How to use the Lantronix ethernet terminal server ETS16P

[dhazer]

I'm trying to configure and use a Lantronix ETS16p to get rid of the many serial cables strung out everywhere. At the office we were using dummy termainals (like a WYSE 60), but now we are using Procomm Plus with the serial cable directly hooked up to the PC. I know for a fact that other businesses have used the lantronix ethernet terminal servers to make procomm connect up to the lantonix device as a "telnet" connection in Procomm Plus over the ethernet network or internet.

Do any of you know how to use/configure the ets8p or ets16p to connect a serial device to Procomm Plus via the lantronix device on the LAN?

-dan

 

[pansophic]

I haven't used a dumb terminal or a terminal server in many years, but back in the days when I did, you simply telnetted to the IP of the terminal server and it would connect you with the next available port. If you had ports (RS-232 ports) on the terminal server configured for specific functions, you would configure them to listen on a different TCP port number (other than 23) and telnet to the IP and port number of that port on the terminal server.

For what you are doing, you will probably need a null-modem cable to attach the terminal server to the "host" computer if you were using straight-through cables for the terminals, because both the terminal server and the port on your host would be DCE devices.

Can you give us any idea what kind of problems you are actually encountering?


pansophic

 

[dhazer]

Thanks pansophic.

I figured it out.

He's what I did.
First, the lantronix tech support is stellar and free, (they're in orange county, CA).
As long as you match up the pins properly from your existing serial device to those of the ETS device, it works out. Pinouts for the device I found at lantronix.com.

Third, by factory default, the port number you use cooresponds to the port # to use to login. So if you plug in to the lantronix port 7, then on procomm plus you use port 2007 for a translated stream from the port or port 3007 for a raw TCP stream (I'm not using the proper wording for those 2 ports, but it's something like that)

So there's no need to configure any telnet user, no services need to be configured, and no major settings other than settings like baud rate, type of handshaking used, and byte lenth, # of stop bits, etc.

 

[eyedoc1975]

We have been using Wyse325ES colour terminals for the network using serial connections to a Unix server. These
terminals are no longer made by Wyse. Someone suggested
LCD monitors and thin clients made by HP to replace those that are failing. Would Lantronix ethernet terminal servers
can be used with LCD monitors instread of Dumb terminals?
Do they have port for CAT 5E cable as well as RS-232 ?
Any help or suggestions will be appreciated.
Thanks for your reply.

 

[pansophic]

Terminal servers (not to be confused with Terminal Services) pass serial data over ethernet networks. So a terminal server typically has many serial ports (RS-232) and one network port (10/100base-T). I've not seen a terminal server reach the Gig-E speeds of CAT 5E, especially since it is very hard to imagine enough serial data flowing from a terminal server to fill a 10Mbps pipe.

If it is your Wyse terminals that are failing then you need to look at new workstations. Thin clients or "diskless" workstations are both suitable replacements for your Wyse terminals. A monitor does not have the correct interfaces or IO handling to replace a dumb terminal. You need a processor of some sort to replace your dumb terminals, if nothing else, just to handle keyboard IO and serial/network IO.

The type of monitor that you use is irrelevant, although you would be hard pressed to find a CRT these days.


pansophic