recommend a usb to ethernet adapter

strantor

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Join Date
Sep 2010
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katy tx
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Anybody using a usb-over-network adapter to go online with PLCs remotely via PLC USB port or USB>XXXX converter? I've looked around at what's available on Amazon and there's only a few devices, of which most get mixed reviews. Seems being consumer devices, they usually (or not) play well with other consumer devices, like ipods, external HDDs, webcams, etc. But throw them something abstract like a USB oscilloscope or a PLC, and all bets are off. I was thinking maybe the industrial sector has a more reliable device that transfers data exactly, without mucking with the protocol or format. I've never used any usb-over-network device so im not sure how it works, but I picture the device ideally working in the same way a serial>usb converter works. Instead of setting up a virtual COM port and routing serial data from USB to it, it would set up a virtual USB port route USB data from ethernet to it. So I guess if using a serial>usb converter over the usb>network converter, data would be passing through two virtual ports. Sounds like a lot of opportunity for failure; not sure if I should drop the money on one given it probably won't work. But I thought I would check here and see if any of you have done this successfully and what you used.

Infor: I'm running win7 64bit
I would like to be able to to go online remotely to several devices, including but not limited to:
Yaskawa drives with USB port
Allen bradley PLCs via their various U2_____ usb cables
Omron PLCs with USB port
Zeroplus logic analyzer
Picoscope usb oscilloscope
Allen Bradley HMIs with usb port
Red lion HMIs with USB port
Etc.


EDIT: and I am NOT talking about those "CAT5 USB range extender" devices. I'm talking legit network connectivity.
 
I saw a thread on one of the automation forums about a month ago with a link to a device that sounds like what you're asking for, but of course now I can't seem to find it. At the time I was skeptical that such a thing existed, but this was a nice DIN-rail mounted, DC-powered, heavy-duty thing.

What did some up in my searching is a German company that sells some devices that sound like they'll work with industrial USB devices.

http://www.ak-nord.de/ak/index.php?cPath=USB-device-server

Also, USBGear has an inexpensive device that is cheap enough to test:

http://www.usbgear.com/USBNET-400.html
 
Try a google search for 'USB over IP'. There are a few out there. A coworker used the StarTech model, I think it was the USB1000IP, and ran his USB devices through our network from his desktop USB port at the front of the building to the USB device at the back of the building in the parking lot. He tried it on multiple USB devices and they all worked, if I recall.

This is not one of the cheesy wired extenders - it actually runs over IP protocol.
 
I think Strantor was looking for something that was just Ethernet/USB at one end, and software at the PC end. That's far less common than USB->Cat5->USB or USB->IP->USB.

Strantor specifically did not want this, but I figured I'd mention a device we do use successfully in a similar application: We use the Canadian-made ICRON USB Ranger model 2212. It's not Ethernet or IP over the Cat5 twisted pair, so we run a Cat5 cable through our cable track dedicated to just this one pair of devices. We connect a USB microscope to the other end for part inspection, and it works very well.
 
Thank you gentlemen for your input. The fourstar device looked like unobtanium; couldn't even find it for sale on alibaba. The startech model had few reviews and those I could find were mixed. I saw Digi has some devices that fit the bill and I trust their products after recent experience with Digi One IAP, but they are pretty expensive. I ended up buying this; it's a legacy Digi product designed to create a remote terminal over cellular 3G network. I'm not sure if it will work for me at all, but at $30 it's not a big gamble. I figure bset case, it works as a wifi router that makes 2 serial, 2 usb, and 4 ethernet ports available to me over wifi. Most likely case: it makes 2 serial, 2 usb, and 3 ethernet ports available to me over wifi with the addition of a wifi router. Worst case: it won't do a damn thing without a sim card, and even with one, it won't make any ports available to me like I want in device manager (virtual ports) but will instead insist I use Digi's etheros service and afterwards spit out some stream of combined info that I would have to write a program to interpret. I really don't know how it works or what it does and info is scarce on digi's site as it's legacy. I'll let you know how it turns out when I get it out of the box and play with it.
 
Also, USBGear has an inexpensive device that is cheap enough to test:

http://www.usbgear.com/USBNET-400.html

I did buy this device. in my experiments It worked great for:
Fluke 190 series II Scope
el-cheapo Hantek 108 8-channel "scope"
Arduino
camera
Samsung Tablet
external HDDs

Not so much for:
Omron PLC
Yaskawa VFD

The software is very intuitive and easy to use, but when it doesn't like a device, it doesn't complain with a nice popup, it throws a wrench into your processor (BSOD). The other negative is that your PC's IP address must be in the same IP subnet as the USBNET device. If they aren't in the same subnet, the USBNET software will still recognize the device, but won't let you connect to it and use the attached USB devices.
 

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