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 Posted: Wednesday Feb 23rd, 2011 04:25 pm
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What more needs to be said...

A majority of Comfort installs that I have experience of are not connected to Ethernet cabling and to do so is not an easy task.

A UCM with wireless n capability that wil connect to the Ethernet woud be a major break through and allow the iPhone upgrade that is so desperately needed a way forward.

 

 



 Posted: Sunday Aug 26th, 2012 02:30 am
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slychiu
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We have  tested such a module from Tibbo  but have found that it has limitations, like only supporting WEP, so routers which use WPA would have to downgrade their security which is not a trivial task. The cost of the wifi addition is also quite substantial

There are  better and cheaper alternatives which allow a wired Ethernet device to connect to a wifi network, for example the Aztech 556E, see http://www.solwise.co.uk/wireless-wl-556e.htm


This is a wireless repeater  which plugs into any AC socket
It has a wireless bridge mode which allows a wired  LAN to be connected to the wifi network. I have tried it myself in my house. It is easy to set up and works well (so far)
It costs only £31 from the solwise link
Other similar products are also available from TP Link and others

Last edited on Sunday Aug 3rd, 2014 05:32 am by ident



 Posted: Sunday Oct 14th, 2012 05:57 am
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ident
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Another product that can be used to connect the UCM/Ethernet by wifi is TP-Link TP-WR702N, see http://www.tp-link.com.au/products/details/?model=TL-WR702N

This is a very small 150 MBPS wireless N Dual Band Router
It operates in several modes; Access Point, Router, Bridge, Client and Repeater modes

To connect the UCM/Ethernet by LAN cable to w wifi network, use the Client Mode


Instructions to configure this mode are at http://www.tp-link.com.au/article/?id=395



 Posted: Monday Feb 10th, 2014 12:42 am
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ukhauk
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The TP-Link TP-WR702N are fantastic little devices essential for commissioning on site

Last edited on Monday Feb 10th, 2014 12:42 am by ukhauk



 Posted: Sunday May 25th, 2014 07:33 am
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ident
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Another device for connecting UCM/ETH to the LAN are Homeplug from Aztech, TP-Link and other manufacturers



Two of these plug in devices are used. One is connected to the router by LAN cable. The other is connected to UCM/ETH03 by LAN cable. The signal is passed through the mains powerline cable (like X10 but much more reliable)

Aztech http://www.aztech.com/sg/prod_homeplug.html

TP-Link http://www.tp-link.com/en/products/?categoryid=1862



 Posted: Monday Sep 29th, 2014 04:29 pm
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slychiu
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The Homeplug products are probably a better solution than wifi extenders for connecting UCM/ETH03 to the LAN.

They are much easier to setup, just plug and play. Simply plug in one module and connect to the router and one or more modules are other power points around the house, where the UCM/ETH03 is connected. No setup is required

HomePlug AV is a standard and products that are certfied to it can interwork

Speeds are min 200 Mbps to 1000 Mbps. The connection seems to be more stable than wifi extenders


Aztech HL113EP shown below






TP Link




Last edited on Monday Sep 29th, 2014 04:31 pm by slychiu



 Posted: Monday Sep 29th, 2014 06:37 pm
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juwi_uk
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You were wondering what to do with the space on the main PCB when the X10 support is removed.

:D

Could you not build in support directly on the Comfort PCB so that it can communicate over power line communications as well as UCM/Ethernet? Connect all this up via the Chassis power connector so it's all "built-in".

J

 

 



 Posted: Friday Oct 3rd, 2014 08:04 pm
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wiredhome
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excellent idea Julian

Go on Cytech you know you want to do it ;)

Last edited on Friday Oct 3rd, 2014 08:04 pm by wiredhome



 Posted: Saturday Oct 4th, 2014 06:48 am
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slychiu
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The X10 interface required a XM10E or similar X10 transceiver with mains plug

These Homeplug wallmount adaptors are already available and it would not make sense to manufacture one of those as these are consumer products already produced at very low cost. It would be cheaper to buy one of those at retail shops.

Do you mean then to have the ethernet connection on Comfort itself to replace the X10?








 Posted: Saturday Oct 4th, 2014 10:22 am
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juwi_uk
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Chiu

In part yes put Ethernet on the main PCB.

