PLC Remote Access.....Help

I will like to see if you guys can help me figured out, how I can connect to a network of CLX PLC's remotely. I know it can be done because there is someone that is already capable of doing it. You probably wonder, why I just don't ask that person. The reason is that this individual won't share this information with me.

I'm hoping that you guys can help me figure it out.

See if the system is logged in by LogMeIn or Teamviewer, then install the one not being used and assign your own password for remote control.

Your PC needs to be connected to that network in some way.
If you are in the same building and can physically plug an Ethernet cable into their building/PLC network then you are good to go.

If you are 100 miles away then you need to connect to their network through some type of VPN service/connection.

JoseM said:

The reason is that this individual won't share this information with me.

Click to expand...

Is there a reason that he won't share this information with you? If it is because he does not think you are well trained enough to be given that kind of access it might be for good reason. Food for thought.

Anyways, You need to make sure that you have connectivity to the PLC. You can do this by pinging the PLC through command prompt on whatever computer you are using to try and remotely control the PLC. If you have a reply, then you are connected to the network and good to go. If you don't get a reply, then your issue is with being actually connected to the network, and you would have to ask whoever your "network administrator" is how to become connected with your computer.

When you have a reply, you have a couple different options in RSLinx. If you want to use the driver that your default path is using, you have to configure it in RSLinx. For the "ETH" driver, you have to manually enter the IP address of whatever device you want to connect to in the configuration tab. Alternatively, you can use the "ETH-IP" driver which will auto-browse your ethernet network for anything Allen Bradley. Although I have personally had issues with the "ETH-IP" driver in terms of drilling down past certain devices/gateways, but if you don't think this will be a problem, it saves a lot of time and effort. When you have configured your driver correctly, simply open up the program in RSLogix5000, go to who active, and select the corresponding processor. Hit "Go Online", and off you go!

Hope I was helpful.

I agree with "GTUnit" VPN Tunnel is the way to go. We use VPN tunnels to do "Program modification/Update" on the Micro820 Plc, and we are able to program the HMI's that we use also across the VPN Tunnel.

The VPN Tunnel allows us to make "Router" changes as well, I can't tell you how many times our tunnel has saved us a drive to the location, 100's??