ReThink Engineering | 5554 Eureka Drive Suite I | Hamilton, OH 45011 | 513-737-6408 | 513–737-6412 fax

Wireless DNC options

Hardware

ReThink Engineering will attach a serial to wireless Ethernet bridge to each machine tool using a short serial cable. The wireless Ethernet device is 802.11-compliant and will connect to a Wireless Access Point (WAP) in your plant. The WAP will typically be installed in the ceiling of your plant. Each access point typically covers a radius of 400 feet within your facility, depending on obstructions. Wi-Fi works best when there is a line of sight between the WAP and the antenna on the device we install on your CNC. Wireless does not go through walls, around corners or across the street. There are solutions for each of these situations, but the best option is to install another WAP where we have line-of-sight.

Network Considerations

Each Ethernet bridge device can run on DHCP, but we have found best success when assigning a fixed IP address outside the DHCP range in your network. The WAPs mostly run fine with DHCP. If you have a large number of machines, we may suggest setting up the shop floor network on a different IP sequence than is currently being used. For example, if the office is running 192.168.100.xxx, then perhaps the shop could run 192.168.200.xxx. This will require a second network card in the computer hosting your DNC software.

Installation

ReThink Engineering will terminate all cable ends, configure WAPs and Ethernet units on machines, configure each machine in the software, install the software, test the system, train operators and document the installation for a fixed price, either per-day or per-machine. We estimate we need an average of 30 minutes per machine to set parameters, test the configuration and train the operator. Some machines will take significantly longer. We assume that the customer provides us with machines that are currently communicating. If not, the time and cost will increase. We are not responsible for machines with bad RS-232 communication boards.

Security

The wireless units we sell all support WEP, WPA-PSK, WPA2-PSK, WPA-ENT and WPA2-ENT authentication. We do suggest some form of encryption and will rely on the customer to make the correct decision. We will be glad to discuss the various options with you.