Net-eni

I am still having problems with one of my 1761 NET-ENI's on my network.
I know from previous posts theses are not popular to use and I know the limitations of how many devices they can communicate with at one time.
Each one I have is only connected to a SLC 503 and a 2711P through a switch.
all the switches are routed through a switch in my office where I can see them in RSLinx. All work fine except one that will come and go sporadically. Sometimes locking up completely on the RS232 side. Cycling power to the NET-ENI restores it.
My question is on the NET/ENIW Configuration Utility.
Under the ENI IP Address tab.What is the "Obtain via BootP" Box and should it be checked (It currently is)
Or if anyone has any other suggestions, I have another NET-ENI I was going to try changing it. Thanks

I believe that would typically be unchecked if you are using it in a normal static ip configuration.

Thank you for the quick reply, Do you think being checked this could be part of my problem.

hard to say.. those things are so flaky.... its worth a shot.

I doubt that having the "Obtain via BootP" box checked is the root cause of your problem. I have had many (10+) ENIs with the same type of problem and have never been able to conclusively determine the root cause, although I suspect it may be related to "dirty" power. I did manage to get an ENI running smoothly for several months by powering it through the serial cable from a Mircologix 1200 that was powered with 24VDC from a battery. Despite it running well, I eventually replaced all the ENIs in the plant with DIGI IAPs. They're a bit challenging to set up, but once you've done it once you'll have years of trouble-free comms

If you are going to ue the net eni, i would keep an output just to power cycle the net eni. you can either reboot it periodically or have handshake between your hmi and the plc that will trigger a reboot of the net eni if you dont get the handshake in x amount of time.

Get the latest firmware for whatever series you have. This alone fixed about 90% of the ENI problems I used to have. Also, attach a ground wire to the ground lug on the "external" connectors whether you are using those lugs to power it or not.

It is possible, using a message instruction, to send a message to the ENI to node 248 to force it to reset. It's been a while, but I seem to remember monitoring a status bit in the PLC that showed network connectivity. If connectivity was lost, I sent a message and the ENI reset itself.

Thanks all for the input, I have been reading up on other posts to problems related to the NET ENI, I purchased a Digi One IAP, used, to play with. I downloaded Digi Port Authority-Remote, is this the correct software to set it up.
Also on the ENI, reading other posts, is it better to set the baud rate or leave as auto negotiate

This device emulates the basic functions of a NET-ENI in that it will bridge EtherNet/IP to DF1 but doesn’t have E-mailing capabilities. It has more connections (10) and is very solid I.E. you don’t have to reset it frequently (or at all). It is also very easy to setup using a configuration utility that comes with it. Basically you set the IP address, the communications protocol (it does Modbus as well), set the serial port although it defaults to the same DF1 defaults for most AB PLC’s and if you’re messaging from the DF1 side you setup the node to IP address table.
http://www.data-linc.com/custom.htm