+COM Port Performance Settings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39

33 NetCom+COM Port Network/Misc Properties . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41

34 NetCom+COM Port Remote Settings Properties . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43

35 Select NetCom+to install . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45

36 New NetCom+. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45

37 Installed NetCom+. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45

38 “Bad” NetCom+. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46

39 Excluded NetCom+. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46

40 Disconnected NetCom+. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46

41 NetCom Plus Manager Ports View . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47

42 Reconﬁgured NetCom+found . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47

43 Replaced NetCom+found . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48

44 Uninstall NetCom+Drivers via Settings App . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48

45 Uninstall NetCom+Drivers in Windows 7 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49

46 Uninstall NetCom+Drivers in Windows 7 Start Menu . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49

47 Remove, Repair . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49

48 NetCom Plus Manager . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50

49 NetCom Manager in Start Menu . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50

50 NetCom Manager Servers Panel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51

51 NetCom Manager Server Settings - Info . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52

52 NetCom Manager Server Settings - Ports . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53

53 NetCom Manager Server Settings - Firewall . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54

54 NetCom Manager Port Conﬁguration for Driver . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57

55 Conﬁguration Menu in Web Browser . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60

56 Request to Reboot in Web Browser . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60

57 Password Request in Telnet . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61

58 Select Terminal Type in Telnet . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61

59 Main Menu of Conﬁguration Console in Telnet . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61

60 Server Information . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63

61 Server Parameter Web Interface . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64

62 Server Parameter Telnet Interface . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64

63 Wireless Parameter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66

64 Wireless Encryption Modes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67

65 OpenVPN Network Parameter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68

66 viaVPN Network Parameter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69

67 Modbus/TCP Network Parameter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70

68 Access Authentiﬁcation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71

69 Date & Time Retrieval Options . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72

70 Port Page Selection in Web Browser . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73

71 Port Selection in Telnet . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73

72 Serial Settings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74

September 2016 NetCom Plus User Manual 8

List of Figures

73 Operation Mode by Software . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75

74 Advanced Flow Control . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75

75 Serial Port Mode Selection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76

76 Driver Mode parameters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77

77 TCP Raw Server parameters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78

78 TCP Raw Client parameters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79

79 Null Modem Tunnel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80

80 TCP Advanced Settings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 82

81 UDP Data Transfer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83

82 IP-Modem . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 84

83 Print Server Conﬁguration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85

84 Ping and Response in Web Browser . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 86

85 Ping and Response in Telnet . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 86

86 Statistics Port Selection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 87

87 Port Statistics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 87

88 Start Netstat . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 88

89 Netstat Sample Output . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 88

90 WLAN Scan . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 89

91 WLAN Scan Output . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 89

92 Firmware Upload . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 90

93 Save and Load Conﬁguration in Web Browser . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91

94 Syslog & Debuglog Parameters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91

95 Menu Save modiﬁed Parameters in Telnet . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 92

96 Menu Exit from Conﬁguration in Telnet . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 93

97 Exit and Reboot in Telnet . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 93

98 Add a printer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 107

99 Select Printer Port . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 107

100 Create Printer Port . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 108

101 Name-Properties of Print Server Port . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 108

102 Mode-Properties of Print Server Port . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 109

103 Select Port for Printer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 110

104 Add Printer Port . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 110

105 OpenVPN Installation Wizard . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 111

106 OpenVPN Installable Components . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 111

107 Installing TAP-Win32 Adapter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 112

108 OpenVPN Network Adapter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 112

109 OpenVPN Client Conﬁguration File . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 113

110 OpenVPN Server Conﬁguration File . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 114

111 Context-Menu of OpenVPN™ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 116

112 OpenVPN Connection is active . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 116

113 OpenVPN by Command line . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 117

114 OpenVPN as Windows Service . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 117

115 Start OpenVPN Service . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 118

116 Service Options . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 118

117 Startup Types . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 118

118 viaVPN Network Parameter (web) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 121

September 2016 NetCom Plus User Manual 9

List of Tables

1 Speciﬁcations, common . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13

2 Characteristics of NetCom Plus 111 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13

3 Characteristics of NetCom Plus 113 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14

4 Characteristics of NetCom Plus 211 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15

5 Characteristics of NetCom Plus 213 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15

6 Characteristics of NetCom Plus 411 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16

7 Characteristics of NetCom Plus 411 POE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16

8 Characteristics of NetCom Plus 413 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16

9 Characteristics of NetCom Plus 413 POE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17

10 Characteristics of NetCom Plus 811 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18

11 Characteristics of NetCom Plus 811 POE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18

12 Characteristics of NetCom Plus 813 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19

13 Characteristics of NetCom Plus 813 POE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19

14 Characteristics of NetCom Plus 811 DIO . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20

15 DIP Switches . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22

16 Signal Assignment DSub-9 male . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23

17 LED Function . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26

18 SOHO Firewall Pass-Through . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56

19 IP Modem cable . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 97

20 IP Modem Standard AT-Commands . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 98

21 IP Modem Extended AT-Commands . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 98

22 IP Modem S-Registers for Conﬁguration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 99

23 IP Modem Sample Dials . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100

24 IP Modem virtual Modulation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 101

25 IP Modem Responses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 101

26 IP Modem Information Responses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 102

27 IP Modem DTR Conﬁguration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 103

28 Ready LED with viaVPN . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 122

29 Function Codes Modbus/TCP for Digital-I/O . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 123

30 Mapping Modbus addresses to Input-/Output-signals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 123

September 2016 NetCom Plus User Manual 10

2 Introduction

1 Overview

The NetCom Plus Serial Device Servers are designed to remotely operate serial ports over networks. The network interface is implemented as a modern Gigabit / Fast Ethernet with Auto-MDI(X). The subfamily of NetCom Plus with WLAN option Serial Device Servers provide a second network interface for WLAN (as of 802.11 b/g/n) with up to 150 Mbit/s transfer rate. The subfamily of NetCom Plus POE Serial Device Servers may use power supply by Power-over-Ethernet function, as an alternative to a standard DC supply.

The data transport is implemented via TCP/IP and UDP protocols. Therefore control is available via WLAN, Ethernet, Intranet and Internet. All communication with the NetCom Plus Servers may happen encrypted by SSL on all interfaces.

The supplied driver software implements virtual serial ports, which hide the network transfer from your applications. Software applications using standard COM ports need no change to operate via NetCom Plus through the virtual serial ports.

The NetCom Plus Serial Device Servers are also referred to as “NetCom+” for brevity. This abbreviation is used in this manual, when the description of a function or property is more general.

2 Introduction

This manual covers several diﬀerent models of NetCom Plus devices. In general the operation is the same on all models, except where explicitly noted otherwise. All models are available with an option for Wireless LAN.

The devices come with a steel case well suited for industrial environments.

The NetCom Plus support high serial speeds up to or possibly above 3 Mbps. All serial ports provide communication via the common RS232 mode (up to 1000 kbps). They also oﬀer the industrial RS422 and RS485 conﬁguration (up to 3.0 or 3.7 Mbps). In RS485 mode the NetCom

will use the Automatic Receive Transmit (ART) control logic to follow the RS 485 speciﬁcations for transmitting data. No special code for data direction is necessary to be implemented in your software applications.

Applications requiring RS232 only are in widespread use. For ease of conﬁguration several models of NetCom Plus only support this serial operation. The names of these models end with an ‘11’.

2.1 About this Manual

This manual covers many conﬁguration options of the NetCom Plus Serial Device Servers. The vast majority of these are set by software, sometimes in alternative methods. To emphasize these in the text, special character styles are used.

Bold Typewriter is used for the names of conﬁguration options or buttons, as they

are displayed in menus or dialogs.

Typewriter denotes names of special values for multiple-choice parameters. Such

values may appear in drop-down lists or as radio buttons.

The version of the ﬁrmware described in this manual is 3.3.5, covered together with driver 2.0.0.0.

NetCom Plus 111 / 211 / 411 (POE) / 811 (POE/DIO)

September 2016 NetCom Plus User Manual 11

2 Introduction

2.2 Features

• Single power supply NetCom Plus DC 9-54V, 800 mA@12V

• Double power supply NetCom Plus POE DC 15-54V, 800 mA@15V Power over Ethernet 802.3af Class 0

• Wireless LAN 802.11 b/g/n for 150Mbit/s as an option

• Gigabit Ethernet 1000/100/10 Mbps for auto-conﬁguration

• Three way serial port interfaces: RS232/ RS422/RS 485

• USB 2.0 port for Expansion of serial ports via USB–COM Plus modules

• Max. 3.0/3.7 Mbps, half- and full-duplex

• TCP/IP conﬁguration ﬁxed or by DHCP

• Easy remote conﬁguration via SNMP

• Drivers for Windows™ operating systems

• Documented interface for every networked operating system

2.3 Product Speciﬁcations

Most of the hardware characteristics are common for all models. However some must diﬀer from model to model, they are shown in dedicated sections. Some models are restricted to RS232, others do have a POE supply.

Most models provide an USB 2.0 high-speed port. This may be used for a USB WLAN adapter or to add more serial ports via USB–COM Plus modules2. The modules provide USB-through function to add even more ports, in total there may be 16, 24, 32, ... ports.

USB–COM Plus modules on VScom.de

September 2016 NetCom Plus User Manual 12

2 Introduction

2.3.1 Common characteristics

Hardware Modern ARM processor WLAN antenna SMA-reverse (optional) Ethernet connector RJ45 1000Base-T/100BaseTx/10BaseT Protocols TCP/IP, UDP, SNMP, DHCP, ICMP, ARP, Telnet, RTelnet, HTTP Serial Speed 180 bps up to 3.0 or 3.7 Mbps 1 Parity None, Even, Odd, Mark, Space Data bits 7, 8 Stop bits 1, 2

Serial signals

RS232 TxD, RxD, RTS, CTS, DTR, DSR,

DCD, GND RS422 RS485 4-wire

Tx+/Tx−, Rx+/Rx−,GND

RS485 2-wire Data+/Data−, GND

Serial connector DSub9 male (similar to PC) Serial operation RS232, RS422/ 485 conﬁgured by DIP switch or by software

LED

PWR Red Power, blinks once when ready for

operation Wiﬁ / WLAN Blue If Wireless LAN is available RDY Green Lights when ready for operation

Management Serial console, Telnet, Web browser, SNMP Driver software Windows 10/8.1/8/7/2008/Vista/2003/XP Management software Driver installation and conﬁguration program, Management console Operating temp. 0° to 65°C Approval CE, FCC

Table 1: Speciﬁcations, common

Note 1: Serial bitrates above 500 kbps may cause problems when used with RS232. It requires short cables with low capacity, to reduce load on the serial signals. When using RS422 / 485 there is no problem using maximum bitrates.

2.3.2 Device speciﬁc Characteristics

2.3.2.1 NetCom Plus 111 One Port.

Power Requirement DC 9V to 54V, 250 mA@12V Power Connector Terminal Block (3.7.1) Serial Ports 1×RS232 Serial Speed 180 bps up to 1.0 Mbps Data bits 5, 6, 7, 8 USB Port For Expansion of Ports and WLAN Dimensions 115×73×25 mm (W×D×H) Weight 400 g

Table 2: Characteristics of NetCom Plus 111

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2 Introduction

2.3.2.2 NetCom Plus 113 One Port.

Power Requirement DC 9V to 54V, 250 mA@12V Power Connector Terminal Block (3.7.1) Serial Ports 1×RS232/ RS422/RS 485 Serial Speed 180 bps up to 3.7 Mbps Data bits 5, 6, 7, 8 USB Port For Expansion of Ports and WLAN Dimensions 115×73×25 mm (W×D×H) Weight 400 g

Table 3: Characteristics of NetCom Plus 113

(a) NetCom Plus 111 / 113 on DIN Rail, with

Front, Top and Left Side

(b) Rear Side

Figure 1: NetCom Plus 111 / 113

The NetCom Plus 111 and the NetCom Plus 113 look the same on the front side. Here are the connectors for Ethernet, USB 2.0, LEDs and the serial port. The rear side holds the power connector, Reset button and the conﬁguration switches. Positions for WLAN antenna are built- in.

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2 Introduction

2.3.2.3 NetCom Plus 211 Two Ports.

Power Requirement DC 9V to 54V, 250 mA@12V Power Connector Terminal Block (3.7.1) Serial Ports 2×RS232 Serial Speed 180 bps up to 1.0 Mbps Data bits 5, 6, 7, 8 USB Port For Expansion of Ports and WLAN Dimensions 115×73×25 mm (W×D×H) Weight 400 g

Table 4: Characteristics of NetCom Plus 211

2.3.2.4 NetCom Plus 213 Two Ports.

Power Requirement DC 9V to 54V, 250 mA@12V Power Connector Terminal Block (3.7.1) Serial Ports 2×RS232/ RS422/RS 485 Serial Speed 180 bps up to 3.7 Mbps Data bits 5, 6, 7, 8 USB Port For Expansion of Ports and WLAN Dimensions 115×73×25 mm (W×D×H) Weight 400 g

Table 5: Characteristics of NetCom Plus 213

(a) Top, Front and Left Side

(b) Rear Side

Figure 2: NetCom Plus 213 Top, Front, Left and Back Side

The NetCom Plus 211 and the NetCom Plus 213 look the same on the front side. Here are the connectors for Ethernet, USB 2.0, LEDs and the serial ports. The rear side holds the power

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2 Introduction

connector, Reset button and the conﬁguration switches. DIN Rail mounting clamp is ﬁxed here. Positions for WLAN antenna are built-in.

2.3.2.5 NetCom Plus 411 Four Ports.

Power Requirement DC 9V to 54V, 600 mA@12V Power Connector Terminal Block (3.7.1) Serial Ports 4×RS232 Serial Speed 180 bps up to 1.0 Mbps Data bits 7, 8 USB Port For Expansion of Ports and WLAN Dimensions 196×147×44 mm (W×D×H) Weight 900 g

Table 6: Characteristics of NetCom Plus 411

2.3.2.6 NetCom Plus 411 POE Four Ports.

Power Requirement DC 15V to 54V, 600 mA@15V

(DC 15V to 54V on some samples) Power Connector Terminal Block (3.7.1) Power Alternative Power over Ethernet PoE 802.3af Class 0 Serial Ports 4×RS232 Serial Speed 180 bps up to 500 kbps Data bits 7, 8 Dimensions 196×147×44 mm (W×D×H) Weight 900 g

Table 7: Characteristics of NetCom Plus 411 POE

Note: RDY (Ready) LED is blue

2.3.2.7 NetCom Plus 413 Four Ports.

Power Requirement DC 9V to 54V, 600 mA@12V Power Connector Terminal Block (3.7.1) mPCIe Slot Optional, for 3G/4G modems LED

3G Orange If mobile network is available Serial Ports 4×RS232/ RS422/RS 485 Serial Speed 180 bps up to 3.0 Mbps Data bits 7, 8 USB Port For Expansion of Ports and WLAN Dimensions 196×147×44 mm (W×D×H) Weight 900 g

Table 8: Characteristics of NetCom Plus 413

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2 Introduction

2.3.2.8 NetCom Plus 413 POE Four Ports.

Power Requirement DC 9V to 54V, 600 mA@15V

(DC 15V to 54V on some samples) Power Connector Terminal Block (3.7.1) Power Alternative Power over Ethernet PoE 802.3af Class 0 mPCIe Slot Optional, for 3G/4G modems LED

Table 9: Characteristics of NetCom Plus 413 POE

Figure 3: NetCom Plus 411 / 413 Front side

Figure 4: NetCom Plus 411 / 413 / 413 POE Rear side

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2 Introduction

Figure 5: NetCom Plus 411 POE Rear side

All models with four serial ports look the same on the front side. This side has the connectors for Ethernet and the serial ports, plus the LEDs. Also here is a plastic cap hiding the position for a WLAN antenna. The rear side holds the power connector, Reset button and the conﬁguration switches. Except for NetCom Plus 411 POE there is also the USB 2.0 expansion port. The two holes for screws may be used as addtional contacts for Protective Earth.

