Hi guys,
Is it possible to place Flexy in VLAN network as attached image for remote access/data to PLCs (different subnets)?
Hello,
You can place the Flexy in the VLAN, but it will only communicate with the 192.168.0.x range.
Just to elaborate on this a little. It may be possible, but the route to the other networks would need to be added to the routing table on the remote PC (that is running eCatcher). You need to do this by manually adding a static route using the Windows command line, which is not always a great solution. They Ewon really isn’t designed for this type of situation, it’s designed to connect to a single machine subnet generally.
Thanks Kevin and Kyle.
I was about to ask this very question with the same scenario. I’ve been tasked to try and find the best way to deploy these in a central location with routes to multiple VLANs (10+). I tried to explain that generally the EWON is for the machine network with the same subnet range but still need me to explore this.
Am I correct understanding that the above answer by Kyle puts it plainly that the Ewons are not designed for multiple VLAN routing?
No, it is possible, but the problem you run into is that the remote PC (running eCatcher) does not know the routes to these other networks and will send it out the wrong network adapter unless you create static routes.
We have had customers implement it this way, but you either:
a. Make permanent routes to these networks, which on a portable laptop that may be used on-site and off-site could cause future routing issues, or
b. Run a batch script every time you connect with eCatcher to temporarily add the routes.
I’ve tried to lobby Ewon to add this as a built-in feature in eCatcher, but it’s not something we see a lot of demand for, so it hasn’t been implemented yet.
Cheers, I understood it correctly.
Both solutions will work but expecting remote vendors to do this every time is not realistic and certainly can not be easily scaled. As you mentioned previously the Ewon is not intended for this purpose.
That’s correct.
You can use the Ewon with your own OpenVPN server if you want to add more functionality like this. Some of our customers have used the Flexys with the NetGate pfSense appliances in order to have features like client-to-client routing, etc. However, the setup is much more intesive and requires some knowledge of OpenVPN.