Every now and then the question pops up: How do I connect my Central Station (CS) or ECoS to a PC?
I try to explain …
Level 1 – Recommended Practices
In “Level 1” I tell you what to do. In “Level 2” I’ll explain why it’s done that way.
We’ll have to talk about:
- picking the correct cable
- setting up correct TCP/IP addresses
- using the CS from your PC
Picking the Correct Cable
There are two types of cables:
- straight cables
- cross-over cables
Which cable do you need?
For a direct connection between PC and CS a cross-over cable will be correct (a straight cable will work if your PC has an auto-sensing Ethernet port (should be the case for all Gigabit Ethernet ports)).
For a connection that involves a hub (maybe called switch, maybe incorporated in your DSL modem/WLAN router) straight cables will be correct (but cross-over cables will work if there’s an auto-sensing Ethernet port at least at one end).
What’s a hub? A hub allows to connect several PCs to a network – and the CS is a PC (technically speaking), though it looks different. Hubs can have 4, 8, 12, 16, 24, or even 32 ports or whatever. Hubs are often integrated into DSL modems.
Setting up Correct TCP/IP Addresses
The Automatic Way: DHCP
So with the correct cable, how do you set the correct TCP/IP address?
Sorry, but like with the cable, there are two possible configurations: automatic address assignment and manual address assignment.
If your PC uses DHCP for automatic address assignment, then you should use the same method for your CS, too.
But how can you tell? On a Windows PC, go to Start => Run and type “cmd” (without quotes) and click OK. In the new Window type “ipconfig/all” (again without quotes) and look for lines that start with “Dhcp Enabled” and look if there’s an entry behind “DHCP Server”.
Here’s how it looks on my computer (address assigned via DHCP from the DHCP server that is part of my DSL modem (also with integrated four-port Ethernet hub).
Dhcp Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : Yes Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes IP Address. . . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.0.111 Subnet Mask . . . . . . . . . . . : 255.255.255.0 Default Gateway . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.0.254 DHCP Server . . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.0.254
So if your PC uses DHCP, simply enable DHCP on your CS – that should do the trick. If DHCP was not enabled, please restart the CS for the changes to take effect. And connect the cable before you start/restart the CS.
TCP/IP Addresses: The Manual Way
The address range you should use is 192.168.y.x with a Subnet Mask of 255.255.255.0.
Important: y must be the same for all devices in your network (i.e. both your PC and your CS – but there could be more PCs or other devices); valid range is 0 through 255. And x must be different for all devices and valid range is 1 through 254.
I recommend using 192.168.0.1 for your PC and 192.168.0.2 for your CS.
Now go to the properties dialogue of your network adapter (under Windows XP it’s Start => Control Panel => Network Connections, then select your adapter and open it with a double click, scroll to “Internet protocol (TCP/IP)” in the list, select it and click Properties.
Then click Manual Configuration and enter address 192.168.0.1 and subnet mask 255.255.255.0.
In your CS, also go the Network dialogue, disable DHCP and enter address 192.168.0.2 and network mask 255.255.255.0.
Using the CS from your PC
Now open a browser (Internet Explorer, Firefox, Chrome, Opera or any other) and type “http://192.168.0.2/” (without quotes) into the address bar and press Enter.
After a few seconds you should see the homepage of your CS in your browser.