2.3.2.9 NetCom Plus 811 Eight Ports.

Power Requirement DC 9V to 54V, 800 mA@12V Power Connector Terminal Block (3.7.1) Serial Ports 8×RS232 Serial Speed 180 bps up to 1.0 Mbps Data bits 7, 8 USB Port For Expansion of Ports and WLAN Dimensions 196×147×44 mm (W×D×H) Weight 900 g

Table 10: Characteristics of NetCom Plus 811

2.3.2.10 NetCom Plus 811 POE Eight Ports.

Table 11: Characteristics of NetCom Plus 811 POE

Note: RDY (Ready) LED is blue

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2 Introduction

2.3.2.11 NetCom Plus 813 Eight Ports.

Power Requirement DC 9V to 54V, 800 mA@12V Power Connector Terminal Block (3.7.1) mPCIe Slot Optional, for 3G/4G modems LED

3G Orange If mobile network is available Serial Ports 8×RS232/ RS422/RS 485 Serial Speed 180 bps up to 3.0 Mbps Data bits 7, 8 USB Port For Expansion of Ports and WLAN Dimensions 196×147×44 mm (W×D×H) Weight 900 g

Table 12: Characteristics of NetCom Plus 813

2.3.2.12 NetCom Plus 813 POE Eight Ports.

Power Requirement DC 9V to 54V, 800 mA@15V Power Connector Terminal Block (3.7.1) Power Alternative Power over Ethernet PoE 802.3af Class 0 mPCIe Slot Optional, for 3G/4G modems LED

Table 13: Characteristics of NetCom Plus 813 POE

Figure 6: NetCom Plus 811 / 813 Front side

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2 Introduction

Figure 7: NetCom Plus 811 / 813 / 813 POE Rear side

Figure 8: NetCom Plus 811 POE Rear side

The above models with eight serial ports look the same on the front side. This side has the connectors for Ethernet and the serial ports, plus the LEDs. Also here is a plastic cap hiding the position for a WLAN antenna. The rear side holds the power connector, Reset button and the conﬁguration switches. Except for NetCom Plus 811 POE there is also the USB 2.0 expansion port. The two holes for screws may be used as addtional contacts for Protective Earth.

2.3.2.13 NetCom Plus 811 DIO Eight Serial Ports, 8 Digital Input and 8 Digital Output.

Power Requirement DC 15V to 54V, 800 mA@15V Power Connector Terminal Block (3.7.1) Power Alternative Power over Ethernet PoE 802.3af Class 0 Serial Ports 8×RS232 Serial Speed 180 bps up to 500 kbps Data bits 7, 8 Digital Inputs 8× wet input (5V) optically isolated Digital Outputs 8× relay output (contacts for normal open / closed) Dimensions 196×147×44 mm (W×D×H) Weight 900 g

Table 14: Characteristics of NetCom Plus 811 DIO

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2 Introduction

(a) NetCom Plus 811 DIO Front side

(b) NetCom Plus 811 DIO Rear side

Figure 9: NetCom Plus 811 DIO

The NetCom Plus 811 DIO looks the same on the front side, as all the other models with eight serial ports. Here are the connectors for Ethernet and the serial ports, plus the LEDs and the plastic cap hiding the position for a WLAN antenna. The rear side holds the power connector, Reset button, conﬁguration switches and connectors for terminal blocks used with input and output signals. The terminal block clamps are plug-in, so here each side is shown with one socket plugged and the other open. The two holes for screws may either hold a ﬁxture for cable straps, to guide the wires for digital I/O contacts. Or they may serve as an addtional contact for Protective Earth.

Note: RDY (Ready) LED is blue

2.4 Packing List

• NetCom Plus or NetCom Plus POE Serial Device Server

• WLAN Antenna with WLAN option

• Mounting angles for 19” models

• Terminal Block connector for DC power supply

• Terminal Block connectors for Input/Output on NetCom Plus 811 DIO

• CD-ROM with driver and conﬁguration software

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3 Hardware Description

This section focuses on the options provided by the hardware of NetCom Plus Serial Device Servers.

3.1 Serial Port Conﬁguration

The serial ports in the NetCom+Devices follow the speciﬁcations of RS232. On many models it is also possible to use the serial ports in RS422 or RS 485 mode. This is deﬁned by a set of DIP switches or by software. Here is a list of the available modes and the switch settings. Table15a shows the DIP positions. The light end is the position where the switch is pushed to.

Warning: a bad conﬁguration may cause serious damage in the NetCom+or the connected device.

Oﬀ (Bottom) On (Top)

(a) DIP Switch Description

Line Mode, Comment S1 S2 S3 S4 Switch Positions

Conﬁguration via Serial Port1Oﬀ Oﬀ Oﬀ Oﬀ

Factory Settings

Oﬀ Oﬀ Oﬀ On

Selected by Software

Oﬀ Oﬀ On On

RS232 Operation On Oﬀ Oﬀ Oﬀ

RS422

4-wire Operation On Oﬀ On Oﬀ

4-wire with Rx-Termination On Oﬀ On On

RS485

4,5

4-wire Operation On On On Oﬀ

4-wire with Rx-Termination On On On On

2-wire Operation On On Oﬀ Oﬀ

2-wire with Termination On On Oﬀ On

(b) DIP Switch Conﬁgurations

Table 15: DIP Switches

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3 Hardware Description

Note 1: »Conﬁguration via Serial Port« is only eﬀective on port 1 of the NetCom+Server. Note 2: Factory Settings are restored on Power-Up/Reset of the NetCom+. Note 3: The Master DIP switches conﬁgure all serial ports of a NetCom+to a common

operation mode. If diversity in line operation modes is intended, the switch must be set to »Selected by Software«, and the conﬁguration may be done via Serial Port, Telnet, Web browser or SNMP.

Note 4: Line operation modes of RS422 and RS485 are not available on NetCom Plus

111 / 211 /411 / 811 (incl. POE).

Note 5: In RS485 mode the NetCom+performs the required activation and disabling of

the RS485 transmitter by an internal automatic. Application software does not have to perform special operations.

USB–COM Plus modules may be added for port expansion. These are either conﬁgured by their own DIP switches. Or when the 4- and 8-port modules are set for conﬁguration by software, the operation mode is controlled by the NetCom Plus in the same way as with the internal ports.

3.2 Serial Signal Assignment

It is of course important to know the exact location of the serial signals in the conﬁgured mode. Here is the table for the DSub-9 male connector. For RS232 the assignment is the same as on any PC (Com1/2).

Pin RS232 RS422/485 4-wire RS485 2-wire 1 DCD Tx− (A) Data− (A)

2 RxD Tx+ (B) Data+ (B) 3 TxD Rx+ (B) 4 DTR Rx− (A) 5 GND GND GND 6 DSR 7 RTS 8 CTS 9 RI

Table 16: Signal Assignment DSub-9 male

Figure 10: Connector

DSub-9 male

Please note the GND signal in RS422 and RS485 modes. This signal must also be connected be- tween the serial devices. So in reality there is neither a 2-wire nor a 4-wire connection. With the ex- ception of very special conﬁgurations, a serial cable without GND violates the speciﬁcations for RS 422 and RS485. Signal RI is only available in RS 232 mode on NetCom Plus 111 /113 / 211 / 213.

On USB–COM Plus modules used for Port Expansion the signal assignment is the same as on NetCom Plus. Also signal RI is only available with one and two ports.

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3 Hardware Description

3.3 RS422/485 Electrical Conﬁguration

In typical RS422 and RS 485 installations certain electric conditions have to be conﬁgured. Simply connecting cables is not enough to fulﬁll the speciﬁcations of RS422 and RS 485.

For ease of installations the NetCom Plus Serial Device Servers provide the function for often used Termination. This is activated by selecting the appropriate line operation mode via DIP Switches (table 15) or by software. The electrical properties of USB–COM Plus serial ports are identical.

3.3.1 Termination Resistors

The use of long communication lines in RS422 and RS485 mode requires the installation of ter- mination resistors. These must match the impedance of the cable. Typical cables in Twisted-Pair conﬁguration have an impedance of about 120Ω. In RS422 and RS485 4-wire this resistor has to be placed at the end(s) far from the sender, in RS485 2-wire the typical conﬁguration requires one resistor at each end of the cable.

The NetCom Plus Serial Device Servers provide a suitable termination resistor integrated in the line drivers, activation is done by selecting the appropriate operation mode. For values of impedance other than 120Ω the resistors have to be installed directly on the cable.

3.3.2 BIAS Function

RS485 requires a BIAS option for the communication lines. This will guarantee stable electrical levels on the cables, even at times when no station is transmitting data. Without BIAS there will be noise on the cable, and sometimes receivers can not detect the ﬁrst characters of a beginning communication.

The NetCom Plus Serial Device Servers do not need an explicit BIAS function. With termination active the idle state of the transmission line is at 0V, which is recognized as a positive level (logic one) in the receiver circuit. Other devices may require explicit BIAS for a higher voltage at idle state, e.g. 100mV. In such situation attach that function directly to the cable.

3.4 Serial Port Simple Settings

There is one set of 4 DIPswitches to conﬁgure the operation mode of the NetCom Plus Device. This switch is the Master conﬁguration for each serial port. All ports operate in the same mode, unless the DIP switches conﬁgure for software setting. Before connecting a serial device, the serial port conﬁguration must be completed.

Warning : a bad conﬁguration may cause serious damage in the NetCom+or the connected device. To avoid these problems, it is recommended not to connect a device to the serial ports in the ﬁrst installation. The serial ports should be conﬁgured for RS232. This is done by setting the DIP switches like this example.

Figure 11: DIP NetCom

Plus

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3 Hardware Description

3.5 Digital Input/Output

This function is only available on NetCom Plus 811 DIO. The input signals are optically isolated from the system, and output function is realized by relay.

3.5.1 Input Connection

Figure 12: Terminal Block

Input

The input uses a wet contact. There are two connector clamps per input signal, each pair marked by the number from 1 to 8. The symbol around the numbers represents a push button to connect both clamps together. The right clamp provides a voltage of roughly 5V at low current. When this supply is connected to the left clamp, the input signal changes status. Usually such is done using a push button or a switch, but a relay output will also do quite ﬁne.

3.5.2 Output Connection

Figure 13: Terminal Block

Output

The output is controlled by a relay, providing three clamps on the Terminal Block. The center clamp is the common signal, and marked by the number from 1 to 8. By default (system is oﬀ, or output is set as logic One) the relay connects the common signal to the right clamped marked with the letter ’Ö’. When the relay is programmed to logic Zero, the connection to the right clamp is interrupted, instead the common signal connects to the left clamp marked with the letter ’S’. These relay control either 2 A at 30V DC, or 0.5 A at 125VAC.

3.6 Network

The NetCom Plus and NetCom Plus POE connect to Ethernet, while the NetCom Plus with WLAN option may use either WLAN or Ethernet at customers choice. By factory settings both interfaces are enabled, and the priority is set for Ethernet (i.e. via cable). If no cable is connected here, the Wireless interface is active. Otherwise the server communicates via Ethernet. Both interfaces use the same MAC Address and IP Address, to allow for seamless switch-over from cable to wireless operation. The NetCom Plus with WLAN option Servers do not perform a DHCP request when the WLAN interface becomes active.

3.6.1 Ethernet and LED

The connector for Ethernet is the usual RJ45. Simply connect it to your (switching) Hub. Because the Gigabit Ethernet has Auto-MDI(X) function, a direct cable or a cross-over cable may both be used.

When the connect is done the Link LED on NetCom Plus (orange) will light. When data traﬃc occurs on the network, this LED will blink. It depends on your network whether a 100/10 Mbit or a 1000 Mbit connect will be established. A 100/10 Mbit net causes the Speed LED on NetCom Plus (green) to light, with 1000 Mbit it will remain dark.

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3 Hardware Description

Red LED Orange LED Green LED Status

Oﬀ – – Device oﬀ, no power On Oﬀ Oﬀ No connection On On Oﬀ 1000 Mbit connection established On Blink Oﬀ 1000 Mbit data transfer (traﬃc) On On On 100/10 Mbit connection established On Blink On 100/10 Mbit data transfer (traﬃc)

Table 17: LED Function

When the ﬁrmware is completely started, the NetCom Plus becomes operational. This is shown to the user by two events: The LED for power (red) shortly blinks, i.e. it is Oﬀ and then On again. At the same time the Ready LED (RDY, green) lights and stays On.

3.6.2 WLAN Conﬁguration

The pre-deﬁned operation mode of Wireless LAN is as Access Point, any computer with WLAN equipment may contact the NetCom Plus with WLAN option. The conﬁguration of the NetCom Plus is done with the tools described later. This is the most easy way of installation.

However the pre-deﬁned conﬁguration is not encrypted. As one result any station can read the data transferred to the NetCom Plus via WLAN, this also includes the passwords. Therefore the recommended method is to use the Ethernet connector for the ﬁrst conﬁguration. Or in case of doubt, use the ﬁrst serial port to conﬁgure the NetCom Plus.

The conﬁguration of the WLAN parameters should follow in a later step. This is especially the case, if encryption or certain other parameters require special conﬁguration.

The parameter conﬁguration of WLAN is the same for the internal WLAN Kit and a supported external adapter.

3.6.3 WLAN Antenna

The connector used for the WLAN Antenna is known as SMA-Reverse. This is a standard type to allow for simple connection of diﬀerent equipment. Just ﬁt the supplied antenna by carefully screwing it to the connector. You are free to connect a cable and a diﬀerent antenna of your choice, as long as it is designed for WLAN.

3.6.4 WLAN LED

In WEP mode the Blue LED for WLAN lights if the NetCom Plus detects an operational WLAN it can connect to. In WPA mode the Blue LED lights when the NetCom+successfully connected to a WLAN. And of course the LED lights when the NetCom+operates as Access Point.

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3 Hardware Description

3.7 Power Supply

The NetCom Plus devices are powered by a single 9-54V power supply. It requires 70 mA up to 750 mA of current, depending on the device type and voltage supplied. Connect the cable to the Terminal Block at the rear side of NetCom Plus.

The NetCom Plus 411/ 811 POE devices are either powered by a single 15-54V power supply, in the same way as the NetCom Plus and NetCom Plus with WLAN option devices; this also applies to the NetCom Plus 811 DIO. The NetCom Plus 413/813 POE devices use the standard 9-54V supply. Or the NetCom Plus POE devices are powered via the network cable, connected to an Ethernet switch with PoE function as IEEE 802.3af. This switch is referenced as the PSE (Power Sourcing Equipment), while the NetCom Plus POE is the PD (Powered Device). It indicates itself as a Class 0 device when sourced by the PSE. An external power adapter has priority over the PoE function.

3.7.1 Terminal Block Power

The Terminal Block power connector receives positive volt- age on the right (V+) pin. The center (V-) pin receives ground voltage, and Field GND (FG) connects to the case. Connect FG to Protective Earth Rail. In NetCom Plus and NetCom Plus with WLAN option de- vices the V- connects to the case. V- is isolated in the NetCom Plus 411/811 POE and NetCom Plus 811 DIO devices.

Figure 14: Power Terminal Block

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4 Windows Virtual COM Driver

This chapter covers the use of NetCom+Devices via Virtual Com Ports installed by the supplied driver software for Windows. Sections 4.1 to 4.3 describe in details the process of driver installation and removal, as well as updating. This ﬁrst part here is for quick installation, so only the common options are covered.

Section 4.4 provides the details of NetCom Plus Manager and also the options available with the Virtual Com Ports.

4.1 Installation Procedure

Before starting installation, it is essential to have an IP conﬁguration ready for the NetCom+Device to install. You may read the TCP/IP Description (section 13) below. The default conﬁguration is based on DHCP, which is ﬁne in many networks. If in doubt, please ask your Network Administrator for help. Further it is assumed the network access is functional. It is recommended to use Ethernet via Hub or Cross-Over cable for conﬁguration.

The following description is based on Windows10. The installation on other conﬁgurations of Windows is similar. The installation of drivers is described ﬁrst. This is followed by a procedure to verify a correct installation. The last part of this section is about the uninstall or update processes of drivers and tools.

Drivers are provided for Windows XP up to Windows 10, Windows Server 2003 up to 2008 R2. The x86 and x64 Editions have separate drivers.

The drivers use the IP Address of NetCom+Servers to operate. So the conﬁguration of the device should avoid to change that over time. This is either done via a static IP Address, or by proper conﬁguration of the DHCP server. In the second case the DHCP server shall recognize the NetCom+by its MAC Address, and assign the same IP Address each time the device sends a request. All available DHCP Server products provide such a function, even in SOHO routers.

4.1.1 Start the Installation Wizard

Figure 15: Installation Wizard

This is the Installation Wizard, it is named VSNSE- TUPPLUS.EXEa. You’ll ﬁnd it on the CD-ROM shipped with the NetCom+, in the directory respon- sible for your operating system. The drivers are also available on the Internet, in the latest version. Start this program to install the drivers.

VSNSETUPA64PLUS.EXE in x64 Editions of Windows

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4 Windows Virtual COM Driver

4.1.1.1 User Account Control (UAC) In modern versions of Windows OS typical conﬁgurations require to conﬁrm the start of software to change the system conﬁguration.

