Anyway to view plc remotely?

Hello everyone, I'm interested in figuring out if there is anyway I can remotely view and edit plc code. Basically, I'd like to be at my home and be able to troubleshoot problems that might be 100 miles away without having to physically go to the site. I have a verizon jetpack and I'm wondering if that could be of any help.

Anyone have any ideas?

GSM modem, VPN?

BobB said:

GSM modem, VPN?

Click to expand...

Care to elaborate? I'm not sure on how to physically set things up.

A VPN would have to be set up by your client (probably IT department) so that you can tunnel through to the PLC across the web. A GSM modem requires an M2M SIM card - the modem manufacturer normally supplies some pretty good info to set it up. That would normally be be a serial connection to the PLC but Ethernet is available as well. The modems normally come with antenna and whatever is required. This may help - I think they have Ethernet GSM modems as well http://www.moxa.com/Serial_Connectivity/index.aspx

In the United States the GSM sunset is December 31st 2016!!!!

VPN - Secure, Stable, Fast, with the right equipment easy to use!!!

To be fair there are probably no pure 2g GSM modems still out there. 2g modems were as slow as ****. Most are 3g+ these days and strictly speaking it isn't GSM any more. Grab an e w o n or a secomea to avoid having to sacrifice your first-born to the paranoid IT department. Both will create a VPN for you will sfa mucking about.

These work fine over generic Ethernet connections.
http://www.dcbnet.com/datasheet/ut3302ds.html

others are right, vpn is what you want. Something like this will work:

install nomachine to PC

attach PC to PLC

Install nomachine on your home PC

have IT setup a VPN between the two

Keep in mind depending on what type of PLC software you are using you might have to move a license to the deployed computer. Which is usually painless once you get a method down.

If VPN and all that is a step to far. Have you thought about just using a program like Teamviewer?

Sometimes it is better to keep it simple stupid

isiah_s said:

others are right, vpn is what you want. Something like this will work:

install nomachine to PC

attach PC to PLC

Install nomachine on your home PC

have IT setup a VPN between the two

Keep in mind depending on what type of PLC software you are using you might have to move a license to the deployed computer. Which is usually painless once you get a method down.

Click to expand...

This will require having a PC local to the PLC to run "nomachine" in a remote desktop scenario. This isn't strictly speaking a "remote connection" to the PLC, you are just controlling and viewing the "local" (to the PLC) PC remotely. Many people do not want that extra PC, it adds a level of complexity, and an added source of failure.

GSM might be an option if signal at both ends is strong and reliable. Connection from Modem to PLC should be the fastest available, 10/100 or even Gigabit from Modem to PLC if possible. You will, of course, have to install a GSM modem at every site you want to remotely manage, and data charges may apply when using the GSM link.

VPN might be an option, but now the minefield gets harder to negotiate, and one solution may not fit all....

The company where the target PLC is may not have any network infrastructure at all, probably just a basic ISP-supplied router that may, or may not, have VPN capability. I have a client just like this, and am working on replacing their router with a Cisco Wireless-N VPN Firewall router, that will allow me to VPN tunnel through to their PLC and HMI remotely.

At the other end of the spectrum, the company where the target PLC is may have a corporate network, a well-defined IT strategy, and an IT department that just won't permit the PLC's to be connected to their precious network - period ! Even getting permission to put an E W O N or similar device on their infrastructure could be an uphill battle.

You will come across all sorts of scenarios between those two extremes

In the United States the GSM sunset is December 31st 2016!!!!

Click to expand...

Ford was nice enough to notify customers with 2G modems (in a 2014 model car !) almost five weeks ahead of time that our telematics would cease functioning. They're offering an in-warranty replacement, at least.

We have a 3 G solution for this application.
RMV-531

http://m2m.icpdas.com/RMV-531.html

Haven't used this but went to a sales presentation and very impressed.
https://www.tosibox.com/north-america/

DISCLAIMER: these two connection methods are probably way too simple to be safe and secure – but I'll cover the general ideas here just because I don't remember ever seeing anyone else mention them before ... (sorry if I've just missed it in the past) ...

(1) RSLinx driver over Internet

once in awhile (such as this holiday weekend) I'll find myself camping out in a hotel room many miles away from my lab equipment ...

before I leave town, I set up a 1756-ENBT module for "Dynamic" – and "Use DHCP to obtain network configuration" ... I plug the Ethernet cable into my Internet Service Provider – and write down whatever IP address gets automatically assigned ...

then later, whenever I have the irresistible urge to tinker around with some code, I just set up an "Ethernet Devices" driver in RSLinx – and specify the IP address of my "back home" system ... bingo! ... I can program the system from far, far away - and have fun doing it ...

(2) Using Windows Remote Desktop Connection

another method (that I use less often) is to leave a laptop running in the lab – and then use the Windows "Remote Desktop Connection" accessory to log into that computer over the Internet ...

this method has the advantage of easily working with any software (RSLogix500, RSLogix5, RSLogix5000, etc.) that's loaded on the lab computer ...

now I can connect to anything in my lab that's physically networked to my "back home" laptop ... basically I'm just "driving" the lab computer remotely ...

another advantage of this method is that I can occasionally let a "trusted" student tinker around with a working system – even from far, far away – and even if he doesn't have a copy of the RSLogix software of his own to experiment with ...

WARNING: both of these two methods are probably NOT SECURE from hacking, etc. – but then again, I'm just using them "once-in-awhile" in a student lab environment ... I'd be a LOT more skittish about using them in an actual industrial setting ... I offer them here as merely a couple of quick "down and dirty" methods that might come in handy in an emergency ...

feel free to ignore this entire post ...