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Serial to IP across different LAN segments?

I have an old piece of software that was intended to be installed on a user's workstation. However our organization intended to use it in a more client-server fashion. So I installed it on a box that I put in the network rack of the building the users work out of, and setup remote desktop for them to access it. There was a device that they needed to use with the software, which attached through serial, so I bought a serial to network adapter and set that up, and it's been working fine. My intention was always that one day, when connectivity between that location and the main site was better, I would move that software to a VM at our main site, and my assumption was that the serial to network adapter would keep things working. Well, todays the day I started working on moving it to a VM and turns out I was wrong. The serial to network adapter (NETRS232 from Startech) it turns out only works when the adapter and computer are on the same lan segment, which will no longer be the case when the software is moved to the main site. So I started looking into this problem, and all I've managed to do so far is confirm that there really seems to be no way to get this NETRS232 to work across lan segments. Really struggling to find info on this situation....

Surely I'm not the only one....is there a way to get this device to work across lan segments? Or is there another product that does work across LAN segments?

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noci

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masnrock

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noci

OTOH was the default gateway configured on the serial to ethernet equipment?
And was IP (TCP/IP) used to communicate or some propriatary LAN protocol?

Tatankasa

ASKER

Thanks guys for your comments! Turns out, Star Tech was full of crap. In retrospect, I think they claim it only works on the same lan segment because they use broadcast packets to discover the devices. I already knew the IP and was able to create the virtual com port and after tinkering with the terminal app, it eventually started working!

Natty Greg

What do you mean by tinkering with the app please explain so that others can learn exactly what you did

Tatankasa

ASKER

Sorry, you are correct, I shouldn't have left the comment at that. I actually wasn't sure what I had done to get the virtual com port added, I just suddenly noticed it was there, and when I tried it, it worked. I just went back and looked at it again. So, originally I couldn't find the installer for the software that came with the Serial-IP device, which is called 'StarTech IP-Extender Manager', so I downloaded it again from StarTech.com, and it seems they are using different software now, called 'Vcom'. I wasn't having luck with Vcom, so I just did a 'dirty' install of the old software (copied the program files folder from the old computer to the new one) and ran it. So it had the same problem as Vcom, it wanted to 'detect' the device with broadcast packets. But after looking at it again today, I remember that I had found a button for 'WAN Activation', and I'd manually pumped the IP address in there. At the time, it didn't seem to work, but trying it again now, I see that it does work, and that's how the virtual com port must have been added yesterday.

So I still can't find an installer for the 'StarTech IP-Extender Manager' software, but the answer seems to be to use that software, and the tiny 'WAN Activation' button to manually add the device.
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