(a) UAC in Windows 7 (b) UAC in Windows 10

Figure 16: User Account Control

Since a change of system conﬁguration is intended by the driver installation, conﬁrm to start the software.

Figure 17: NetCom+Driver Installation

4.1.1.2 Methods of Installation The installation program oﬀers three diﬀerent ways of installa- tion. The ﬁrst option is the most common used function, a Complete Installation. All driver

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4 Windows Virtual COM Driver

ﬁles and tools are copied to the Windows system, and installed in the Start Menu. Further the drivers are installed in the system, and the network is searched for available NetCom+. The serial ports on these devices are installed as Virtual Com Ports in the system. The second option will Install Tools and Drivers. However the network is not searched for NetCom+Devices. And of course no serial ports are installed in the system. This function is designed to prepare a computer for use of NetCom+Virtual Com Ports, but the ﬁnal installation shall be skipped for some reasons. For example the computer shall be shipped to a customer, and the ﬁnal installation is planned to happen there. Finally the third option is to Install Tools only, no drivers. At time of writing these tools are the NetCom Manager, as well as the uninstall and repair functions. This function should be selected when the use of Virtual Com Port drivers is not intended. The NetCom+Devices may be used in many diﬀerent operation modes covered later (6).

There are also some Hyperlinks, opening access to more recent driver versions.

This part of the manual documents the Complete Installation, so click this option.

Figure 18: Start Driver Installation

4.1.1.3 Proceed Installation A target folder for a ﬁle copy is requested. The tools and driver ﬁles are installed here. The tools will appear in the Start Menu, so a sub-folder of your Program Files is suggested. Just click the OK button.

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4 Windows Virtual COM Driver

Figure 19: Copy Driver Files

Some ﬁles are copied to your hard disk, this is the usual process similar to other Windows installa- tions. The upper bar increases with the progress of each step performed in the installation process. The lower bar illustrates each step performed until full installation is ﬁnished.

4.1.1.4 Request for Trust While copying the ﬁles, the drivers are also installed on the system. There is another request from Windows for conﬁrmation.

Figure 20: Install Request

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4 Windows Virtual COM Driver

Note: No component is actually installed at this moment. Windows is just preparing to load the drivers, once the NetCom Plus Manager instructs to do so. This request will come twice, to make it more easy just tick the Always trust option.

4.1.2 Find and Conﬁgure NetCom+Devices

When all ﬁles are copied, the NetCom Plus Manager3program is started. Since Windows 7 ad- ministrative privileges are not suﬃcient to perform every kind of operation on network functions. The Windows ﬁrewall requires special treatment, and the Manager askes for permission on that.

Figure 21: Firewall options

The options in drop down:

Add Firewall Exception adds a temporary entry in the ﬁrewall rules. This allows the NetCom

Plus Manager to more generally receive certain messages on the network. When the Manager is ﬁnished this rule is removed.

Turn oﬀ Firewall does exactly that. The Windows Firewall is disabled completely. This should

never be necessary, and is an option of last resort in case of trouble.

Do nothing, continue does nothing as suggested. It is the understanding the current conﬁguration

of IP Parameters is suﬃcient. However some NetCom+might be missed in the search.

Abort is an option to stop the Manager from performing any action.

This request will appear on every start of the NetCom Plus Manager, and with certain operations in Windows Device Manager as well. In most installations the user will always select the same option again and again. The option named Permanent instructs the Manager to memorize the current selection. On the next start the selected action is performed without any request to the user.

The option Turn Off Firewall on Failure will disable the ﬁrewall, if the selected action results in any problems.

This Manager then searches for all NetCom+Devices on your network.

This program is covered in detail in 4.4. For now follow the minimum steps.

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4 Windows Virtual COM Driver

Figure 22: Discover and Select NetCom+Devices for Installation

Figure 23: NetCom+in Manager

After short time the search process is ﬁnished. All the discovered NetCom+are listed. In your very ﬁrst installa- tion of NetCom+Devices and Drivers you should connect only one NetCom+to your network. This single Device is listed here. Identify it by comparing the serial number shown in the NetCom Manager.

4.1.2.1 Conﬁgure IP Parameters As mentioned above, it is important to conﬁgure the NetCom

to operate in your network. In many networks this is done by a special server (DHCP). Please ask your Network Administrator for information. If you need to deﬁne parameters manually, double- click the devices icon.

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4 Windows Virtual COM Driver

Figure 24: Deﬁne NetCom+s IP Conﬁguration

This panel opens. Deselect the Option of Use DHCP, and place your parameters as IP address, Netmask and Broadcast. Click on the OK button. You may also enter a DNS name instead of the IP Address.

Figure 25: DNS Name for NetCom+Server

Click the DNS button, and enter the Qualiﬁed Domain Name deﬁning the NetCom+Server. Your Administrator will provide you with it. This name is translated to an IP Address and used by the driver.

When all parameters of the conﬁguration are set, click the OK button. This will update the conﬁg- uration of the NetCom+, the new parameters are sent to the device.

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4 Windows Virtual COM Driver

Figure 26: Sending Parameters to a NetCom

4.1.2.2 Conﬁgure Firewall As you will notice in ﬁgure 24 the driver may also operate by traversal of a Network Firewall. This requires a special conﬁguration, which is skipped here. Please read in detail in section 5.5 on page 55. For now proceed with the standard installation.

4.1.3 Install Drivers

You are now back in the NetCom Plus Manager. Click the OK button, the installation continues. Windows detects the serial ports on the fresh NetCom+as new Hardware. All new Virtual Com Ports are installed without manual intervention by the user.

Figure 27: Virtual Com Ports installing in Windows 7

In Windows 7 you may watch the process by using the alert icon in the notiﬁcation area.

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4 Windows Virtual COM Driver

(a) Server ﬁrst

(b) then Com Ports

Figure 28: Virtual Com Ports installing in Windows 10

In Windows 10 everything happens in the Device Manager. You may notice the installation of the NetCom+, followed by the Virtual Com Ports appearing one after the other.

4.2 Verify the Installation

Figure 29: VScom drivers in the Start Menu

In the Start Menu you’ll ﬁnd the new pro- gram group "VScom NetCom Plus". The in- stalled programs are the NetCom Plus Manager and a Driver Repair program.

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4 Windows Virtual COM Driver

Figure 30: NetCom+in Device Manager

In the Device Manager the serial ports are listed in the usual section Ports. Additionally there is the device class Multi-port serial adapters. All installed NetCom+Devices are listed herein. The available options are described later.

4.3 Update the Drivers and Tools

As suggested by ﬁgure 47 the Installation Wizard oﬀers an option to Update the drivers to a new version. Windows itself also oﬀers an option to update the drivers of installed devices. Although this is a functional option, the correct operation of the NetCom+drivers depends on a common version for all drivers. The secure way to perform such an update is to run the Installation Wizard. All driver ﬁles are replaced by later versions simultaneously, and all conﬁguration data (Com number, special port conﬁgurations, ...) is preserved.

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4.4 Conﬁguration of the Virtual COM Driver

If properly conﬁgured, the serial ports of the NetCom+Devices appear as Virtual Com Ports in your computer. The "virtual" means, in the computer is no real hardware related to the serial port, however the driver oﬀers the full functionality of a serial port to the system. The interface used by the driver is VCOMM, which in turn is supported by the Windows API. So Windows does not see a diﬀerence to Com1, and also no application should detect the change.

When the serial ports are installed by the Virtual Com driver software, any application may use them. In the Device Manager they appear as NetCom Plus COM Port (ﬁgure 30). Without special tests a program does not see a diﬀerence between Com1 and the virtual Com7. For example the Hyper Terminal4program has no problem to communicate through these Virtual Com Port. And this situation is common amongst most programs.

4.4.1 Conﬁgure the Serial Ports

A typical application selects a serial port, and opens it. After that it performs the standard conﬁguration of bits per character, parity settings and number of stop bits. Also the ﬂow control (handshaking) is deﬁned by the application. Windows sends these requests to the port driver, and this driver sends the requests to the serial port on the NetCom+.

Figure 31: NetCom+COM Port Serial Settings

or PuTTY Terminal Emulation

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The same parameters may be pre-conﬁgured in the Device Manager. This is done via the Properties of the NetCom Plus COM Port. In the Local Settings tab these standard parameters are deﬁned. Since most programs conﬁgure these parameters by themselves, the values are very rarely used. A typical situation is a serial printer attached to this virtual port.

4.4.2 Performance Issues

Operation through the network causes some extra time, which is approximately 5 Milliseconds. For comparison, with a port internal to the computer this time may be just some 100 Microseconds. This added time has an impact on reaction times. Some data protocols may be sensible. A lot of conﬁgurations are possible to compensate for this. But these have an eﬀect on the sheer data throughput of the virtual serial port.

Figure 32: NetCom+COM Port Performance Settings

Consequently the conﬁguration starts on the Performance tab. There are four already deﬁned sets of parameters.

Best Performance is the default conﬁguration. The driver software and the NetCom+communi-

cate with big data blocks. As a result a reaction on short events on the serial port is somehow delayed. For applications operating with short data blocks, and waiting for short answers this is not optimal. It causes transmission delays, called Latency.

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Good Performance uses smaller blocks. The Latency may be reduced a little bit, depending on the

application. But the impact on the data throughput is small.

Short Latency mimics a 16C550 with full FIFO enabled, but no network timeouts will occur. This

means the block size is 16, quite small for network operations.

Virtual FIFO Off simulates a deactivated FIFO, which is the fastest setting in terms of latency.

The port is conﬁgured as if the FIFO is oﬀ, buﬀers are conﬁgured to never wait for a timeout, hence gaining in best reaction times. The FIFO buﬀers are not deactivated in reality, they are still used to prevent data loss.

Driver Defaults returns to the standard settings when enabled.

Advanced opens access to detailed conﬁguration of the operation parameters.

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4.4.3 Network & Misc Properties

When you use the Advanced checkbox on the Performance tab, the Network/Misc tab opens automatically.

Figure 33: NetCom+COM Port Network/Misc Properties

The parameters on this tab control the operation of the driver software on the computer.

Tx Network Buffer Size: If the application sends small chunks of data to the driver, these are

buﬀered to send them in one large packet. This parameter deﬁnes the size of the buﬀer. And also the maximum packet size sent to the serial port by the driver software.

Rx Network Buffer Size: This is the size of the buﬀer to receive data from the NetCom+.

Automatic Trigger: based on internal rules, this checkbox selects a best practice value for Tx

Trigger Level. Deactivate it to control that parameter manually.

Tx Trigger Level: Controls the time when data is sent to the NetCom+. If the Tx buﬀer holds at

least this amount of data, the driver immediately sends them. If there is less data, the driver may use a timeout to determine when to send them.

Network Timeout (ms): This is the timeout.

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Overspeed: This is a special option, not really related to network communication. There are old

applications, limited in the maximum speed. With Overspeed you deﬁne a multiplier. The baudrate requested by the application is multiplied with this factor. The result is sent to the NetCom+to conﬁgure the serial port. E.g. the application may be limited to 38,400bps, but there is a modem capable of 230,400 bps on the serial port. Set Overspeed to a value of 6.000, and conﬁgure the application to use 38,400 bps.

Open If Absent: The NetCom+may be used from a computer with a Dial-Up connection. When

this option is used, the driver will delay the connection to NetCom+s serial port. Even when an application opens the port and conﬁgures the parameters, no command is sent. The connection is established when data is sent to the NetCom+, or when status information is requested.

Keep Alive: This option will periodically send control information to the NetCom+to check if

the connection is still operational. As a second eﬀect a Dial-Up connection will not automatically close.

Passive Modem: This option controls how often the driver retrieves Modem status information from

the NetCom+. If activated, the driver never asks for the modem status. Instead the NetCom+informs the driver of any changes. If an application frequently requests the Modem status, it gets the last value received. On slow networks like the Internet this option is recommended. If inactive, the driver software retrieves the Modem status from the NetCom+serial port each time the application requests it, but with a maximum frequency of 10 per second. If the latest retrieved information is not older than 100 milliseconds, this value is returned.

Simulate Device Off on Connection Loss: When this option is enabled, the NetCom+driver does

not attempt to preserve transmitted data. If on a normal serial port the connected device is switched oﬀ, all data sent to this device gets lost. NetCom+simulates this behavior. All data sent from the application to the driver is discarded, when the TCP connection to the NetCom+is lost. The NetCom+driver attempts to re-establish the connection in regular intervals. When the NetCom+is available again, data may be transferred from then on.

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4.4.4 Remote Settings Properties

The other panel created by activating the Advanced checkbox on the Performance tab, is the Remote Settings tab.

Figure 34: NetCom+COM Port Remote Settings Properties

The parameters on this tab control the operation of the serial port on the NetCom+Device. They are deﬁned and activated by the driver software.

Tx Trigger Level: The serial port on the NetCom+Device buﬀers data for transmission to external

devices. If the amount of data in this buﬀer drops below this level, the NetCom+is capable to receive new data. It will send a related event to the driver software.

Rx Trigger Level: When the serial port has received this amount of data, these are sent to the

driver on the connected computer. If the amount is less than this, the NetCom+applies a timeout of about 5 character times. This means the timeout varies with the serial transmission speed.

The Remote Flow Control panel signals the NetCom+to perform the handshake on its own. This is necessary, because the network delay of some milliseconds is to long for reliable operation in many situations.

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Enable: The conﬁguration shown here is active, when the pre-deﬁned performance levels are

used. When using the ‘Advanced’ option, Remote Flow Control is completely disabled. Enable as required. While it is best practice to conﬁgure as ﬁgure 34, you can disable certain events here.

CTS, DSR, Tx XON/XOFF: these control the output of data to the serial port.

RTS, DTR, Rx XON/XOFF: used to stop transmission from the connected device.

An application has the option to use any combination of these methods at the same time. The command to use them is transferred to the NetCom+. For example, if the port is conﬁgured to use Hardware Flow Control, the NetCom+will control the RTS line, and observe the CTS line. If requested, any of these methods may be unchecked. In that case the driver software on the computer will control the lines.

Override App Settings: In rare situations it is necessary to ignore the applications conﬁguration.

Check this box, and select the Flow Control functions to use with the device.

Limits: These buttons are prepared for future software versions.

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4.4.5 Installation of NetCom Plus Servers

This section of the manual covers the correct installation of the drivers and serial ports. Please do a quick review of the section 4.1, before reading further. As of the time of writing, the current driver is version 2.0.0.0

Figure 35: Select NetCom+to install

The NetCom Plus Manager program is automatically started by the Installation Wizard, or later intentionally by the user (see ﬁg. 29). There are diﬀerent ways the NetCom+servers are listed.

Figure 36: New NetCom

The ﬁrst time a NetCom+is detected it is displayed in blue color. This indicates a “New” status, i.e. it is not yet installed in the system, but it is ready to. When the NetCom Plus Manager is closed by the OK button the server and the serial ports on it are installed in the operating system.

Figure 37: Installed NetCom

When the NetCom Plus Manager is started a second time, usually the NetCom+in the network are already installed in Windows. Then the icon is shown in green color. Exiting the NetCom Plus Manager by OK button will not change this part of the installation.

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Figure 38: “Bad” NetCom

An icon in red color indicates possible problems. To correctly operate the virtual Com Ports the driver must establish TCP connections from the PC to the NetCom+. This requires a matching conﬁguration of IP parameters in the NetCom+and in the PC. If the NetCom Plus Manager detects such a TCP connection is not possible with the current conﬁguration, it displays this warning. Click the Icon, and the right section of “Info” will show some details to ﬁnd the problem. If the NetCom Plus Manager is now closed by the OK button, the server and the serial ports on it are installed in the operating system but will not operate correct.

Figure 39: Excluded NetCom

Often there are more than only one NetCom+listed. And sometimes not all of them are to be used on this speciﬁc com- puter. The Exclude button is used for that purpose. Select a NetCom+Device, and click on that button. The driver will later ignore this NetCom+, when installing and operating the serial ports. The Icon changes to olive color.

To later include such a NetCom+, just use the Include button to change the status. The OK button will then install the server and serial ports in the system.

Figure 40: Disconnected

NetCom

The NetCom Plus Manager holds a list of NetCom+it has detected on previous occasions. On every start it attempts to detect these servers again. If for any reason this is not possibe right now, the icon is shown with a red cross on it.

If a NetCom+has not been operational when the Manager pro- gram was started, it is either displayed with the cross, or not displayed at all. You may make it operational by connecting it now. To install it, use the button Search to ﬁnd it in the network. Or Add it manually with that button (section 5.5).

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Similarly to the Exclude / Include of speciﬁc NetCom+servers, you may do so with selected serial ports.

