2.2 - Ethernet [UE9 Datasheet]

Related application notes:

Networking
Basic Networking & Troubleshooting
Direct Connection via Ethernet

UE9 Specific Information:

The UE9 has a 10Base-T Ethernet connection. This connection only provides communication, so power must be provided by an external power supply or USB connection.

UE9 commands (Section 5) can all be sent using TCP, except for DiscoveryUDP. All commands, except stream related commands, can also be sent using UDP.

The Ethernet connection on the UE9 has 1500 volts of galvanic isolation. As long as the USB cable is not connected, the overall isolation level of the UE9 will be determined by the power supply. All power supplies shipped by LabJack Corporation with the UE9 have at least 500 volts of isolation.

See a note about power-over-Ethernet (POE) in Section 2.3.

The UE9 has a 10Base-T Ethernet connection. This connection only provides communication, so power must be provided by an external power supply or USB connection. The UE9 ships with an Ethernet patch cable that would normally be used to connect to a hub or switch. A direct connection from the UE9 to a computer might require a crossover cable (not included), but often the network interface card (NIC) on modern computers is capable of automatically detecting the signal orientation and will work with either cable type (patch or crossover).

The LEDs on a switch/hub/NIC can be used to determine if you have an electrically valid connection. An orange LED is often used to indicate a good 10Base-T connection, but consult the manual for the switch/nub/NIC to be sure. In the case of a direct connection between PC and UE9, if Windows says “A network cable is unplugged” or similar, it suggests that the UE9 is not powered or the wrong type of cable is connected.

Complex networks might require the assistance of your network administrator to use the UE9, but the following information is often sufficient for basic networks.

One basic requirement for TCP communication is that the UE9’s IP address must be part of the subnet and not already used. Open a command prompt window and type “ipconfig” to see a listing of the IP address and subnet mask for a particular PC. If the PC shows a subnet mask of 255.255.255.0, that means it can only talk to devices with the same first 3 bytes of the IP address. The default IP address of the UE9 is 192.168.1.209, which will generally work on a network using the 192.168.1.* subnet (unless another device is already using the .209 address). If the IP address of the UE9 needs to be changed, the easiest way is via USB with the LJControlPanel application.

LJControlPanel and Ping (open a command prompt window and type “ping 192.168.1.209”) are useful utilities for testing basic Ethernet communication. It is a good idea to attempt to Ping the desired IP address before connecting the UE9, to see if anything is already using that address. A more extensive Ethernet troubleshooting utility called UE9ethertest is available. See the file readme.txt in the UE9ethertest.zip archive for more information.