User's Manual Part 1

NPort W2004 User’s Manual Choosing the Proper Operation Mode

4-4

Real COM Mode

NPort W2004 comes equipped with

COM drivers that work with Windows

95/98/ME/NT/2000/XP systems. The

driver establishes a transparent

connection between host and serial

device by mapping the IP:Port of the

NPort W2004’s serial port to a local

COM port on the host computer.

One of the main conveniences of using

Real COM Mode is that Real COM

Mode allows users to continue using

RS-232/422/485 serial communications

software that was written for pure serial

communications applications. The

driver intercepts data sent to the host’s

Real COM Mode

Proceed directly with data

transmission (connection

request not required)

NPort W2004

RS-232

Console

Device Serv

NPort W2004

WLAN

Signal

Strength

Ready

RS-232/422/485

Ethernet

Serial (TTL)

Serial Device

TCP/IP

WLAN

COM port, packs it into a TCP/IP packet, and then redirects it through the host’s Ethernet card. At

the other end of the connection, the NPort W2004 accepts the Ethernet frame, unpacks the TCP/IP

packet, and then transparently sends it to the appropriate serial device attached to one of the NPort

W2004’s serial ports.

ATTENTION

Real COM Mode allows several hosts to have access control of the same NPort W2004. The

driver that comes with your NPort W2004 controls host access to attached serial devices by

checking the host’s IP address. Refer to Accessible IP Settings in Chapter 5 for more details.