Control Network Newsletter

EIPR-E Skorpion IP Router Goes Wireless

July 2013 - We have added a wireless option to the EIPR-E Skorpion IP Router making the automation firewall/router even more useful plus the USB port is available without a price increase. The new EIPR-E wireless router will be released in August.

The EIPR-E IP router is perfect for automation systems and for job sites that require IP router wireless access. The router is a simple-to-use industrial grade Ethernet-to-Ethernet router with a built-in four-port Ethernet switch. Wireless connectivity is accomplished through the USB port.

The EIPR-E router will support a list of Wi-Fi USB modules, which are shown on our website. The EIPR-E offers a Wi-Fi access point functionality allowing end devices, such as PCs or Wi-Fi controllers to connect to the router and then to the Internet. In addition, the EIPR-E will support WEP, WPA, and WPA2 Wi-Fi Security.

The wireless router links two Internet Protocol networks together - passing appropriate traffic while blocking all other traffic. One of the networks is a designated local-area-network (LAN) while the other is a wide-area-network (WAN). Because of the built-in stateful firewall, communications initiated on the LAN-side passes through the router while WAN-side initiated communications is blocked. With Port Address Translation (PAT), several clients on the LAN-side can gain access to the Internet. With Network Address Translation (NAT) there can be a one-to-one translation between LAN-side and WAN-side addresses.

The firewall can be disabled when appropriate - such as using the IP router to connect two subnets together within a private intranet. This allows communication sessions to originate from either side of the router. In this situation, NAT and port forwarding are meaningless. Although the firewall is disabled, the router will continue to block broadcast messages from passing between the two sides of the router.

With Port Forwarding, servers on the LAN-side can be accessed from the Internet via the WAN-side port. The EIPR-E incorporates a four-port 10/100 Mbps Ethernet switch for multiple LAN-side connections. An external Ethernet-based modem - cable or DSL - attached to the 10/100 Mbps WAN-side port can be used to connect to the Internet. DSL modems connect via the PPPoE protocol.

For more information, visit the EIPR-E Skorpion IP Router product page.