Figure 41: NetCom Plus Manager Ports View

Select the Ports section in the Manager. These are the special options used while installing the driver software. At any time after installation the conﬁguration may be changed by the NetCom Plus Manager program. This may result in serial ports appearing in or vanishing from the system.

4.4.5.1 Changing the Installation There are common situations, when the current conﬁguration needs a change. In the ﬁrst case the NetCom+has a new IP Address, i.e. this has been changed not using the Manager application. Reasons may be the NetCom+has been moved to a diﬀerent location, or the logical structure of the network has changed. Because of the changed address the driver does not ﬁnd the serial port to contact.

Figure 42: Reconﬁgured NetCom+found

Now open the NetCom Manager. It will re-detect the devices. In this process the Manager ﬁnds the already installed NetCom+, but with a new conﬁguration. Conﬁrm this change by clicking OK here and subsequently in the Manager. The parameters of the installed Virtual Com Port are changed to contact the same serial ports on a new network address. In the Device Manager of Windows it may be necessary to search for hardware changes, and then the new parameters are displayed there.

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Figure 43: Replaced NetCom+found

The second case occurs, when a NetCom+is replaced by another device. This new device shall have the same conﬁguration, especially the same IP Address. When you start the NetCom Manager, it will detect a new device with parameters already in the database. It is assumed the new device shall replace the old one, click on the No button to conﬁrm. Otherwise an installation of new serial ports is performed.

In general the driver software and the NetCom Manager identify the NetCom+Devices by the combination of IP Address and serial number (plus MAC Address). If one of these is changed, the above requests appear.

4.5 Uninstall the Drivers and Tools

To completely uninstall the NetCom+Drivers and ﬁles, there are two basic methods. The usual way is to use the program uninstall option of Windows operating system. On Windows 10 open Settings and therein the SYSTEM function. Select Apps & Features, and scroll down to the VScom drivers. Select this entry and click the Uninstall option. This will start the NetCom

uninstallation program.

Figure 44: Uninstall NetCom+Drivers via Settings App

On Windows 7 you’ll ﬁnd the function in Control Panel, Category Programs as Uninstall a pro- gram.

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Figure 45: Uninstall NetCom+Drivers in Windows 7

Figure 46: Uninstall NetCom+Drivers in Windows 7 Start Menu

As an extra way on Win- dows 7 you may start the Uninstall program in the Start menu.

The other basic method is to start the Installation Wizard again from CD-ROM or the installation directory.

The Wizard will detect the drivers on the system. You have the options to Repair the current installation, or to Remove the installed drivers. Since the Installation Wizard is of the same version as the installed drivers, the option of Update is not available.

Figure 47: Remove, Repair

A Repair replaces the driver ﬁles on the system with those in the installation package. Since this is the same versions, the ﬁles should also be the same. If anything is damaged in the installed drivers, the Repair process will correct the problems.

As expected the Remove process will uninstall drivers and tools from the system. The drivers are removed from the conﬁguration and also completely deleted from the System drive. This happens with any conﬁguration data also. Afterward the system is available for a clean installation.

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Shipped with the NetCom+Devices there is a versatile program for Windows Operating System, named NetCom Plus Manager. This program shall detect, manage and conﬁgure the NetCom

Devices in your network. You can start it by several ways. First of all it is stored on the CD-ROM, named NETCOMMGRPLUS.EXE5. It is possible to start it directly from the CD-ROM.

Figure 48: NetCom Plus

Manager

See this Icon. When the Virtual Com Drivers are installed, there are more options to run the program. Since some operations with NetCom Plus Manager require administrators privileges, the User Account Con- trol kicks in.

but many do. So on Windows7 and later, use a right-click on the icon, and select the »Run as adminstrator...« option.

Also the process of installing the drivers created a new program group in the Start Menu.

Figure 49: NetCom Manager in Start Menu

This section of documentation focuses on man- agement of the NetCom+Devices. The options to conﬁgure driver-speciﬁc parameters of the se- rial ports are skipped here. This includes some buttons and panels. They are described in to- tal in section 4.4, in the documentation of the drivers and panels.

While in the conﬁguration process, a click on a button or a double-click on an item opens properties or other options. In many situations, a right-click with the mouse opens context-sensitive options. Just try it out. The NetCom Manager is designed to help conﬁgure driver options. So for very detailed conﬁguration of a NetCom+, it is better to use the Web browser interface, or do it via Telnet as described in section 6. Here are the options.

NETCOMMGRA64PLUS.EXE in x64 Editions of Windows

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5.1 Starting NetCom Manager

When NetCom Manager is started, it will ‘Search’ the NetCom+in your LAN by SNMP. This process may take up to 30 seconds. The devices in a LAN are typically found in the ﬁrst seconds. If this is enough for you, you can stop the search by click on the ‘Done’ button.

Figure 50: NetCom Manager Servers Panel

The NetCom+are listed here in the Servers panel. Since the Search uses broadcast mechanisms, the range is limited. If you have Routers in your network, or you contact some NetCom+via Internet, you must Add them manually (section 5.5). Enter the network parameters to access the NetCom+.

Select a NetCom+, and click on the Properties button, double-click the Icon, or use a right click. Using Verify the NetCom Manager contacts the NetCom+to check if it is properly conﬁgured and online. Exclude is only useful in conjunction with the Virtual Com Drivers, so skipped here. Search repeats the search from the program start, and may be used at any time. Remove removes a NetCom+server from this list. This option is most often used to clear old data from the drivers database. For monitoring purposes you may select a NetCom+, and Start Log for this. It may be done for several Devices at the same time. The output is visible in the Log Windows panel.

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5.2 NetCom Server Settings – Info

As described above, open the Properties of a NetCom+Device. The Server Settings start with the Info panel. Conﬁgure the options as your network requires.

Figure 51: NetCom Manager Server Settings - Info

The Server Name is just for information. As factory setting it includes the serial number of the device. You may change it to any string (of ASCII characters), since there is no functionality related to the name. This name is listed in the Server panel of NetCom Manager. The next parameters are ﬁxed, and displayed for information only.

The Telnet port allows to conﬁgure this NetCom+via Telnet. The value is a TCP port number. Factory setting is 23, the standard port for Telnet protocol. By default the NetCom+is set to Use DHCP for automatic conﬁguration of IP parameters. This is the suggested method. However there are several situations where this option can not be used. In this case deactivate it. When inactive, other parameters may be changed. The basic parameters IP address and Netmask are mandatory. Instead of an IP Address you may enter a DNS name. The NetCom Manager will resolve that name to the actual IP Address.

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If address or netmask are changed, the NetCom Manager calculates a matching address for Broadcast. You may also change this address. The DHCP option will also conﬁgure the Default gateway and the Name server. Without DHCP you must enter these parameters by yourself, enter 0.0.0.0 if they are not used.

5.3 NetCom Server Settings – Ports

The Ports panel lists all serial ports of a NetCom+. Some of the options are driver related, e.g. the Com Number. Each serial port may operate via two TCP ports.

Figure 52: NetCom Manager Server Settings - Ports

The TCP Control Port is used in the Virtual Com Driver mode, and also in Null-Modem Tunnel. If Driver mode is not desired, this parameter is ignored almost always.

The TCP Data Port is used to transmit data to and from the serial port. Use the default, or change the value to the settings required for your network.

There is also a UDPData Port, used in packet data transfer. You can not switch the NetCom

to UDP mode with the Manager. But if it is already in this mode, you can change this basic parameter.

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5.4 NetCom Server Settings – Firewall

Many networks use a Firewall to protect the stations in the network from other networks, including the Internet. In some situations the contact to a NetCom+must pass through such a Firewall conﬁgured for NAT (Network Address Translation, section 15).

Figure 53: NetCom Manager Server Settings - Firewall

To do this you must Enable Firewall, and enter the Address of the Firewall. The address may be the IP Address, or the Qualiﬁed Domain Name (DNS).

The Manager conﬁgures a NetCom+via SNMP, which uses UDP. The Firewall must have a special Port to receive those data, and to transfer it to the internal network. Enter this port here.

The same scheme applies to the logging option. When logging is active a NetCom+listens on port 1200 for logging connections. The Firewall must also have a special Log Port to receive this connection, and to transfer it to the NetCom+.

The NetCom+does not need any conﬁguration to operate in a Firewall protected environment. This conﬁguration here is for installation of the drivers. There is a Firewall tutorial section later in this manual (5.6).

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5.5 Manual Detection/Installation of a NetCom

Sometimes the NetCom+Device Server can not be detected by the automatic in the NetCom Manager. To detect and conﬁgure devices the protocol SNMP is used. The detection is done by sending out a broadcast on all available network interfaces of your computer. This SNMP broadcast is realized as an Ethernet broadcast. Such a broadcast is only transmitted through Hubs and Switches. When there is a Router between the computer and the NetCom+, probably the broadcast is not transmitted further. This is especially the situation when the NetCom+is located somewhere via Internet, but also in big networks of some companies. If this is the case, the detection has to be done manually. Refer to ﬁgure 35 and Add the NetCom+by use of the button. Enter the IP Address of the NetCom+in the NetCom Manager Server Settings, and click the button Verify. Since now the IP Address of the NetCom+is known, the NetCom Manager sends a request directly to this target, instead of a broadcast. This directed SNMP request is transported, even by Routers. The NetCom+sends the normal reply, giving all required information to the NetCom Manager. Now it is possible to conﬁgure all options as usual. Also the drivers for virtual serial ports are installable now.

Please note, the drivers require to have the IP Address. They can not operate using a DNS name, because the driver can not perform a DNS name resolution. If your NetCom+is located on a dynamic IP Address (e.g. on a Dial-Up connection with 24 hours disconnection), you need to reconﬁgure the driver installation, when the IP Address has changed.

5.6 Firewall Traversal Conﬁguration

There are more diﬃcult situations with a Firewall between the NetCom+and the NetCom Man- ager. Many Firewalls protect the internal LAN by using the feature of NAT (Network Address Translation, 15). In this situation the IP Address of the internal device is not visible on the In- ternet. Only the Firewall can be contacted via its public IP Address. The NetCom Manager and the driver software for the virtual serial ports can handle such setups. But this requires certain conﬁgurations.

An easy-to-use alternative is the VPN function, which makes Firewall conﬁguration quite easy.

5.6.1 SOHO Firewall example

The most easy situation for such a setup is by using a very simple SOHO Router as the Fire- wall. This conﬁguration will show the principle of the technical details. Those principles can be transferred very easy to the conﬁguration of more complicated installations.

On the SOHO Router there is only one public IP Address on the external side, and typically 254 internal private IP Addresses for the LAN side. These internal addresses may be assigned by DHCP or static. Such Routers oﬀer a feature typically named "DMZ", which in fact is only a single exposed host. It is recommended not to use the "DMZ" for several reasons, some of them are security related. Especially it is recommended not to conﬁgure a NetCom+as the DMZ host.

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5.6.2 SOHO Virtual Servers

The Router also oﬀers "Virtual Servers" (here named ViServ for short), which is the option required for NetCom+installation. These ViServ operate by a technique called PAT (Port Address Trans- lation, 15). Certain data addressed to the public IPAddress of the Router are forwarded to the internal private address of the NetCom+. This way the NetCom+can be contacted via the public IP Address of the Router.

First you need to conﬁgure the Router for some ViServs. As the absolute minimum there is one ViServ for the NetCom+device itself, and another two ViServs for each serial port of the NetCom+. Those ViServs are to be conﬁgured for TCP or UDP transmissions. Please read in the manual of your Router how to do that. You need a port for the external interface, and an IP Address plus a port for the LAN side. The LAN IP Address is of course that of the NetCom+. As an example the most easy device is a NetCom+113 PRO. The internal port for SNMP is 161 for UDP. The serial port requires ports 2000 and 2001 for TCP.

Function External port Internal port SNMP 8161/UDP 161/UDP

Control 9000/TCP 2000/TCP Data 9001/TCP 2001/TCP

Table 18: SOHO Firewall Pass-Through

Conﬁgure your Router for these example ViServs, and use the internal IP Address of the NetCom

for the targets. Connect the NetCom+to your LAN. Now you are ready for a very ﬁrst test. Use Telnet to connect to the Data port of the NetCom+serial port. Open a console (DOS Box) and type the command

Telnet <Routers-IP-Address> 9001

You will be connected to the serial port. Every character you type is sent out of the serial port, and every received data is shown on your screen. The serial parameters are pre-conﬁgured in your NetCom+.

5.6.3 NetCom Detection through SOHO Firewall

Now open the NetCom Manager as in section 5.5 above, and click the Add button. You again get the NetCom Manager Server Settings dialog. But now you have to select the panel named Firewall (see ﬁgure 53).

Check the Option Enable Firewall, and enter the IP Address of the Router in the Address ﬁeld. In the ﬁeld Port enter the target port for the SNMP conﬁguration. From the Virtual Server example above this is port 8161. Since there is no conﬁgured ViServ for Logging, ignore this ﬁeld. Click the button Verify to have the NetCom Manager contact the Router. This is a directed request, so there is no problem with broadcasts. The Router will transfer the request to UDP-Port 161 on the NetCom+, which is the port for SNMP. The NetCom+will answer the request, and send it out to your computer. The NAT function in the Router will replace the source IP of the data by its own public value, so the NetCom Manager will see the answer come from the Router. The NetCom Manager is satisﬁed with this data.

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Some ISP will block the SNMP protocol, which typically means they do not transport data for 161/udp to their customers (this is the ﬁrst reason why port 8161 was used in the example).

This answer brings every required information about the NetCom+, including its internal IP Address. Select the panel of NetCom Manager Server Settings to verify the information, but do not make any changes here. Changing the conﬁguration may disconnect the NetCom+from the protected LAN.

5.6.4 Serial Ports through SOHO Firewall

Now the NetCom+is available in the NetCom Manager, but still the serial ports are not usable. The information of the TCP-ports for the ViServ related to the serial port is still missing. In the NetCom Manager Server Settings select the NetCom Manager Ports Panel. In this panel select one serial port, in this example of NetCom Plus 111 there is only one serial port. Click the Properties button to open the conﬁguration of the port.

Figure 54: NetCom Manager Port Conﬁguration for Driver

Since the Firewall function is enabled, the parameters for Firewall mapping are available for editing. Enter the ports deﬁned in the Router, 9001 and 9000 in this example. Please note, so far there is no number for the Virtual Com Port available. The driver is not installed in this moment, and Windows does not know about the available hardware. This will happen later in the installation. Click the OK button, and proceed with the driver installation as already described.

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5.6.5 DMZ and Virtual Servers

Why is it recommended not to use the DMZ function of the Router? There are two reasons. The ﬁrst one is simple, only one device in the LAN can be deﬁned as the DMZ target. The DMZ is implemented as "Send all IP data targeted for the Router to the DMZ station, unless there is a speciﬁc rule for a diﬀerent target". When a second NetCom+shall be installed on the LAN, the Virtual Servers have to be conﬁgured anyway.

The second reason is the security. Using the “DMZ” option the Firewall in the Router becomes transparent. All data from outside is transferred to the LAN, including all malicious data. In general this is not an especially smart idea.

5.6.6 Firewalls in Foreign Networks

There are many situations where it is not possible to conﬁgure the ﬁrewall between the Internet and the network where NetCom+is installed. For example this may be a company network, where it is not allowed to open the ﬁrewall for external access to internal stations. Or it may be part of a GSM network, where the provider uses private IP Addresses to connect customers equipment.

Given such a conﬁguration the NetCom+has access to the Internet by establishing the connections on its own. This restricts the operation modes of the serial ports (see 6.2.2.2 on page 76) to “TCP Raw Client” and “IP Modem”, where the NetCom+operates as a client. Here the NetCom

establishes a connection to an external server, which is out-going from the network of installation. The user has to provide the external server, accessible via the Internet.

Another way to work around the restrictions is the encrypted VPN (chapter 10 on page 111). Also here the user provides a server to manage the OpenVPN connections, and the users PC connects to this server. Once this is established there is the independent and not ﬁltered network of the VPN, where all operation modes of the NetCom+are available without limitations.

5.7 Dynamic IP Address and OpenVPN™

The option of Encryption uses a Virtual Private Network (VPN) based on a single TCP connection between the NetCom+and a client computer. Regardless of strong encryption or even no encryption at all, here the key point is the single TCP connection. It is more simple to provide a Firewall conﬁguration for a single connection, so the Router Firewall is more easy to set up.

The network link established by OpenVPN™ requires to have a target address and a port number. Since the basic TCP connection is activated by the openvpn.exe program, there is the freedom of using a DNS name for the target device.

