ecom100 on internet

[sparky1234]

Hi Guys,

Ok I'm not an IT guy, so please bear with me.  I have an application using a D06 with an ECOM100 card.  I tested on our LAN with no problems.  I now have a system at a customers site, who has a dynamic IP address.  I was able to port forward his router (D-Link) and saw the ecom webpage.  I couldn't get direct soft or net edit to see the card.  Now it seems the router has issues.  The owners IP address hasn't changed, but I cannot see the card at all.
What I would like know is there a setup using the ecom 100 on the internet, with customers utilizing dynamic IP's that will work consistanly.  I don't mind purchasing additional hardware, routers.  I need to be able to remotely monitor and update PLC programs.
Thanks for any help.

[Greg]

The reason DirectSOFT nor NetEdit can see the card is because they both use broadcasts to find ECOM100s. The broadcast telegram is getting blocked by the router. If you can ping the card, you can connect DirectSOFT to it manually. In other words, when configuring the link in DirectSOFT, you don't have to see the card in the list, you can go ahead and enter the information in the link (IP Address), and probably increase the timeout value (because it is going over the Internet), and then it should connect.

Also, when you say "dynamic IP address", do you mean it is using DHCP and therefore can change? If so, you will always have to know the address to connect to it because DirectSOFT will not be able to find the ECOM100 across a router boundary due to the blocking of its broadcast telegram.

[sparky1234]

Thanks Greg, I am presently calling the customer when I'm trying to connect to get his/hers current IP address.  If the router is programmed to port forward, then I should be able to connect to the card?  This is where I'm experiencing difficulties.  Would you know of a specific router I should be using? 
I did increase the timeout time to 25000ms.

[Greg]

If the router is configured to forward the telegrams properly, then yes, it should connect and work. Here's the deal: Neither DirectSOFT nor the ECOM100 "know" that they are talking via the Internet. It has to be the components in between that become transparent enough to allow this comm. DirectSOFT is trying to link to a particular IP address that it "thinks" is an ECOM100. The ECOM100 is answering back to what it "thinks" is DirectSOFT.

Now, since the router is actually the device that is hanging on the Internet with the ECOM100 behind it, then DirectSOFT has to be configured to talk to the router's IP address, because, in most cases the ECOM100 behind the router has an internal IP addressing scheme (e.g. 192.168.x.x). Routers can forward IP address easily enough; after all, that's what they do... route  . But here's the other critical part: DirectSOFT sends out the IP telegram over port 7070(hex) (28784 decimal). The router must have a "hole" poked into its firewall to allow TCP port 28784 to be open.

It could also be that instead of the ECOM100 being behind the router, the ECOM100's IP address itself may be visible over the Internet, depending on how the IT personnel have their firewall configured. If so, then, of course, you would not use the router's IP address in the DirectSOFT link as I described above, but the actual ECOM100's IP address.

Does this help any?

[sparky1234]

Thanks Greg,  I'll give it a try.