Tag Archives: WLAN

Wireless – Forever evolving technology

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Written by Gareth Chamberlain, Product Manager- Cyber Security & IT Automation

Wireless- it really is an amazing technology. The ability to send data from a PLC to remote I/O still surprises me, especially when customers bring a new application to me with what they want to achieve.

There have been some changes regarding our wireless portfolio which I would like to talk about today to bring you up to speed on what is available and achievable.

First, the bad news. I think you would be surprised to find anyone who does not know about the global semiconductor shortages and one of the articles that we provide has fallen victim to this, but of course we have a replacement for the item.

Our old faithful, FL WLAN 5110 is to be made obsolete with short notice. This is due to the aforementioned component shortages.

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WLAN- the retrofit revolution

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Written by Gareth Chamberlain, Product Manager- Cyber Security & Automation

Over the last year, other than staring at four walls of the home office, we have seen a lot of retrofit projects come to us to help to bring older technology up to date. Most common needs are to replace serial systems with an ethernet based topology. The most common product family that comes up in applications is the FL WLAN 2100 and the FL WLAN 5110 to create a wireless cable replacement of what was the serial communication.

The most common application is retrofitting communications to overhead cranes. These faithful work horses play such a crucial role in everyday production that there is no leeway for a critical piece of equipment to be down due to component failure. A lot of maintenance departments spend thousands on spares that are depleting at an alarming rate due to obsolescence or the OEM that commissioned the crane originally simply does not exist anymore.

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Why go wireless?

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Written by Andy Maskell, Product Manager- Saftey, I/O & Networks.

WirelessWireless technology has moved on in recent years to the point where there are few applications where it cannot be used. The obvious requirement for wireless technology is where it is too costly (cable and copper costs) or where it is  impossible to run cables.

Examples are:

  • Between buildings
  • Across roadways
  • Airport runways
  • Across water
  • Across third party property
  • Escalators/Lifts
  • Cranes
  • Long distance cable runs (Ethernet 100 metres limitation)

The list goes on and on.

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What we have in store at IP Expo 2018…

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Written by Gareth Chamberlain

Is it me, or has this year flown by so quickly?

It seems only like yesterday that we were lapping up and then moaning about the UK heatwave like the typical brits we are. But, with October on the horizon, we are getting ready for taking our network technology on the road to the IPExpo in London on the 3rd and 4th of October.
What is IPExpo? I hear you typing away on google. IPExpo is an IT exhibition that is renowned for its speakers and technology on display. It is one of the biggest IT fairs in Europe.

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Is your power supply ready for the Industrial Internet of Things? The QUINT4 DC UPS sure is.

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Written by Mark Lloyd

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In 2004, we released our first DC UPS, the first generation QUINT-UPS, which is still in use and purchased today.

Then in 2011, we released the QUINT UPS-IQ, which for the first time allowed some monitoring of the connected battery to see such things as battery status, battery lifetime, and remaining runtime. With this generation of UPS it is possible to pass this info up to higher level controls but requires additional hardware.

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Merry Christmas – Let’s take a look back at 2017…

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If you can believe it, 2017 is coming to an end and we about to embark on another year. This year has been a great year Phoenix Contact and I sincerely hope that you have enjoyed our blog posts and discovered how our great products can help you and your business.

But if there are any that you have missed, would like to revisit, or you just need a little break from the last manic Monday of the year; I have put together some of the year’s best blog’s, so grab yourself a brew (or mulled wine and mince pie, it is Christmas after all) and revisit our industry highlights of the year.

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Discover our WLAN access point solution for potentially explosive areas

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Dave Hall, Industry Manager – Process Industry

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Happy Monday All,

When I have been discussing applications in the process environment, I have seen that more and more design engineers are using Ethernet as their chosen protocol for data transmission. Many opting to send signals by wireless Ethernet avoiding long cable runs around plants. This is fine on a standard production line like a car plant, but what happens on a gas platform out in the North Sea, an oil refinery or a petro-chemical plant or in fact any process plant with hazardous areas?

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What do you need to connect today?

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Written by Andy Maskell, Product Manager- Safety,  I/O & Networks

WLAN 1100The demand for data and information flow is growing.  You need to get your machine networked with the absolute minimum fuss.

The new WLAN 1100 provides a compact space saving solution by combining an access point and antenna in a single device. Two powerful antennas with MIMO technology ensure fast and stable wireless in your application.  In contrast to the classic concept, it is installed like an antenna directly onto machinery, mobile vehicles or control cabinets, rather than inside the control cabinet, saving valuable space.

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Top Five Tips for Industrial Wireless Applications

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Written by: Mark Harries, Business Development Manager- I/O and Networks.
To discuss your application in more depth please don’t hesitate to e-mail me at mharries@phoenixcontact.com or if you would like to speak to me in person please ring my mobile on 07717 335 477

1. Planning

If you are unsure of the best wireless product to use then I strongly suggest you download our free Wireless Network Planner tool. This helpful software is free to download and with the aid of a wizard takes the user through the best product to select in a step by step way.

Download the software  –    You can then download the demo version from here.

wireless software

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