With a Dynamic IP Address for the NetCom+site, one of the several Internet services for Dynamic DNS (DynDNS) may help. It is even relatively simple to construct an own version. Using this service the openvpn.exe program gets the IP Address of the Firewall Router, and will establish the link. When the IP Address changes (after 24 hours), the connection ﬁrst gets lost. OpenVPN™ will continuously attempt to connect again. When the new IP Address is known via DynDNS, the network link is re-established. The NetCom+is available again, because the IP Address on the OpenVPN™ link did not change. Even when a serial port has been open, the function may continue seamlessly.

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The NetCom+Devices are often used without the installation of a driver software. Customer applications contact the NetCom+directly, using network functions. These setups require inde- pendent conﬁguration of the NetCom+Device and the serial ports. There are four ways to do this conﬁguration. The NetCom+oﬀers a Web browser interface, conﬁguration via serial port, via Telnet and also via SNMP. This SNMP option is not covered in this manual, please see separate documentation. The NetCom Manager program for Windows is already explained above.

The access to the NetCom+via web interface or Telnet are done via a TCP/IP connection between the computer and the NetCom+. So users need the IP Address of the NetCom+. The most easy way to retrieve this information is the NetCom Manager program (section 5). Start it, and open the Info Panel (ﬁgure 51) of the NetCom+Server you want to conﬁgure. This panel displays the current IP Address of the NetCom+. Do not change the parameters, just write down the value.

The default conﬁguration of a NetCom+is for use of a DHCP server. When such is not available, the IP Address defaults to 192.168.254.254. When the IP Address of the NetCom+is not in ﬁnal state, leave the NetCom Manager open while doing the ﬁrst conﬁguration of the NetCom+Server. But in general the software may be closed as soon as the IP Address is known.

6.1 Accessing the Conﬁgurations

Here the manual shortly explains the diﬀerent methods to get access on the parameters of a NetCom+. These parameters are the same, independent from the method for conﬁguration. So the options are described later.

The conﬁguration is accessible via web browser, a Telnet software with VT100/VT52 emulation, or via a Terminal emulation connected to the ﬁrst serial port of the NetCom+.

6.1.1 Web Browser Conﬁguration

Open your favorite web browser, and enter the IP Address as the target location. To avoid any confusion you should precede it with http://, so your browser has deﬁnite target information. Most browser programs do not need that. Your browser must not suppress images.

If the NetCom+is password protected, you must enter this now. Leave the user name empty, just type the password.

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Figure 55: Conﬁguration Menu in Web Browser

The NetCom+welcomes you with its "Home" screen. To access the diﬀerent options of conﬁguration, the images above function as a link. In many menus you’ll see a blue question mark. This is a symbol for help. When clicked a short explanation pops up, informing about the function of this parameter. Some other settings require a reboot to save and activate them. Whenever this situation occurs, the NetCom+requests a REBOOT.

Figure 56: Request to Reboot in Web Browser

It is done like this here, you may reboot then, or do that later when the conﬁguration is ﬁnished.

6.1.2 Telnet Conﬁguration

Start your Telnet software with the IP Address of the NetCom+as the parameter. In most conﬁg- urations you use the standard port for Telnet, so you omit this parameter. As an example this is the command-line in Windows, which you may enter in Start⇒Run, or in a console (DOS box).

C:\Windows\System32>Telnet 192.168.254.254 23

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For completeness the port is shown in this command. Enter the conﬁgured parameter when the port is diﬀerent. If the NetCom+is password protected, you need to enter the password right now.

Please enter your password:

Figure 57: Password Request in Telnet

When connected to NetCom+you must deﬁne the type of terminal used. Most Telnet software includes an emulation of a VT100 terminal, so choose this option. Also choose this option for an ANSI emulation.

Please choose your terminal type (1:VT100 2:VT52 [1]): 1

Figure 58: Select Terminal Type in Telnet

The conﬁguration with Telnet is menu-driven.

+--------------------- NetCom Plus - 811 WLAN V3.0.1 --------------------------+

| ServerConfig SerialPorts Tools Save&Exit |

+------------------------------------------------------------------------------+

+--------------------------------------------------------------------- h=HELP -+

Server configuration settings

Figure 59: Main Menu of Conﬁguration Console in Telnet

This is the start point for conﬁguration. ServerConfig has all options to conﬁgure the NetCom

device itself, including the IP-Parameters to access it. SerialPorts deﬁnes settings related to the serial port. Tools has some utilities like PING or displays statistics. In Exit you may leave the menu or reboot the NetCom+. At any time you can get a short hint by typing "H" for help.

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Use the cursor keys to select the parameter you want to change. Hit <Enter> to edit them. Type the new value, or select provided options. Use <Esc> to leave a parameter or menu. Please check the conﬁguration of your Telnet, if there are any problems.

6.1.3 Serial Conﬁguration

In some situations it may be impossible to get network access to the NetCom+Device. If this hap- pens (e.g. by an accidentally misconﬁguration), neither Telnet, nor the web interface is functional. It may be even impossible to use the NetCom+Manager program.

In this case you must connect to the NetCom+via the serial port. Disconnect any serial cable from NetCom+. Set the DIP Switches to "RS 232 Conﬁguration" (all switches to Oﬀ, section 3.1). Then connect the NetCom+with your computer using a Null Modem cable. If your NetCom+is an old model with a connector DB9 female, attach the supplied Null-Modem Adapter to the port ﬁrst. Or connect your computer to the female connector with a straight-through cable.

Open any serial terminal program (Hyper Terminal, minicom, PuTTY6, .. .), select 38400 bps, 8 Bit, No Parity as conﬁguration. Set your terminal to emulate a VT100 (recommended, but VT52 is also possible), including the Arrow keys.

Then power on the NetCom+. When connected to NetCom+you must deﬁne the type of terminal used (VT100 or VT52), and optionally provide the password. This is the same conﬁguration option as described above at 6.1.2, so follow the instructions for Telnet.

When the conﬁguration is done, change the DIP Switches back to normal operation. Later con- ﬁgurations can be done by web interface or Telnet. Of course this requires to have a functional IP conﬁguration deﬁned.

6.2 NetCom Conﬁguration Options

Some of the menus are very long, especially on the web interface. These are divided in their logical sections throughout this document. Each section shortly mentions the way to access the parameters. Short screen shots show the typical display when conﬁguring the NetCom+. Usually the web interface is shown on top, and the terminal interface (Telnet, serial port) is shown below; a horizontal line divides the two. On few occasions the two screen shots are displayed side by side, with the web interface to the left and the terminal interface to the right; then divided by a vertical bar.

6.2.1 Server Conﬁguration

In your web browser click on the Icon of “SERVER CONFIGURATION”, the browser opens the basic server information, the server parameters related to the IP-conﬁguration, the parameters for Wireless communication, the section for encrypted communication, Password settings, and ﬁnally the conﬁguration for date and time.

In Telnet the ServerConfig oﬀers the IP parameters, Wireless and encrypted conﬁguration, Pass- word settings, conﬁguration for date and time, as well as basic server information.

Download PuTTY from putty.org

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6.2.1.1 Server Info

Web: menu “SERVER CONFIGURATION”, section “Server Info”. Telnet: “ServerConﬁg”, option “Info”

ServerConfig

+--------------------+

Server Info

Server Type Plus 113 Software Version 3.3.1 Hardware Version 3.1 Serial Nr. 0650100420

UpTime 0 day(s) 00:00:40

Contact [<unset> ]

Location [<unset> ]

Figure 60: Server Information

Information about the selected NetCom+is displayed as “Server Info”. Starting with the Server Type, this is the model of the NetCom+, followed by the Software Version and Hardware Version. This will give a rough overview, which features are implemented, or need an upgrade of the ﬁrmware. The Serial Nr. is important to identify the device you are conﬁguring right now. For further information the UpTime is listed.

Contact and Location are user-deﬁned information. They may later help to ﬁnd the device in the installation, and the person responsible for management. The Administrator may provide some contact information here. Contact deﬁnes a person to contact for help, e.g. "Mrs. Jane Doe, 555-HELP". Location is the physical place of the NetCom+, e.g. "CeBIT Hall 12, Service Box IX.a". These data are restricted to ASCII characters.

6.2.1.2 Server Parameter

Web: menu “SERVER CONFIGURATION”, section “Server Parameter”. Telnet: “ServerConﬁg”, option “Parameter”

The Server Parameter allow conﬁguration of the NetCom+s name and of course all parameters in IP-settings. The Server Name is used as general information, e.g. in the NetCom Manager program. On a NetCom Plus with WLAN option you may choose the network Interface Priority as Cable, Wireless or both (priority Cable,Wireless or Wireless,Cable).

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Figure 61: Server Parameter Web Interface

ServerConfig

+--------------------+

Server Parameter

Server Name [NetCom_0650100420]

MAC Address 74:6A:8F:00:1D:7A Options auto Interface Priority Cable, Wireless DHCP Enabled IP Address 192.168.1.249 Netmask 255.255.255.0 Broadcast 192.168.1.255 Gateway 192.168.1.1 DNS 192.168.1.3 Domain visionsystems.de ConfigPort [23 ] PrintServerPort [515 ] KeepAlive Off

KeepAliveInterval [0 ]

Figure 62: Server Parameter Telnet Interface

Manual changes of IP parameters are only available with DHCP set as Disabled. When DHCP is not used, enter IP Address and Netmask, as well as the Broadcast address. Gateway is required, if

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there are Routers in the network. DNS is used to access other stations by name. The ConfigPort is used to access the NetCom+for administration via Telnet. It is suggested to use the standard value for Telnet, TCP port number 23. However it may be changed for diﬀerent purposes. This does not change the function of the Telnet menus.

The ﬁrmware can operate each serial port as Print Server. The TCP Port deﬁned by RFC1194 (mostly referred to as »Line Printer Daemon«) is 515, under certain circumstances you may change the PrintServerPort. More about Print Server function at the conﬁguration of the serial ports ( 6.2.2.2.8 on page 85).

KeepAlive is an intrinsic function of the TCP/IP protocol. If used it causes network traﬃc, traditionally intended to prohibit automatic shut-down of Dial-Up network equipment. In a LAN this traﬃc usually is not a problem. If this functions is On, you must deﬁne a KeepAliveInterval given in seconds. As a side eﬀect of the traﬃc network problems are detected earlier. NetCom

has a better chance to react on network problems, or failed hosts. Even dropping an old connection may be useful in certain environments. It is suggested to activate this function when using RAW TCP communication (6.2.2.2.2, 6.2.2.2.3), with an interval of about 180 seconds.

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6.2.1.3 Wireless Parameter

Web: menu “SERVER CONFIGURATION”, section “Wireless Parameter”. Telnet: “ServerConﬁg”, option “Wireless”

This section is of course only available on the NetCom Plus with WLAN option class of devices, or when the external WLAN kit is installed. To operate a Wireless device, a lot of parameters are required. The conﬁguration in the NetCom+is reduced to a small set of them, for ease of conﬁguration.

ServerConfig

+--------------------+

Chipset TI WL18XX

SSID [NetCom_0650100420 ]

OperationMode AP CountryRegion ETSI (1-13) Channel 7 Encryption Type Off

Encryption Key [empty]

Figure 63: Wireless Parameter

The Chipset is provided as a read-only parameter. This deﬁnes the hardware base for the WLAN functions. This model of NetCom Plus with WLAN option supports the TI WL18XX circuits.

SSID is the «Service Set Identiﬁer». This is used to get access to radio cells established by an Access Point. By default the NetCom+operates as an Access Point and uses an SSID built from the serial number. This means it is the same as the default NetCom+s name.

The OperationMode is selectable as AP for «Access Point Mode», and infra for «Infrastructure Mode».The mode of AP is the factory conﬁguration, here the NetCom Plus with WLAN option operates as an Access Point by itself. Computers and other WLAN stations can connect to it, and via the NetCom+to each other. This supports Windows 7 and later versions, were the classic mode of Ad-hoc operation has been removed. Also some modern hardware does not support the insecure Ad-hoc mode anyway. The other mode named infra is required to connect as a client to an Access Point. Other wireless stations such as a PC or Laptop use that Access Point to transfer the data to the NetCom+.

WLAN as of IEEE 802.11 b/g/n deﬁnes fourteen possible Channels (i.e. predeﬁned frequencies) to use with WLAN devices. Some of these frequencies are restricted in certain countries. Please check

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with your local regulations for the channels you are entitled to use. This manual is just informa- tive, it is in no way a reproduction of local regulations. The available CountryRegion values are FCC(1-11) for North America, ETSI(1-13) for Europe in general, SPAIN(10-11), FRANCE(10-13) and MKK(14) in Japan. Late information indicate even in Spain and France the full range of ETSI is now legal; check yourself. In Infrastructure Mode the NetCom+adapts to the conﬁguration of the Access Point. Be sure to have the correct Country/Region to match the parameters of the Access Point. The Access Point must broadcast the SSID, otherwise the NetCom+will not contact it.

The Channel is used in AP mode. Depending on the Country Region the selection is restricted. In Infrastructure Mode this value is deﬁned by the Access Point, and NetCom+will use the same.

Encryption Type deﬁnes the encryption of the radio transmission. It may be conﬁgured as Off, WEP, WPA-PSK/TKIP or WPA2.

ServerConfig

+--------------------+ | Off | | WEP | | WPA-PSK/TKIP | | WPA2 |

+--------------------+

Figure 64: Wireless Encryption Modes

The WEP encryption may use 40 or 104 bit keys, sometimes also named WEP40/64 or WEP104/128. Which of this is required is deﬁned by the Encryption Key Parameter. This key may be entered as ASCII characters, or as hexadecimal for a binary key. A string with 5 characters results in WEP40 using an ASCII key. Using 10 characters as key deﬁnes this key as also WEP40, but with a binary key in hexadecimal notation. Likewise a 13 character string is WEP104 with ASCII, and 26 characters select WEP104 with a binary key. WPA Encryption is available using TKIP cypher, and WPA2 uses AES. The key is PSK (a Pre- Shared Key) and must be installed on all stations. The ASCII password consists of 8 to 63 char- acters, and is mixed with the SSID to generate the key. It is recommended to use WPA/WPA2 with a key generated from random data. As with all en- cryption options a strong key is required for protection. The Internet provides a little help and background information.

6.2.1.4 Encrypted Communication

Web: menu “SERVER CONFIGURATION”, section “OpenVPN Parameter”. Telnet: “ServerConﬁg”, option “OpenVPN”

There is a special way for encrypted communication with the NetCom Plus Serial Device Server. This function establishes an encrypted VPN tunnel between your computer and the NetCom+. All communication to the NetCom+uses this new connection. No application requires a change of operation or source code, but seamlessly gets the advantages of Encryption. This may be especially useful to get secure communication via an otherwise insecure Wireless LAN.

To build this tunnel NetCom+uses the Open Source product OpenVPN™7. To conﬁgure the VPN function, NetCom+requests to upload a standard conﬁguration ﬁle.

http://openvpn.net (Community)

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ServerConfig

+--------------------+

OpenVPN Parameter

You must upload the config- uration ZIP file over the Web-Frontend

OpenVPN

Logging

Figure 65: OpenVPN Network Parameter

Of course OpenVPN may be Disabled or Enabled. When the function is active, the NetCom+is virtually invisible on the IP Address deﬁned in “Server Parameter” (6.2.1.2). It will still answer on ICMP, and also the Logging function is available for trouble shooting. But there is only one connection accepted by the NetCom+, to the TCP Port deﬁned for OpenVPN™. When used as a VPN client, no connection at all is accepted. Nothing more is available for security reasons.

If Logging is On, NetCom+sends the messages of OpenVPN™ to the standard debug log output.

Details on conﬁguration of OpenVPN are given in the separate chapter 10 on page 111.

6.2.1.5 viaVPN Remote Management and Access

Web: menu “SERVER CONFIGURATION”, section “viaVPN Parameter”. Telnet: “ServerConﬁg”, option “ViaVPN”

Encrypted communication by OpenVPN may be used to provide access via Internet and Firewalls or on mobile networks, with minor eﬀort. But it requires deep knowledge about network operation and conﬁguration of OpenVPN in particular. Further it needs certain network conﬁguration, either at the NetCom+location or in the LAN of the connecting PC. Yet another alternative would be a private server for OpenVPN, available in public Internet. All this may be diﬃcult to conﬁgure and a lot of eﬀort, especially for connecting to just a few NetCom+devices.

To ease such installations most models of NetCom+provide access to the viaVPN system. The required infrastructure and knowledge is provided by viaVPN, users just use it. This option is described in the separate chapter 11 on page 120. Through viaVPN’s reliable hardware, sophisticated cloud software and intuitive web-based man- agement interface it empowers you to deliver a complete after-sales service supporting Remote Management, Remote Diagnostics, Remote Troubleshooting and Remote Maintenance.

