Ken Roach
Lifetime Supporting Member + Moderator
I have an interesting machine project with a rotating assembly for which the builder is providing a slipring that claims to support "up to 50 Mb/s network signals". I need to run EtherNet/IP connections across that slipring to support some ordinary cyclic I/O devices from a ControlLogix.
The slipring vendor does offer products that are advertised to work with Fast Ethernet (100 Mb/s) and even Gigabit Ethernet. But those aren't the ones that are being provided. I do not think I can assume that the slipring will support a 10 Mb/s Ethernet connection.
I have done some research for "Ethernet extenders" that use DSL or a proprietary signal. They seem popular in the commercial surveillance camera industry.
We do have some footprint and budget constraints, so my thinking is to buy a managed Ethernet switch that gives me the usual tools for EtherNet/IP (IGMP snooping, port mirroring, SNMP monitoring and tools) but also has an SFP (Small Form Factor Plug) port. I will install one at the base station, another on the rotating machine, and use a pair of SFP form factor VDSL2 modems to connect them.
So I've really got two questions:
Can anyone recommend a good managed Ethernet switch with between 5 and 8 ports that has one or two SFP ports ?
Does anyone have experience using SFP form factor VDSL modems in those kinds of switches ?
I fear that I'm oversimplifying that any switch with an SFP port will support both GigE/fiber plugs and one of these modem plugs.
My backup "tell the project manager to stop being stingy" plan is the Moxa IEX-408E switches, which have VDSL2 ports built in, and otherwise tick all the boxes I need. They're not completely out of my price range but I was hoping to not be tied to a single device from a single vendor, even one as sturdy as Moxa.
The slipring vendor does offer products that are advertised to work with Fast Ethernet (100 Mb/s) and even Gigabit Ethernet. But those aren't the ones that are being provided. I do not think I can assume that the slipring will support a 10 Mb/s Ethernet connection.
I have done some research for "Ethernet extenders" that use DSL or a proprietary signal. They seem popular in the commercial surveillance camera industry.
We do have some footprint and budget constraints, so my thinking is to buy a managed Ethernet switch that gives me the usual tools for EtherNet/IP (IGMP snooping, port mirroring, SNMP monitoring and tools) but also has an SFP (Small Form Factor Plug) port. I will install one at the base station, another on the rotating machine, and use a pair of SFP form factor VDSL2 modems to connect them.
So I've really got two questions:
Can anyone recommend a good managed Ethernet switch with between 5 and 8 ports that has one or two SFP ports ?
Does anyone have experience using SFP form factor VDSL modems in those kinds of switches ?
I fear that I'm oversimplifying that any switch with an SFP port will support both GigE/fiber plugs and one of these modem plugs.
My backup "tell the project manager to stop being stingy" plan is the Moxa IEX-408E switches, which have VDSL2 ports built in, and otherwise tick all the boxes I need. They're not completely out of my price range but I was hoping to not be tied to a single device from a single vendor, even one as sturdy as Moxa.