2 networks; 1 HMI

I have 2 systems running with 2 different IP addresses for their internal networks.

One system uses 192.168.x.x IP address and the other system uses 10.9.x.x.

I would like to monitor data from both systems to a single display. I am currently using a C-more HMI for each system separately. I originally tried to bring everything into one HMI, but caused some sort of conflict and shut one of the systems down. I guess I don't know enough about what is involved in setting something like this up.

Is this doable?

I would like to use a single C-More display but I am open to other solutions.

Any help is appreciated.

With most devices, you would need two different Ethernet interfaces to connect to two subnets. In Windows it is possible to assign an interface an extra IP address, but I've never seen that on embedded devices.


One possibility would be to re-assign the IP addresses for the internal networks of one of the machines.


Another possibility would be to add a router (might need to be NAT depending on if you can change the PLC configs) to allow you to communicate between the two networks.

I dont know C-more, but this is what I know from other HMI systems:

1. (assuming the HMI only has 1 ethernet port) in order for the HMI to reach a device one another network, the device must be "reachable". So that could mean that there must be a router between the HMI and the device on the "other" network.
If you connect your laptop to the same cable that the HMI would connect to, and succesfully ping the device, then the HMI should also be able to connect to the device on the other network.
It can get a little convoluted. It may be necessary to tell the HMI which route to use to access a specific IP address.

2. If for some reason the above cannot work, then a more elegant (or brutal, which way one sees it) is to have a 1-to-1 NAT router between the networks. The NAT router translates the IP addresses between the two networks, so that for example the IP address 10.9.0.67 is translated to 192.168.4.67. The HMI then uses the IP 192.168.4.67 for reaching 10.9.0.67.

3. Some PLCs and HMIs supports routing within their own system. For example if the PLC has two Ethernet ports, it can perform the routing from one network to the other. At least Siemens and AB supports this.

4. Windows, and also some HMIs (I believe Siemens do) support multiple IPs on 1 ethernet interface. In this way you can connect to multiple networks via simple unmanaged switches.
I have never tried it though.

I believe you can get add-on communication modules for C-More. I would just add a 2nd Ethernet port and plug each network into it's own port. Probably the cheapest and easiest way to accomplish this.

https://www.automationdirect.com/ad...re_ea9_series_options_-a-_accessories/ea-ecom

Christoff84 said:

I believe you can get add-on communication modules for C-More. I would just add a 2nd Ethernet port and plug each network into it's own port. Probably the cheapest and easiest way to accomplish this.

https://www.automationdirect.com/ad...re_ea9_series_options_-a-_accessories/ea-ecom

Click to expand...

I think this expansion is only for EA3 series HMIs that lack an embedded port. I don't think there is a way to add a second ethernet port to any of the C-More line.

A router is what is required here.

n55_6mt said:

I think this expansion is only for EA3 series HMIs that lack an embedded port. I don't think there is a way to add a second ethernet port to any of the C-More line.

A router is what is required here.

Click to expand...

If you read further into the description, it does fit all C-More panels except the -R models. -R indicates models with base features that lack the expansion port.