Written by Mark Harries, Marketing Team Leader- Industrial Components and Electronics

1. Select the right product for your application

SMS relay, GSM Modem, 3G Modem, LAN routers…choosing the right product is critical in achieving the desired outcome. Each application is different and selecting the right product is very important. Phoenix Contact has a great range of products and solutions.

Below is a simplified guide to selecting the correct product for your application (other technologies exist such as public telephone modems, but the below cover the trends in the UK marketplace)

2. LAN based router tips

The first question that needs to be addressed is : Will the end customer allow access to the machine/line/site through their own LAN network?

From experience, the answer to this question is that some will and some won’t. Most of the objections raised are around security and additional holes being opened up to allow traffic in and out.

With the mGuard RS2000 and RS4000 devices, a simple trick called ‘TCP Encapsulation’ can be activated. This means that data sent to and from the machine/line/site is wrapped up and can be transmitted via standard internet ports such as 80 or 8080 as standard internet traffic. This means that IT don’t need to open any specific ports on their network and therefore reducing effort and risk.

For security concerns, the mGuard RS2000 and RS4000 also double up as firewall routers. The RS2000 has a simplified firewall ‘two click’ setting which can allow or deny incoming/outgoing connections. The RS4000 has a greater functionality with individual firewall rules which can be set as required. This is typically to eliminate unauthorised access to certain parts of a machine/line/site. The diagram below shows the concept described above. For more information please click here.

3. 3G Modem based tips

3G, 2G and GSM modems are all part of Phoenix Contact’s range. Typically, 3G routers are used for modern applications as they offer high data rates and can therefore give visualisation to applications in almost real time.

Top tips are:

1. Check the mobile network coverage. Rather like your mobile phone, the performance of the 3G Modem is only as good as the mobile signal it receives.

2. Protect your remote connection. The Phoenix Contact mobile based modems have VPN technology. This means that data can be sent in an encrypted manner, to protect against unwanted attacks.

3. Think about your data costs. Many people do not consider this additional cost so it is worth getting a data plan to match your application requirements.

Phoenix Contact can offer a Global SIM card, which is free to obtain. This SIM card gives you 1MB data free per month for the first 12 months. It also uses roaming technology so that you get the best mobile phone network coverage. Finally, it also has a fixed data cost regardless of the country where the 3G Modem is installed. This is particularly useful to customers who export panels and machines around the world and want a fixed data cost to work with.

To find out more please click here.

4. SMS Relay tips

SMS relay devices from Phoenix Contact can be used in two significantly different ways.

1. The X200 device can monitor digital and analog values to see if they go high/low or above/below a threshold. If this condition happens- such as a tank becoming full or empty- an SMS or E-mail can be sent to one or multiple people. Equally, one or multiple people can send the X200 device a message to switch on/off an output. This is a very cost effective device for simple alarming and control applications. This is a great solution for battery monitoring, remote pumping stations and other similar applications.

2. The X300 device can be used as a mini data logger as it supports ODP so can send data continuously to a server. This is great for monitoring production applications which might not have a LAN infrastructure in place. This can give management information about up-time and machine efficiency.

To access more information please click here

To download a brochure for this product please click here.

5. Using existing cable cores to transmit Ethernet, Profibus and Serial

It is often a requirement to connect up remote buildings or systems and transmit comms such as Profibus, Ethernet or Serial. Quite often existing cables are already in place, and if two or four cores of the existing cable are not utilised this can be a very cheap way to transmit data for distances up to 20KM.

To calculate the data rate that you can achieve using this solution please click here, which is an e-learning video showing you how to use our SHDSL Calculator software.

To download the SHDSL Calculator software for free and to download the software for setting up the device which is also free (PSI CONF) please click here. It can be downloaded under the software section.

For more information about industrial modems, please contact Mark by email: mharries@phoenixcontact.com or telephone 07717 335477.