Web-based user interface makes the service management much easier: you don’t need to hire a team of IT professionals to install, deploy, maintain, and upgrade the infrastructure and software.

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Even non-technical users can process and manage the viaVPN solution with just a few mouse-clicks, which lets you build up your cloud-based support team without incurring elevated costs or long waiting times.

ServerConfig

ViaVPN |

+--------------------+

viaVPN Parameter

Proxy IP Address [0.0.0.0] Proxy TCP Port [8080 ] Proxy User Name [ ] Proxy Password [ ] DHCP Server Enabled IP Address [10.0.10.1] Netmask [255.255.255.0] Broadcast [10.0.10.255] Range Start [10.0.10.100]

Range End [10.0.10.200]

Figure 66: viaVPN Network Parameter

The ﬁrst parameters are to conﬁgure the access of NetCom Plus to the Internet, so it can establish the connection to the Rendezvous Server. Many installations do not require conﬁguration at all, then there is no need for special parameters. But in case such is required, the NetCom+uses a web proxy for https access, in the same way as any Internet Browser in the network does this.

The Proxy IP Address is either the address or the name (like proxy.network.local). The value of

0.0.0.0 disables this function, which is the default. The Proxy TCP Port is used to get access to the proxy function. In rare conﬁgurations the operation of the Proxy requires an identiﬁcation, the Proxy User Name and the Proxy Password serve for this. Your Network Administrator will provide you with all necessary values.

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For easy administration of connections via the PC Client Utility the NetCom Plus provides a DHCP Server. This will assign a valid conﬁguration to the Client Utility connection to the viaVPN system. As the result the Client PC can connect to the NetCom+, and perform management operations. The following parameters conﬁgure the operation of the DHCP Server. Important Note: These parameters here do not inﬂuence the conﬁguration in the local network (LAN). They are eﬀective only on the connection established by the Client Utility.

The DHCP Server may be Disabled. But Enabled is the default and strongly recommended. IP Address, Netmask and Broadcast are properties of the NetCom+side of the viaVPN con- nection. They behave in the same way as the parameters in the Server Conﬁguration, see para- graph 6.2.1.2 on page 63. Range Start and Range End are the ﬁrst (lowest) and last (highest) value the DHCP Server will assign to the Client PC side of the viaVPN connection.

6.2.1.6 Modbus GPIO

This function is only available on the NetCom Plus 811 DIO device server. The signals are controlled via Ethernet/Internet using Modbus/TCP. This protocol has TCP port 502 deﬁned as standard for operation, but it may be changed to a diﬀerent value if the network conﬁguration requires this. The communication software must know the IP Address and TCP port.

ServerConfig

+--------------------+

GPIO

Modbus TCP Port [502 ]

Figure 67: Modbus/TCP Network Parameter

The details of operating the input and output signals are speciﬁed in section 12 on page 123. The connection scheme for the signals, and their electric properties is given in section 3.5 on page 25.

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6.2.1.7 Authentication

Web: menu “SERVER CONFIGURATION”, section “Authentication”. Telnet: “ServerConﬁg”, option “Authentication”

ServerConfig

+--------------------+

Security Settings

Password [empty]

Figure 68: Access Authentiﬁcation

The Security Settings deﬁne a Password to restrict access to the conﬁguration of NetCom+. The password is not shown while typing it. To protect against accidental mistyping, you must type the Password twice.

6.2.1.8 Date & Time

Web: menu “SERVER CONFIGURATION”, section “Date and Time Settings”. Telnet: “ServerConﬁg”, option “Date & Time”

It may be helpful to have a correct time setting in the NetCom+. You may manually enter the time here. Please note, there is no battery backup for the real time clock in the NetCom+. When the NetCom+looses power the time is lost, a reboot by web interface or the Reset button should retain the current time. Retype the value of Date & Time for manual setting. The format is DD- MM-YYYY HH:MM:SS UTC+/-TZ (Time Zone).

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ServerConfig

+--------------------+

Date and Time Settings

Date & Time [01-01-2000 01:00:23 UTC+1]

Simple Network Time Protocol

State Interval Mode IP Address Interval [1800 ]

Server [81.7.16.58 ]

Figure 69: Date & Time Retrieval Options

It is possible to conﬁgure NetCom+for automatic time retrieval via SNTP.

The State ﬁeld has three possible settings:

• Off: disables automatic time retrieval.

• Startup: NetCom+gets the time at reset or power on.

• Interval: NetCom+repeats to retrieve time.

The parameter Mode is used to ﬁnd the deﬁnition of the Time Server. In current ﬁrmware the time source is deﬁned by the IP Address.

The Interval in seconds instructs the NetCom+to regularly check for an update of the internal time settings. The Time Server may be given by IP Address or by name. A name of course requires a conﬁgured DNS server8.

6.2.1.9 Save

Web: menu “SERVER CONFIGURATION”, at bottom.

At the bottom of the web page below all the options there is the button Save. This will store all conﬁgurations done here in the NetCom+. Selecting a diﬀerent conﬁguration section from the menu

see at Server Parameter 6.2.1.2

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may discard all changes done. For many conﬁguration changes the NetCom+requires a reboot to proceed, especially if the IP parameters have been updated.

The Telnet section has a separate menu for saving conﬁgurations, described later.

6.2.2 Serial Port Conﬁguration

In your web browser click on the Icon of “SERIAL CONFIGURATION”. This is a huge menu in the web browser. Each serial port of the NetCom+is listed in a separate Column. A maximum of four serial ports is shown at one time. Select the appropriate group of ports.

Figure 70: Port Page Selection in Web Browser

The top half of the parameters titled “Serial Settings” is directly related to common serial conﬁgu- rations. The bottom half titled “Transfer Settings” conﬁgures the operation mode of NetCom+on the network. Each serial port is conﬁgured separately, there is no setting shared between ports.

Note: The list of serial ports will automatically expand, when supported USB–COM Plus module(s) are detected. With two or more modules always have the connection scheme the same. Otherwise physical ports will change numbers, and the conﬁguration will be confused.

In the Telnet menu select “SerialPorts” in the Main Menu, and directly select the serial port to conﬁgure.

The settings available in this menu are by port. Therefore, ﬁrst the port to conﬁgure has to be chosen.

SerialPorts

+----------+

SerialPorts

+---------------------+ | Serial Settings |

| Transfer Settings |

+---------------------+

Figure 71: Port Selection in Telnet

Just select the port by placing the cursor, and then press <Enter>. The next option is to conﬁgure the Serial Settings or the Transfer Settings.

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6.2.2.1 Serial Settings

Web: menu “SERIAL CONFIGURATION”, column “Port N”, “Serial Settings”. Telnet: “SerialPorts”, select “Port N”, “Serial Settings”

The NetCom+devices allow to operate in RS422/485 modes. This is conﬁgured by the Master DIP switches or by software, PortType (current) displays the current setting.

Serial Settings

Port Nr. 1 PortType (current) rs232 Baud Base 60000000 PortType rs232

Baudrate 38400

Manual 38400 FlowType None DataBit 8 Parity None StopBit 1 RxFifoLength 1024 RxTriggerLevel [224 ] TxFifoLength 1024

TxTriggerLevel [800 ]

Figure 72: Serial Settings

If the DIP switches are set for «Selected by Software», the mode of operation is chosen by the PortType parameter with following selections:

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+----------------------------+

Figure 73: Operation Mode by Software

These are the same modes as available by conﬁguration of DIP Switches. Using software conﬁgu- ration each port is functional independent from other ports. This is the only way to have diﬀerent operation modes on a multi-port NetCom+.

When the NetCom+is used via the Virtual Com Driver mode, the following serial parameters are controlled by the application which opened the serial port. However certain installations use a diﬀerent operation without Driver mode. Then the serial parameters must be deﬁned via this conﬁguration section.

The Baudrate may be selected in a drop-down list of common values, or entered manually. If Manual is selected in the list, the value in the respective ﬁeld is used to transmit data. NetCom

checks if the conﬁguration is possible, and warns otherwise. Note: The Baud Base is shown for reference only, it is not necessarily an achievable bitrate. DataBit per character, Parity and StopBit are quite usual parameters. The FlowType is available as standard conﬁguration. But there is also the option of Advanced Conﬁguration.

FlowType Configuration

Port Nr. 1 AutoCTS off AutoRTS off AutoDSR off AutoDTR off AutoTxXOnXOff off

AutoRxXOnXOff off

Figure 74: Advanced Flow Control

This gives very speciﬁc control to the user. NetCom+can generate Events on RTS, DTR or as XON/XOFF, when the serial receive buﬀer is ﬁlled/emptied. These will inform the connected device to stop or continue the transmission. The NetCom+will also respect the state of CTS, DSR or XON/XOFF when sending data to the connected serial device.

The RxTriggerLevel deﬁnes when NetCom+sends the received data to the host. If the amount of data is this high, the data is sent. It does not matter if there is still data coming on the serial line. If less data is received, the NetCom+waits some time for further data, before sending the buﬀer. When this parameter is reduced to ‘1’ obviously all data is sent right when it has been received.

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The TxTriggerLevel operates similar for the transmission. If the deﬁned amount is received from the network, the NetCom+does not accept more data to transmit. These options reduce latency times, by increasing the network traﬃc.

6.2.2.2 Transfer Settings

Web: menu “SERIAL CONFIGURATION”, column “Port N”, “Transfer Settings”. Telnet: “SerialPorts”, select “Port N”, “Transfer Settings”

The Transfer Settings allow diﬀerent operation modes. They are selected by the basic Mode set- ting. Depending on the current mode, only some of the many parameters are useful. The web conﬁguration hides those parameters without function.

SerialPorts

+---------------------+ | Serial Settings | | Transfer Settings |

+---------------------+

Transfer Settings

Port Nr. 1

Mode +---------------------------+

+---------------------------+

Figure 75: Serial Port Mode Selection

The following paragraphs explain these operation modes as well as their parameters and conﬁgu- ration in detail.

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6.2.2.2.1 Driver Mode Only very few parameters have a function in Driver Mode. NetCom

is operating as a Server in TCP mode, it accepts two connections per serial port. This mode is required when the driver software for Virtual Com Ports shall be used.

Mode Driver Mode

TCP Port(Control) [2000 ] TCP Port(Data) [2001 ]

KeepAliveMode On Connect

KeepAliveInterval [0 ]

Figure 76: Driver Mode parameters

The ﬁrst connection is used to transmit the serial data, this is the TCP Port(Data). And the other is used to transmit control information, TCP Port(Control). This control connection includes the conﬁguration of the serial port, as well as signals for changed Modem Status lines. This mode is required when the serial port is operated via the Virtual Com Driver, it is the default.

In Driver Mode the NetCom+accepts only one client per serial port. An attempt to connect a second client is actively refused. This is required to avoid confused conﬁgurations and data on the serial port.

The NetCom+can monitor an open connection. This is controlled by the KeepAliveMode, which has three settings: Off, On Connect and Polling.

• Off: never send KeepAlive packets.

• On Connect: when a client is trying to connect to the server and there was a connection

before, the server checks if the ﬁrst connection still exists. If it does not exist anymore, the server accepts the new connection. This option is the default conﬁguration.

• Polling: the server checks in KeepAliveInterval (seconds), if a connection still exists.

If the network connection between client and NetCom+seems to be unstable, the conﬁguration of Polling may be desired. This way the NetCom+may detect when the connection got lost. When the NetCom+detects a lost connection, this is discarded, so the NetCom+is available for other clients. Disabling the check is not recommended.

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6.2.2.2.2 TCP Raw Server As Raw Server the NetCom+operates very simple. It only waits for incoming data connections in Raw IP mode. In contrast to the Driver Mode no driver software needs to be installed on client computers, this mode operates directly on the TCP/IP stack in the operating system. The parameters of the serial port are deﬁned on the NetCom+, as given above (3.1).

Mode Raw Server

TCP Port(Control) [2000 ] Max.Clients [1 ]

Password [******]

Figure 77: TCP Raw Server parameters

Compared to the Driver Mode only the data connection is deﬁned by the TCP Port(Data). The Max.Clients parameter allows for more than one connection to the NetCom+at a time. If the number is raised, it is the responsibility of the customer to ensure correct operation. There is no special Keep Alive option, the global parameters from section 6.2.1.2 apply.

The ﬁrmware can handle an additional protection by Password. When a password is conﬁgured, the NetCom+sends the question "Password: " to the client. The user (his application) must ﬁrst send the password, followed by a <CR> character. The password is not echoed to allow usage with Telnet on a Monitor.

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6.2.2.2.3 TCP Raw Client Also as Raw Client the NetCom+requires very few parameters. The client computer operates via the TCP/IP stack as in 6.2.2.2.2, but now the computers waits for incoming connections opened by the NetCom+. Using this mode several NetCom+may connect to the same server software installation. The parameters of the serial port are deﬁned on the NetCom+, as given above (3.1). When the client computer is another NetCom+in TCP Raw Server mode, this will virtually connect the devices attached to the serial port.

Mode Raw Client

Destination [192.168.1.5:2001 ] Connect Triggered

ShortHoldTime [0 ]

Figure 78: TCP Raw Client parameters

Under certain conditions the NetCom+establishes a Raw TCP connection to a pre-deﬁned Des- tination. The Destination can hold multiple hosts as targets for a connection. They are en- tered as a comma separated list of DNS names or IP Addresses. Each destination will have a TCP port number, separated by a colon. Instead of a single IP Address or DNS name, a range of IP Addresses is also valid. This range must be followed by the TCP port number, as in 192.168.254.12-192.168.254.17:2077.

The parameter Connect deﬁnes if NetCom+uses the connections as Permanent, Triggered or by

DSR. With Permanent the NetCom+attempts to open the connection as soon as it is available. In Triggered mode any activity on the serial ports establishes the connection, inactivity of longer

than the ShortHoldTime cause NetCom+to close the connection. With DSR the TCP-connections follow the state of the DSR signal at the NetCom+serial port. When it becomes active they are established, until DSR becomes inactive. At that moment the connections are dropped.

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6.2.2.2.4 Null Modem Tunnel This operation mode is intended to build a long virtual Null Modem Cable between the serial ports of two NetCom+. This mode is symmetric, both NetCom

operate as server and as client at the same time. The parameters of the serial port are deﬁned on the NetCom+, as given above (3.1).

Mode Null Modem Tunnel

Server TCP Port(Control) [2000 ] TCP Port(Data) [2001 ]

Client Destination [ ] TCP Port(Control) [2000 ] TCP Port(Data) [2001 ] Connect Triggered ShortHoldTime [0 ]

KeepAliveMode On Connect

KeepAliveInterval [0 ]

Figure 79: Null Modem Tunnel

This is a mixed mode, requiring parameters for server function and for the client part. The NetCom+operates as a server while accepting connections in DriverMode (6.2.2.2.1). If there is no current connection, the NetCom+may establish a connection as a client. This is also a special connection, using the Driver Mode protocol. NetCom+will not only transmit serial data in both directions, it will also pass information about the current settings of the Modem Status lines. And it will itself set the Modem Control lines as required by the other host. The CTS is connected to the RTS of the partner, and DSR connects to DTR. Since this operation requires another NetCom

to accept the connection, both NetCom+together operate as a long Null-Modem cable. The data is sent via a tunnel through the network.

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The conﬁguration as Server (top part) requires the same parameters as the Driver Mode, hence TCP Port(Control) and TCP Port(Data). Also the KeepAlive function operates the same.

The conﬁguration as Client (bottom) ﬁrst requires a destination. Here it is given by name, but a direct IP Address may be more usual. On the destination there is also a TCP Port(Control) and TCP Port(Data) to accept the connect of the NetCom+.

The Connect methods are the same as with the TCPRaw Client mode. So connections to the partners are permanent, last until there is no activity for a given time, or they are controlled by the DSR signal. Attention: You must not conﬁgure both NetCom+with a Connect option conﬁgured as Permanent. This will result in each of them attempting to contact the other at the same time. Both NetCom

will reject the connect, because they are already busy establishing a connect of their own. Instead create an asymmetric conﬁguration: either use one of the NetCom+in Driver Mode, or conﬁgure it with an empty Destination parameter. Or consider to have a connection on demand, i.e. use the Triggered option.

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6.2.2.2.5 TCP Advanced Settings All of the above operation modes are special conﬁgurations for options. In some situations none of the pre-deﬁned modes ﬁt the customers needs. When this is the case, the TCP Advanced Settings oﬀer the conﬁguration of any Transfer parameter. Unusual combinations of Modes are possible with this, also standard modes with unusual parameters.