Was also thinking as homeplug was a standard and though in a plug sized device (for connection and maybe heat dissipation)  the actually comms components inside it would probably be pretty small footprint and also fit on the PCB (single chip?).  That said I've never taken one apart.  I see what you mean though about you would be more expensive to manufacture. 

Jules

 

 



 Posted: Saturday Oct 4th, 2014 10:34 am
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slychiu
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Julian, you cant put homeplug on the Comfort PCB.

It needs to plug into the AC socket, and we cannot have  the 230V to come to the PCB

Hence we would need a plug in module on the mains socket anyway. Then why not just use the available modules?



 Posted: Friday Oct 10th, 2014 01:57 pm
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wexfordman
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On a similar note, I definitely think any future version of the pcb should have on board Ethernet ports rather than having to add via ucm.

There are only rare occasions where people do not need Ethernet at this stage.



 Posted: Friday Oct 10th, 2014 08:07 pm
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tman
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wexfordman wrote: On a similar note, I definitely think any future version of the pcb should have on board Ethernet ports rather than having to add via ucm.

There are only rare occasions where people do not need Ethernet at this stage.

I'd prefer an integrated UCM with the usual socket for a plugin so you can just pick RS232, USB or Ethernet. It'd be more flexible that way. Sometimes you just want a USB connection to program which will just work without also needing to mess about with Ethernet and connecting to the customer's network to do programming. You can always swap out the plugin if Ethernet is required.

Regarding WiFi, I've had success with a cheap TP-Link WR703N/MR3020 reflashed with OpenWRT. The WR702N mentioned above is a tad buggy and weird so I've not had much success in getting it to work reliably. I set up the WR703N as a WiFi client with a NATed LAN behind it that the UCM/Ethernet connects to and then port forwarded TCP ports 1001 and 1002 from the WAN side to the ETH03. You avoid the problems with WDS as compatibility can be spotty and may not be supported at all e.g. enterprise WiFi systems such as Cisco and Ubiquiti. The only caveat is that you're not able to configure or upgrade the ETH03 plugin via WiFi. You'll need to connect a cable to do so. I've not investigated if it is possible to make a small proxy that runs on the WR703N to forward the discovery packets.

Note: The WR702N mentioned above is widely available but not the same as the WR703N. It has significantly less flash so it is not supported by OpenWRT or any of the other replacement firmware images.



 Posted: Friday Oct 10th, 2014 09:51 pm
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Ingo
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tman wrote: I'd prefer an integrated UCM with the usual socket for a plugin so you can just pick RS232, USB or Ethernet. It'd be more flexible that way. Sometimes you just want a USB connection to program which will just work without also needing to mess about with Ethernet and connecting to the customer's network to do programming. You can always swap out the plugin if Ethernet is required.


I second this suggestion. As mentioned, with the ability to use any plugin module you can upgrade from old Eth01/02/03 to whatever comes next and also have the RS232M/F, USB and even RS485M/F if required.

But there is more :-) If you go with the Ethernet plugin option you even get the current Eth03 dual connectivity option. No need to redesign the plugin modules, just provide the Comfort Bus connectivity and header pins.

The only snag is a possible space problem. If you have a LEM installed then it might be too tight.

Ingo



 Posted: Saturday Oct 11th, 2014 08:22 am
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slychiu
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Good idea to have integrated UCM on board Comfort, the challenge is to integrate the UCM firmware into the rest of Comfort, as the UCM currently handles a lot of functions independently of Comfort

I have the same experience with the TP link, it was not very reliable, but I have not heard of OpenWRT before



 Posted: Saturday Oct 11th, 2014 12:22 pm
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Trouble with OpenWRT IMHO is then surely it is taking the solution out of the mainstream and into the enthusiast market and surely the aim here is to get Comfort Ethernet connectivity more mainstream.

IMHO if you were to put a UCM on the main PCB it shouldn't include all 3 connection types. Why? (1) space and (2) it will encourage more people to adopt Ethernet in their solution if Eth is STANDARD on the PC but if they want USB then they'd have to buy an additional UCM at extra cost.

Ju

 

 



 Posted: Saturday Oct 11th, 2014 12:35 pm
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slychiu
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If we were to include on the CM9000, it would have to be with a 10 way connector so any interface could be plugged in, or none at all

We do still have a large majority of customers (but possibly not in Europe) where a ucm is not needed and the extra cost is not justified.



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