Created Date: October 27,2005

Created by: marksji

I think what will help you most is a bit of basic education... Some of this I'm sure you know, but I'll cover it for those that may want the education.

IPX and TCP/IP are protocols that are commonly used on an Ethernet network.

A hub connects multiple devices together via hardwires. In a hub if data is received on one port it is then set to all ports. A hub does not care what protocol you use.

A switch also connects multiple devices together via hardwires, but a switch looks at data coming in on one port and sees what MAC address the data is destined for. If the switch knows that the receiving MAC address is connected to port #X then it will send that data only to port #X; if it does not know where the receiving MAC address is then it sends the data to all ports, but looks at which port it gets a response from; in the future it will know which port to send data through for that MAC address. A switch does not care what protocol is used.

An access point (AP) connects to a wired network and serves as the device all the wireless clients connect to. It acts as a switch between the wired and wireless network. It doesn't care what protocol you use.

A bridge is a device that connects a wired network to a wireless network. A bridge acts as a switch between the wired and wireless networks. A single access point will talk to several bridges.

A router is used to connect one network to another network. Routers speak TCP/IP. To get a full understanding of how a router works we'd have to delve into TCP/IP, but basically in the TCP/IP protocol (unlike IPX) every device on the network knows what other devices are nearby and knows to send data that has a destination outside of the local network to the router. The router then sorts out where to send the data.

Now the really confusing part. In order to bring cheap products to market these devices have been bundled and the terms confused by the hardware manufacturers. What you are referring to as an AP is really a router/switch/AP all wrapped into one device.

What you need to do is buy an access point that is only an access point. Linksys makes a WAP54G that would work pretty well for what your talking about. 3COM makes a 3CRWE825075A that appears to also be exactly what you 're looking for.

One more note; the Linksys product won't be highly reliable; it will probably need to be rebooted 5-10 times a day in an industrial environment.

Created Date: October 26,2005

Created by: brianf

Hunting around, I see quite a few others have already asked the same question I was going to ask... Can one use a wireless AP or bridge to connect to an ECOM module and program wirelessly across a network. This would let me sit a safe distance away with my laptop from a potentially wet environment. The problem, however, is the need for the IPX protocol. In reading the various threads, it seems the IPX protocol is used for troubleshooting. Are these modules kinda "iffy " when it comes to connecting that IPX would be needed? My primary function will be strictly programming PLCs from the office while only having to attach the wireless bridge and cable to the ECOM module on the unit I'd be programming. I was thinking if picking up a 3Com wireless travel router (router/AP/bridge modes), but it only supports TCP/IP. As far as I can tell, most mainstream APs only support TCP/IP. However, the nice thing about the travel router is I can toss it in my laptop bag and it won't take up much room. However, if the IPX protocol is REALLY necessary (in most peoples ' opinions) then can anyone suggest a good AP or bridge to use? Most (if not all) of the ones mentioned in previous threads have been discontinued, and their replacements don't say they specifically support anything other than TCP/IP.