Transfer Settings

Port Nr. 1

Mode TCP Advanced Settings

Server On TCP Port(Control) [2000 ] TCP Port(Data) [2001 ] Max.Clients [1 ]

Client Off Destination [ ] TCP Port(Control) [2000 ] TCP Port(Data) [2001 ] Connect Triggered ShortHoldTime [0 ]

KeepAliveMode On Connect

KeepAliveInterval [0 ]

Figure 80: TCP Advanced Settings

The NetCom+usually acts as a network server. This means it accepts incoming connections. The most used Driver Mode is one example. The NetCom+detects which mode to use. When the Data-Port is opened ﬁrst, then the NetCom+operates in TCP Raw Server mode, with respect to Max.Client. When the Control-Port is opened ﬁrst, the NetCom+expects a second connection on the Data port, to operate in Driver Mode for one client only.

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The NetCom+can also operate as a network client as seen in TCPRaw Client mode. This is enabled by setting Client to On. As a client it requires the same parameter as for the specialized modes. When the TCP Port(Control) is deﬁned (not zero), the NetCom+will operate as a client for Driver Mode, as in Null Modem Tunnel. The destination is the target address or DNS name.

Otherwise the NetCom+operates in TCP Raw Client mode when it establishes a connection. The syntax for multiple destinations applies then.

The remaining parameters are explained in the client mode descriptions.

The TCP Advanced Settings allow for ﬂexible usage of the NetCom+, when Server and Client modes are On at the same time. If no connection is active with the NetCom+, it accepts incoming connections, i.e. it operates as server as long as the connections are held. Without a connection a Trigger event deﬁned in Connect cause the NetCom+to establish a connection to the deﬁned target. So the NetCom+is a client at that time.

6.2.2.2.6 UDP Data Transfer UDP is an Internet Protocol, which does not deﬁne a connection, it sends data in single packets instead of a stream. There is no extra return data to signal a successful transmission. As a side eﬀect data may be sent and received faster than with TCP/IP.

Mode UDP Mode

UDP Port(Local) [2002 ] Destination [ ] UDP Port(Dest) [2002 ] UDP MaxPacketSize [1458 ] UDP Timeout [30 ]

UDP Trigger [ ]

Figure 81: UDP Data Transfer

This protocol requires a UDP Port(local) for listening to incoming data. Other stations on the network send their data to this port. The Destination host is conﬁgured by IP Address or name, plus the target UDP Port(Dest). Please compare with the parameters for TCP Raw Server and Client Modes. The parameters to conﬁgure the UDP Mode are similar to a mixture of these modes. A UDP Broadcast is sent, if the destination address is the broadcast Address, see section 6.2.1.2 above.

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Since there is no connection, data can not be sent in a stream. UDP uses packages. There are several ways to deﬁne the content for a package.

UDP MaxPacketSize is a limit for the size of UDP packets. When the amount of data received on the

serial port reaches this limit, the UDP Frame is assembled and sent to the destination.

UDP Timeout deﬁnes when the NetCom+sends the received data as a UDP Frame. If the reception

of serial data is interrupted for this time (in milliseconds), the data sampled so far is sent to the destination. A value of zero causes all data to be sent immediately, use “-1” to disable the function of timeout trigger. A good value to start with is 30, if no speciﬁc parameters are given by the external devices. This is the default since ﬁmrware version 3.3.5

UDP Trigger deﬁnes a sequence of characters. As soon as this sequence is detected in the received

data, all data up to the end of this Trigger is sent to the destination. In most situations such a Trigger includes control or other special characters. Enter them numeric: as \xHH where HH is the hexadecadic code of the character, or as \OOO where OOO is the octal code of the character. The backslash itself must be doubled as \\.

If none of these options is used, the packets deﬁnition is not speciﬁed. This will result in unpre- dictable separation of serial data, depending on internal hardware behaviour. Typically this is not handled good by the application software.

6.2.2.2.7 IP-Modem The serial port of a NetCom+may mimic (emulate) a serial modem. There is the separate section 8 deﬁning this functionality. Here are the basic network parameters only.

Mode IP Modem

TCP Port(Data) [2001 ] Destination [ ]

IP Modem Config [ ]

Figure 82: IP-Modem

A serial modem accepts connections from a phone line, while an IP Modem accepts connections from the network, in this case via TCP/IP. The TCP port for this is deﬁned as the TCP Port(Data), similar to TCP Raw Server mode. This is the only parameter required to set here.

All other values are normally deﬁned by AT-commands via the serial port. However for short,

Destination allows for up to four predeﬁned targets, available with special Dial commands. The IP Modem Config is known as the Init String in standard modems.

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6.2.2.2.8 Print Server Function The NetCom+ﬁrmware allows the function as a Print Server according to RFC1179, also called a »Line printer daemon«. A print server is accessed through its IP Address via one speciﬁed TCP Port (see section 6.2.1.2). Data is handled in distinct queues, each with a certain name. Each queue is handled by a certain serial port, and the data is sent to the serial printer attached to this port.

Port Nr. 1

Mode Print Server

QueueName [lpd1 ]

InitString [ ]

Figure 83: Print Server Conﬁguration

Each serial port conﬁgured for Print Server operation has its separate QueueName. The default value is »lpd« plus port number. The InitString is a special feature of NetCom+. This string is sent to the serial printer at the beginning of the next queued print job. The deﬁnition is in section 9.2.1 on page 105.

6.2.2.3 Save

Web: menu “SERIAL CONFIGURATION”, at bottom.

Again at the bottom of the web page below all the serial port options there is the button Save. This will store all conﬁgurations done for the current group of serial ports. Selecting a diﬀerent group of ports or another conﬁguration section from the menu may discard all changes done.

6.2.3 NetCom Tools

Several tools for system status, checks and debugging are available in the Firmware. The available tools are:

• The Ping utility to check if a station is available.

• Statistic information for each serial port.

• The Netstat utility to monitor used TCP connections.

• The option to detect WLAN devices in the proximity (NetCom Plus with WLAN option

only)

• The option to update the ﬁrmware.

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• Saving of Conﬁguration to / Loading from a ﬁle (web browser only).

• Information logging by Syslog function and a DebugLog via TCP/IP.

In your web browser click on the Icon of “TOOLS”, the browser opens the list of available tools. In Telnet the “Tools” menu provides a list of the tools.

6.2.3.1 Ping

Web: menu “Tools”, section “Ping”. Telnet: “Tools”, option “Ping”.

Enter the IP Address or the name of a station in the ﬁeld. In the web browser click the Ping button, hit the <Enter>-key via Telnet. The network connection is checked by sending ICMP Echo Request data packages.

PING 127.0.0.1 from 192.168.1.87 : 44 (72) bytes of data 52 bytes from 127.0.0.1: icmp_seq=0 ttl=255 time=1.560 msec 52 bytes from 127.0.0.1: icmp_seq=0 ttl=255 time=1.542 msec 52 bytes from 127.0.0.1: icmp_seq=0 ttl=255 time=1.542 msec

back

Figure 84: Ping and Response in Web Browser

Tools

+-------------+ | Ping |

+-------------+

IP-Address to ping to: [127.0.0.1 ]

PING 127.0.0.1 from 192.168.1.243 : 44 (72) bytes of data.

52 bytes from 127.0.0.1: icmp_seq=0 ttl=64 time=< 10 ms 52 bytes from 127.0.0.1: icmp_seq=1 ttl=64 time=< 10 ms 52 bytes from 127.0.0.1: icmp_seq=2 ttl=64 time=< 10 ms

52 bytes from 127.0.0.1: icmp_seq=3 ttl=64 time=< 10 ms

Figure 85: Ping and Response in Telnet

If the target responds, the network between the NetCom+and the target is operational. The time required for an echo depends on the speed of the network. In a typical Ethernet this is only very few Milliseconds, while it can be several seconds throughout the Internet.

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Via Telnet use the <Esc>-key to stop the Ping function.

6.2.3.2 Statistics

Web: menu “Tools”, section “Statistics”. Telnet: “Tools”, option “Statistics”.

The Statistics are presented on a by-port base. So you ﬁrst select the serial port, and then you get the information about modem status and control. Also the amount of data transferred is shown.

Tools

+-------------+

Tools

+----------+

Figure 86: Statistics Port Selection

Line Status

DTR off (0) DSR off (0) RTS off (0) CTS off (0) DCD off (0) RI off (0)

Common

Serial Tx 0 Serial Rx 0

Figure 87: Port Statistics

The statistics window9reports the state of the modem status and control signals. Further the NetCom+counts the number of status changes on the modem control- and status-signals, since the NetCom+has been started. The number of characters sent and received is shown at the bottom.

The web browser opens a separate window for each port selected

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6.2.3.3 Netstat

Web: menu “Tools”, section “Netstat”. Telnet: “Tools”, option “Netstat”.

Tools

+-------------+

Figure 88: Start Netstat

Update

Proto Local Address Foreign Address State tcp 0.0.0.0:23 0.0.0.0:0 LISTEN tcp 0.0.0.0:80 0.0.0.0:0 LISTEN tcp 0.0.0.0:2000 0.0.0.0:0 LISTEN tcp 0.0.0.0:2001 0.0.0.0:0 LISTEN tcp 0.0.0.0:2010 0.0.0.0:0 LISTEN tcp 0.0.0.0:2011 0.0.0.0:0 LISTEN tcp 0.0.0.0:2020 0.0.0.0:0 LISTEN tcp 0.0.0.0:2021 0.0.0.0:0 LISTEN tcp 0.0.0.0:2030 0.0.0.0:0 LISTEN tcp 0.0.0.0:2031 0.0.0.0:0 LISTEN tcp 192.168.1.243:80 192.168.1.42:1280 TIMEWAIT tcp 192.168.1.243:80 192.168.1.42:1281 ESTABLISHED udp 0.0.0.0:161 udp 0.0.0.0:19970

udp 192.168.1.243:32331

(a) In Web Interface

1/1

Proto Local Address Foreign Address State tcp 0.0.0.0:23 0.0.0.0:0 LISTEN tcp 0.0.0.0:80 0.0.0.0:0 LISTEN tcp 0.0.0.0:2000 0.0.0.0:0 LISTEN tcp 0.0.0.0:2001 0.0.0.0:0 LISTEN tcp 0.0.0.0:2010 0.0.0.0:0 LISTEN tcp 0.0.0.0:2011 0.0.0.0:0 LISTEN tcp 0.0.0.0:2020 0.0.0.0:0 LISTEN tcp 0.0.0.0:2021 0.0.0.0:0 LISTEN tcp 0.0.0.0:2030 0.0.0.0:0 LISTEN tcp 0.0.0.0:2031 0.0.0.0:0 LISTEN tcp 192.168.1.98:23 192.168.1.42:3665 ESTABLISHED udp 0.0.0.0:161 udp 0.0.0.0:33320

udp 192.168.1.98:10397

(b) In Telnet

Figure 89: Netstat Sample Output

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Netstat is a common tool to display the actual status of network connections. It may be used to monitor the actual status of the NetCom+. This is a standard tool for network debugging.

A ‘Foreign Address’ of “0.0.0.0” is listed when NetCom+is waiting for an incoming connection (LISTEN mode). If the value is not “0.0.0.0”, the connection is either active (ESTABLISHED) or already closed (TIMEWAIT).

In the web browser you may Update the Netstat output. Via Telnet the output may not ﬁt on the screen, then the display will start with “1/2" in the ﬁrst line. Or even more for a long list. You may change to a diﬀerent page by using the Page Up/Down keys in your Telnet. The display is refreshed in an interval of some seconds. Use <Esc>-key to return to the menu.

6.2.3.4 Wireless

Web: menu “Tools”, section “Wireless”. Telnet: “Tools”, option “Wireless”.

When Wireless communications is intended, it is useful to see a list of possible partner stations on the WLAN. This function is available in many driver packages for Windows, and also in the NetCom Plus with WLAN option Serial Device Servers. This detection is often referred to as »Range Scan«.

Tools

+-------------+

Figure 90: WLAN Scan

On the NetCom Plus with WLAN option it will open a separate browser window with the results. An example of this is shown below. Telnet displays the results.

Wireless-Devices in Range Update

Act MAC SSID Channel Mode Enc

X 86:73:F6:22:E1:BA NetCom_0210100462 7 Ad-Hoc X A6:E8:9E:BE:7D:86 NetCom_0210100444 7 Ad-Hoc X 00:0F:B5:66:CF:56 NETGEAR 11 Managed X

Current Rate: 11Mb/s

Act MAC SSID Ch Mode Enc

X 86:73:F6:22:E1:BA NetCom_0210100444 7 Ad-Hoc

A6:E8:9E:BE:7D:86 NetCom_0230100152 7 Ad-Hoc

X 00:0F:B5:66:CF:56 NETGEAR 11 Managed X

Current Rate: 11Mb/s

Figure 91: WLAN Scan Output

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This example lists two other NetCom conﬁgured for Ad-Hoc communication on channel 7. Both do not use encryption. There is also an Access Point (listed as Managed), of course in Infrastructure- mode. To connect to this AP the NetCom Plus with WLAN option must use encryption.

In Telnet the display is updated automatically when some information changes. Most noticeably this will be the Act-ivity sign.

6.2.3.5 Firmware

Web: menu “Tools”, section “FirmwareUpdate”. Telnet: “Tools”, option “Firmware”.

To upload a new version of the ﬁrmware, put the name of the ﬁle in the ﬁeld. Your web browser will allow to search for the ﬁle. Click on the Update button, and your browser will upload the ﬁle to the NetCom+.

Tools

+-------------+

Firmware Update

Update Port [2400 ]

[ Start Update ]

Figure 92: Firmware Upload

Via Telnet the option to upgrade the Firmware of NetCom+is diﬀerent. The upload of the data is either done via the current channel (i.e. the serial or Telnet connection). Or independently via a separate TCP/IP connection. The Update Port parameter deﬁnes this second connection, the NetCom+waits for a TCP connection on this port. The Firmware is sent coded in base64 (a special text format), via very simple programs like a second Telnet session, or similar tools. Terminal software by serial conﬁguration may just use the “Send Textﬁle” function.

While uploading the ﬁle it is checked by NetCom+. If it is a valid content, it is stored in the Flash Memory. When the upload is ﬁnished, NetCom+will Reboot.

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6.2.3.6 Save and Load Conﬁguration

Web: menu “Tools”, section “Conﬁguration File”.

Via web browser it is possible to save the actual conﬁguration to a text ﬁle. Of course it is also possible to load the saved conﬁguration into a NetCom+.

Figure 93: Save and Load Conﬁguration in Web Browser

This may be very useful when conﬁguring several NetCom+of the same type. Conﬁgure one device, and save the ﬁle. Change the conﬁguration ﬁle for the necessary parameters, and upload the modiﬁed version to the next model.

6.2.3.7 Logging and Debug

Web: menu “Tools”, section “Syslogging”. Telnet: “Tools”, option “Logging”.

The NetCom+has two options of Logging. There is the standard Syslog, and a second option of logging via Telnet.

Tools

| Firmware |

+-------------+

Logging

Syslog Off Destination [ ] Facility [1 ]

Debuglog Off

Debug Port [0 ]

Figure 94: Syslog & Debuglog Parameters

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The Syslog function may of course be Off or On. In the On-state the NetCom+sends all the log information to a computer deﬁned by Destination. A special software often called Syslog Daemon has to receive these data. The Option of Facility is a criteria for the Daemon how this will organize the data received from the NetCom+.

In contrast for Debuglog the NetCom+behaves as the server. When this option is On the NetCom

waits for incoming TCP connections to the conﬁgured Debug Port. The NetCom+sends all logging information via this connection. For manual use a software like Telnet is suitable, especially if it has the option to save all received data.

6.2.3.8 Save

Web: menu “Tools”, at bottom.

As usual at the bottom of the web page below all the options there is the button Save. This will store the conﬁgurations done for Logging (6.2.3.7).

6.2.4 Reboot

Web: menu “REBOOT”.

In your web browser, click the Icon of REBOOT to restart the NetCom+ﬁrmware. Attention: This option will discard all conﬁguration changes, unless they have explicitly been saved. Naturally it will also disconnect all other clients using serial ports or the Telnet conﬁguration menu.

6.2.5 Save&Exit Menu

This section of conﬁguration is only available via the terminal interface, i.e. via Telnet or serial port. Modiﬁcations in the conﬁguration of the NetCom+are not active, until they are explicitly saved to the Flash Memory of NetCom+. This menu also allows to discard all changes, and even to restart the ﬁrmware.

