How to control correctly an UC400ETH-controller?

[CADdy]

Hi all,

is it necessary to operate the UC400ETH directly via a second network card or can the motion controller be integrated into the normal ETH network?

Best Greetings
Peter

[A_Camera]

Not sure I understand your question. What is a normal ETH network? If you mean your home or office LAN then yes, it's possible to integrate in a normal LAN environment. I have my UC300ETH connected via a LAN switch integrated into my LAN environment, but the IP address is fixed. Works without any issues.

[CADdy]

Thank you for your answer. My "normal ETH-Network" is my network at home with all clients, servers, switches, etc. So I can configure the UC400ETH with an IP address from my network and simply hang it in the network. That's what I wanted to know.

Greetings
Peter

[Robertspark]

with all the other data packets flying around are you sure this is a good idea as CNC likes packets delivered in a timely fashion, and without errors or lost packets as that just takes up more bandwidth having to resend or share with other data traffic. I'm sure you can probably increase the buffer to accommodate this but is that REALLY a good idea.

[CADdy]

Hi Robert,

hence my question. I have a second network card in the PC for UCCNC, which I can use exclusively for the UC400ETH. I would then also configure a separate network for it and connect only these two devices to it. Do I need then a crossover cable or a normal patch cable?

Peter

[dezsoe]

I don't think that any LAN card younger than 10-15 years have any problem with auto-negotiation. I used up all my cross cables for something else.

I have gigabit network and sometimes 2-3 Ethernet UCs are running without any slowdown while the network is also used for other tasks. You can check the latency on the Statistics window. I don't even set them to fixed IP: DHCP works fine and you can set the /s switch in the shortcut to connect to the wanted controller if there are more on the network.

[CADdy]

Many thanks to all. I will use a own network card with crossover cable for the UC400ETH. The hardware is already in the PC.

Cheers
Peter

[A_Camera]

with all the other data packets flying around are you sure this is a good idea as CNC likes packets delivered in a timely fashion, and without errors or lost packets as that just takes up more bandwidth having to resend or share with other data traffic. I'm sure you can probably increase the buffer to accommodate this but is that REALLY a good idea.

This has really never been a problem for me. I have MANY things on my LAN, two cars, an EV charging box, solar panels inverter/control, smart heating, several tablets, phones, smart TV sets, not to mention all the computers constantly online, apart from the UC300ETH and the virtual serial port for Modbus, which is also via Ethernet. I have probably forgot some of the things, but the number of packets is really not an issue if your network is configured right and don't have a lot of erroneous packets due to interference or other issues, or... you still run old 10Mbits LAN and use slow interfaces. Packets are not lost on Ethernet, it is a network type which has built in recovery and error handling, unlike USB. Collisions can and will occur but also handled. So unless you have some configuration problems, I think that's a non-issue. Modern factories would not work if it would be a problem in reality.

[Robertspark]

with all the other data packets flying around are you sure this is a good idea as CNC likes packets delivered in a timely fashion, and without errors or lost packets as that just takes up more bandwidth having to resend or share with other data traffic. I'm sure you can probably increase the buffer to accommodate this but is that REALLY a good idea.

This has really never been a problem for me. I have MANY things on my LAN, two cars, an EV charging box, solar panels inverter/control, smart heating, several tablets, phones, smart TV sets, not to mention all the computers constantly online, apart from the UC300ETH and the virtual serial port for Modbus, which is also via Ethernet. I have probably forgot some of the things, but the number of packets is really not an issue if your network is configured right and don't have a lot of erroneous packets due to interference or other issues, or... you still run old 10Mbits LAN and use slow interfaces. Packets are not lost on Ethernet, it is a network type which has built in recovery and error handling, unlike USB. Collisions can and will occur but also handled. So unless you have some configuration problems, I think that's a non-issue. Modern factories would not work if it would be a problem in reality.

YMMV..... it was a suggestion.

I don't run UCCNC any more (as no support for Turn / Lathe) .... but I have always have a dedicated ethernet connection from each NIC to each motion controller device.

Timing is not more critical as my servo loop (buffer essentially) runs at 1khz, and it needs to be on time and regular.

Again, your experience may be different to mine, that neither makes your advice right and mine wrong.

But if you put your CNC motion controller on a dedicated NIC you will NEVER have an issue. if you share it, you MAY have an issue.... you cannot guarantee you will not have an issue with a shared network connection. However I can guarantee that I will not have a network issue as far as is practically possible, and if I do have an issue it MUST be something else, other than a congested network or shared with something else that is polling the network or something that has hacked the network.

[A_Camera]

with all the other data packets flying around are you sure this is a good idea as CNC likes packets delivered in a timely fashion, and without errors or lost packets as that just takes up more bandwidth having to resend or share with other data traffic. I'm sure you can probably increase the buffer to accommodate this but is that REALLY a good idea.

This has really never been a problem for me. I have MANY things on my LAN, two cars, an EV charging box, solar panels inverter/control, smart heating, several tablets, phones, smart TV sets, not to mention all the computers constantly online, apart from the UC300ETH and the virtual serial port for Modbus, which is also via Ethernet. I have probably forgot some of the things, but the number of packets is really not an issue if your network is configured right and don't have a lot of erroneous packets due to interference or other issues, or... you still run old 10Mbits LAN and use slow interfaces. Packets are not lost on Ethernet, it is a network type which has built in recovery and error handling, unlike USB. Collisions can and will occur but also handled. So unless you have some configuration problems, I think that's a non-issue. Modern factories would not work if it would be a problem in reality.

YMMV..... it was a suggestion.

I don't run UCCNC any more (as no support for Turn / Lathe) .... but I have always have a dedicated ethernet connection from each NIC to each motion controller device.

Timing is not more critical as my servo loop (buffer essentially) runs at 1khz, and it needs to be on time and regular.

Again, your experience may be different to mine, that neither makes your advice right and mine wrong.

But if you put your CNC motion controller on a dedicated NIC you will NEVER have an issue. if you share it, you MAY have an issue.... you cannot guarantee you will not have an issue with a shared network connection. However I can guarantee that I will not have a network issue as far as is practically possible, and if I do have an issue it MUST be something else, other than a congested network or shared with something else that is polling the network or something that has hacked the network.

Actually, not to continue this discussion, but yes, you are wrong in both assuming that you can NEVER have an issue, and also that it can never haver happen to you. It is not just my network and my experience, but actually it is a fact that dedicated network is not necessary unless you do something wrong. As I said, today's industry would not be able to function if dedicated networks were needed for every machine. Their network is not different from mine, if you use the right equipment and configuration you should have no problems. If you have problems it must be the way the network is built. So actually, if you mean a dedicated network is necessary and the right way to go then I dare say you are wrong and I am right. What you do in that case is you hide problems instead of fixing them. If I have a problem with some network equipment then I fix that because I don't want to have faulty equipment in my network, not for CNC use or for any other use. By the way, I forgot to mention printers, scanners, phone use (yes, wired LAN phone via my internet provider) and video surveillance of my home and office (it is not just a home, but also a company). The video is from several cameras, and that is also demanding, yet the LAN can cope with UCCNC without any problems. ...it's not at all about YMMV or magic, it's facts.