6.2.5.1 Save Parameter

Telnet: “Save&Exit”, option “Save Parameter”.

When some changes are done, these modiﬁed settings should be saved. A conﬁrmation is requested before doing this.

Save&Exit

+------------------+

+---------------------------------+ | Do you want to save the changes | | Yes No |

+---------------------------------+

Figure 95: Menu Save modiﬁed Parameters in Telnet

The Telnet interface is still active when this operation is ﬁnished.

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6.2.5.2 Exit

Telnet: “Save&Exit”, option “Exit”.

You will not be surprised, when you leave the menu by selecting this option. If you made any changes of parameters, you must conﬁrm to save these.

Save&Exit

+------------------+

+---------------------------------+ | Do you want to save the changes | | Yes No |

+---------------------------------+

Figure 96: Menu Exit from Conﬁguration in Telnet

The NetCom+terminates the Telnet interface when this operation is ﬁnished, even when the modiﬁcations are not saved to Flash Memory.

6.2.5.3 Reboot

Telnet: “Save&Exit”, option “Reboot”.

Users may restart the ﬁrmware of the NetCom+. Modiﬁed conﬁgurations are activated by the restart process. Such a restart is necessary for some changes like IP conﬁguration, others do not require a restart.

Save&Exit

+------------------+

+---------------------------------+ | Do you want to save the changes | | Yes No |

+---------------------------------+

Figure 97: Exit and Reboot in Telnet

Also here, if parameters are changed during the session, conﬁrmation for saving them is requested. Of course the Telnet conﬁguration is closed, because all TCP connections are terminated by the reboot process.

6.3 Erase Conﬁguration of NetCom

Sometimes it is required to clear any conﬁguration done, and go back to the Factory Settings. Users might think this is possible with the Reset button. It is not done this way. The Reset button is just a way to restart the NetCom+without removing the power.

To make a clean conﬁguration the DIP switches must be conﬁgured to the pattern of »Fac- tory settings«. Refer to Section 3.1 or to the table on top of the NetCom+case. When this pattern is chosen, the NetCom+has to be restarted, by power oﬀ or by using the Reset button. This is for security. When changing a DIP conﬁguration, the »Factory settings« might appear by accident. So the NetCom+requires to be restarted with this DIP pattern active to avoid accidental damage of the conﬁguration. While restarting, the NetCom+erases the current conﬁguration, and replaces

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7 Operation in Linux

the parameter with the default values. When this is ﬁnished, the Power LED blinks once. Do not power oﬀ or reset the NetCom+before this blink is seen. The Ethernet cable should not be connected, because the NetCom+uses DHCP in factory conﬁg- uration. Without an Ethernet cable it does not attempt to ﬁnd a DHCP server, which makes for a faster reboot process.

7 Operation in Linux

In Linux there is no real tty driver available for NetCom Plus serial device servers. However for most applications this is not a problem, since Linux is very good in networking. Either the application can contact the Serial Port on the NetCom+via a TCP connection, or it may use a ﬁxed tty emulation of a serial port. In both conﬁgurations the parameters of the serial port are conﬁgured on the NetCom+. Additionally the serial port is operating in the mode of TCP Raw Server, with one deﬁned TCP port to connect to (see 6.2.2.1 on page 74 and 6.2.2.2.2 on page 78 for details). For the following sections the IP Address 192.168.1.198 is used, with 2001 as the TCP data port number. This may be the serial port of a NetCom Plus 113 serial device server.

7.1 Via Fixed TTY Pseudo Serial Port (socat)

There are applications designed to operate via serial ports, and via this only. So they want to open a device which behaves like a serial port, usually /dev/ttyS0 or /dev/modem. To create a pseudo device of this type the program socat may be used.

so c a t pty , l i n k =/dev /netcom0 , raw , wa i t s l a v e t cp : 1 9 2 . 1 6 8 . 1 . 2 4 9 : 2 0 0 1&

This command creates a temporary pseudo tty device with the name as /dev/netcom0. Any name is possible, as long as it does not conﬂict with already existing devices. The TCP connection will be established to the serial port on NetCom+, but this is delayed until an application opens this /dev/netcom0. The connection will be established as raw (without modifying data). The terminating ’&’ in the line sends socat into background operation. It will terminate when /dev/netcom0 is closed by the application.

minicom −D /dev / netcom0

This command will then start the application minicom as an example. In this example the created /dev/netcom0 is used, so minicom operates via the serial port on the NetCom+. Even when minicom attempts to conﬁgure the serial port, this has no eﬀect on the NetCom+. When minicom is closed, the process of socat terminates as well. For next use socat must be started again, which can be done in a script also.

The speciﬁcation as “Fixed TTY” deﬁnes that behavior. Applications may use the pseudo port like a serial port, but the serial conﬁguration is ﬁxed. Any commands to change the conﬁguration are accepted from the application, but they do not change the serial port operation.

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7.2 Via TCP Raw Server Mode

The application will use the IP Address of the NetCom+with the conﬁgured TCP port number for the intended serial port. Usually the ﬁrst serial port uses 2001 as TCP data port, so as an example program here is the command line for telnet application:

t e l n e t 1 9 2 . 1 6 8 . 1 . 2 4 9 2001

This command will open a raw TCP connection to the NetCom+. This connection is raw (no modiﬁcation of data) because there is no initiation of the protocol known as Telnet (RFC 854). Every byte received on the serial port is displayed on the screen. And all characters typed on the keyboard are sent via the serial port to the connected device. The serial parameters used are stored in the NetCom+, e.g. 38400,8,n,1 without ﬂow control. If RTS/CTS or a diﬀerent mode of ﬂow control is conﬁgured, this is handled internally at the serial port inside the NetCom+.

Especially with telnet users often get confused by doubled characters on the screen. This is caused by a misconﬁguration of telnet, in this case the option of local echo. The typed character is shown on the screen by telnet, and the serial device also sends back the character. The conﬁguration of telnet is beyond the scope of this manual.

Telnet is one example, other applications will use their own methods of conﬁguation.

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8 IP Modem Function

The Firmware oﬀers the function of IP Modem. Used in this mode, the serial port of the NetCom

emulates a standard serial modem. Basically this means the NetCom+will

a) answer to AT-commands on the serial port

b) establish a connection to a destination

c) inform the connected serial device of the connection

d) accept a TCP connection, and inform the serial device of that event

For connections the NetCom+will use a TCP connection. This diﬀers from a normal telephone line, so there will be some modiﬁcations in the behavior. The target is an IP Address, not a phone number. Also for hardware reasons the automatic baudrate detection used in today serial Modems is not available. However this is not a problem at all, the IP Modem can be installed in Windows as a Standard 33600bps Modem. There is an INF-ﬁle for ease of installation.

8.1 Some possible Scenarios

1. The customer has a remote management installation, operating via telephone line. These lines may be in-house or through public phone systems to other destinations. The customer wants to reduce costs for these lines, management and possibly hardware, using the Intra- or Internet.

2. The customer wants to contact several stations from a central server. Because of frequent target changes he does not want to deﬁne the target by a Virtual Com Port.

3. Remotely distributed devices contact a central system by Modem. This is the reverse of option 1.

4. A computer without Network access shall have at least limited control on the connections established by a NetCom+.

5. Old fashioned BBS installations become accessible via Internet. The typical multi-modem box is replaced by a NetCom+Server with multiple ports conﬁgured for IP Modem operation.

8.2 Serial Signals and Cables

A real modem provides the same signals as the serial port of a PC. However, where a signal is an output on the PC, it is an input to the modem, and vice versa. So in the NetCom+the emulation of a modem must be incomplete. By exchanging RxD and TxD the data connection is ﬁne, the same happens for handshaking signals RTS and CTS. The DTR of the PC is connected to DSR of NetCom+, this is simple. The RI may be ignored, some connectors for serial ports also do that.

However a real modem provides DSR and DCD to the PC. There is only the DTR left on NetCom

to serve these signals. In most conﬁgurations the NetCom+-DTR serves as the DCD to the com- puter.

The cable must provide a DSR to the PC then, e.g. by shortcut to the PC-DTR. In some conﬁgu- rations the NetCom+-DTR must serve as the DSR. This is conﬁgurable by a command.

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8 IP Modem Function

The recommended cable connects as shown in this table. Please note, this installation does not use the simply crossed signals. Especially the DSR of the PC is internally connected to the DTR of the PC.

DB9m PC IP-Modem DB9m DB9f

3 TxD —— RxD 2 3 2 RxD —— TxD 3 2 7 RTS —— CTS 8 7 8 CTS —— RTS 7 8 6 DSR PC-DTR (internal loop-back) 4 DTR —— DSR 6 4 1 DCD —— DTR 4 6 5 GND —— GND 5 5

Table 19: IP Modem cable

The limitation of signals is a restriction in function, compared to real world serial modems. Since most installations do not require the full availability of all signals, the required subset can be selected.

8.3 Operation Modes by IP Modem

The function of IP-Modem may be conﬁgured port by port. On a NetCom+with a single port there is no much of a diﬀerence. However a NetCom+with more serial ports operates each port independently. In the following sections of this manual the phrase "serial port of a NetCom+, conﬁgured to operate as IP Modem" is replaced by "IP Modem" for brevity.

Two basic operation modes are available. The ﬁrst and default mode is Modem-to-Modem. This requires a serial port of a NetCom+conﬁgured as IP Modem on both ends of the connection. When one IP Modem dials the other, the connection is established on the TCP level. Directly afterward both IP Modems negotiate to ensure they are a real NetCom+IP Modem and are free for connection. If successful both issue a "CONNECT . . . " response to the serial connected devices. This is convenient for the customer to understand. The CONNECT may report some parameters, e.g. the minimum serial speed used by both Modems. These extra parameters are not implemented so far.

The other mode is named as Modem-to-Host. The destination is any software, which opens a TCP port for Listen mode. It may be a second NetCom+conﬁgured for TCP Raw Server Mode. It may also be the customers application, running on a certain computer. This mode oﬀers less features.

8.4 Hayes Commands

The IP Modem operates with a command set similar to those in real Modems. All of the commands start with the character sequence AT.

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8 IP Modem Function

8.4.1 AT command set

The following table lists many standard commands (in alphabetical order). The AT is omitted for brevity. The discussion of the functions is below the tables in section 8.5 below.

8.4.1.1 Standard AT-Commands These commands are based on the old Hayes Modem.

AT Hayes-Standard IP Modem Function A Answer Call Accept a connection

Bn ITU-T modulation Deﬁne some modem operation modes Dnnn Dial connection, basically phone

number as nnn

Connect to the target system by IP Address and TCP-Port. E.g. ATD10,0,8,42,2023 will "dial" to port

2023 on IP Address 10.0.8.42 E Echo on/oﬀ Enable/Disable local echo of command H0 Hang up Terminate the TCP connection I Device Information I0 through I9 report information L Speaker Volume Ignored, always answered with OK M Speaker On/Oﬀ Ignored, always answered with OK N Auto serial speed N0 no Auto, N1 reports error O Return to data mode Q Result Codes Enable or disable result codes/strings S=nn/S? S-Register Set/request conﬁguration registers V0/1 Responses Numeric/text responses to commands X Busy/Dial detect Ignored, always answered with OK Z Reset to User proﬁle Standard

Table 20: IP Modem Standard AT-Commands

8.4.1.2 Extended AT-Commands These commands are used in modern modems, and have slightly diﬀerent syntax depending on the model.

AT Standard-Extensions IP Modem Function &C DCD control When to turn on DCD (by IP Modems DTR)

&D DTR meaning Hang Up, Command Mode or Reset &F Load factory Default &K Flow Control &S DSR control When to turn on DSR (by IP Modems DTR) &V View Proﬁles &W Store Proﬁle &W0/&W1 is "Standard". ATZ1 loads proﬁle 1 &Zn=dd Save for short dial Deﬁne possible targets by DNS name or IP Address %C1 V.42bis enable Ignored \Q Flow control See &K

Table 21: IP Modem Extended AT-Commands

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8 IP Modem Function

8.4.1.3 Non-AT commands All these commands apply in Command Mode. If a Dial command or an ATA succeeds with a CONNECT, the IP Modem is in data mode. Every data received on the serial port is sent to the other station/IP Modem. And there is a special character sequence in Data Mode, which changes back to Command Mode. This sequence is ‘+++’ by default, with an interval of 1 second before and after this command; the three characters must appear in one second.

8.4.2 S-Registers for Conﬁguration

Traditional there is a set of registers to control certain operations. These registers are controlled via the AT S-command mentioned above. This is a list of those supported by IP Modem.

Reg. Function Range/units Default S0 Auto-Answer Ring 0-255 0 (no Auto-Answer)

S1 Ring Counter 0-255 0 (read only) S2 Escape Code 0-127 (ASCII) 43 (= "+" for "+++") S3 Carriage Return 0-127 13 S4 Line feed 0-127 10 S5 Backspace 0-32, 127 8 S8 Comma pause 0-255 (seconds) Accept but ignore S9 Carrier detect response time 1-255 (0.1 sec) 6 S12 Escape Guard time 20-255 (0.02 sec) 50 (= 1 second) S25 DTR Ready Delay 0-255 (0.01 sec) 5 (= 50 msecs) S26 RTS to CTS Delay 0-255 (0.01 sec) 1 (= 10 msecs) S30 Disconnect Timer 0-90 (seconds) 0 (read only, AT\Tnn)

Table 22: IP Modem S-Registers for Conﬁguration

S0 is frequently used to conﬁgure a modem to auto answer incoming calls. S1 may be checked by software if S0 is Zero, i.e. no Auto-Answer. S2 may be set to a diﬀerent character, if the ‘+++’ may happen in typical data. Otherwise the software must insert a pause in the transmission.

8.4.3 Sample Commands used by Windows

The NetCom+IP Modem is intended for manual installation as kind of a "Standard Modem" in Windows. The reference is the MDMGEN.INF ﬁle. The commands used in that ﬁle are:

"AT&F", "ATA", "ATH", "AT &F E0 V1 &C1 &D2 S95=47 S0=0<cr>", "ATS0=0<cr>", "ATX4", "ATS7=<#>", "AT%C", "AT\N", "AT&K", "ATS30=<#>", "ATB", "ATDP", "ATDT", "ATL", "ATM"

8.5 Description of AT–Commands

The commands are listed more or less in a functional grouping. Conﬁguration commands are listed also with their default settings in brackets.

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8 IP Modem Function

8.5.1 AT D (dial)

This is the general Dial command. The target is deﬁned as IP Address plus TCP-port number. The dots in the address are replaced by a comma, and the TCP port is also separated by a comma. On normal modems a comma generates a pause in the dialing sequence. This is commonly required, so all software will support it; even multiple comma.

The modiﬁers ‘T’ for Touch Tone and ‘P’ for Pulse dialing have no direct equivalent on the TCP connection. They are used to change between Modem and Host mode, if the ATB command enables this (ATB2 or ATB3). Otherwise the IP Modem will ignore them.

Basically dialing is done to a given IP Address plus a TCP port number. The IP Address is given in decimal Octet format, where comma replaces the dot as the separator. This is followed by another comma, separating the TCP Port from the IP Address. If the port is omitted, the target port is the same as the local TCP Data Port as deﬁned in the conﬁguration of IP Modem (see 6.2.2.2.7 above).

There are situations where the target is known by a DNS name. This name can not be used in a dial string, mostly because very few software will support it. So there is the option of dialing to a pre-deﬁned entry by shortcut. This is given by an ‘S’ followed by one or two digits. The shortcuts S90 to S99 are reserved; so far only S1 to S4 are implemented. Shortcuts are deﬁned and saved by ‘AT&Znn=<FDN:Port>’.

All other non-numeric characters are understood as modiﬁers. The IP Modem will simply ignore them. This especially applies to space characters. Typically dial strings are:

ATDT192,168,254,254,2003<cr> Dial another IP Modem as a Modem-to-Modem AT&Z12=demokit.vscom.com.tw:23<cr> Deﬁne a shortcut for conﬁguration port ATDPS12<cr> Dial the other IP Modem as Modem-to-Host

Table 23: IP Modem Sample Dials

8.5.2 AT O (online / data mode)

If a connection is established, the IP Modem can still be in command mode. The ATO activates the transparent data mode.

8.5.3 AT A (answer call)

Have the IP Modem answer an incoming call, and establish a TCP connection. This command is required if Auto-Answer is disabled. Observe the operation mode deﬁned by ATB.

8.5.4 AT B (modulation) [ATB1]

This command is used to deﬁne the modulation to use on the phone line. Since the only "modula- tion" available is IP, there is no choice. The command is used to change between Modem-to-Modem and Modem-to-Host mode.

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