User's Manual

Commissioning

4.5 Basic settings in the operating system

SIMATIC RF350M

Operating Instructions, 11/2015, C79000-G8976-C416-01

NID Indicators

A NID indicator provides two measuring bars on the screen. One bar shows the charge

remaining in the battery. The other bar displays the signal strength with which the mobile

reader communicates with the connected wireless LAN access point. The applet also

provides for options for arranging the bars on the display.

NID Keypad

With the NID Keypad applet, you can assign functions to certain keys:

● Changing a key function

● Enabling/disabling the scan key

● Default mode of the alphanumeric keypad, in other words numeric mode, lowercase or

uppercase writing

● Enabling/disabling the keylock

NID Link Watchdog

With this applet, you can put a service into operation for monitoring connectivity via wireless

LAN (WLAN) or by USB. This service informs the user about an interruption of the

connection by sounding a warning signal and displaying a corresponding message on the

screen. As soon as a functional communications channel is available again, the message

window disappears from the screen and a connected signal sounds.

The purpose of this service is to improve the user-friendliness of the device particularly in the

WLAN environment where an interruption of the connection can occur daily. One reason for

this may be that the device is outside the range of the WLAN coverage or there is a longer

bad signal transmission. The user therefore receives information about an interruption of the

WLAN connection that may be difficult to recognize when there are other problems. This

allows suitable measures to be taken immediately after interruption of the WLAN connection.

The Link Watchdog service can only be used when the computer can be reached via the

cable backbone network of the WLAN infrastructure. The monitoring does not require any

special software on this computer. Only its IP address and the TCP port number for sending

"polls" need to be set in the applet. Polling does, however, require an open TCP port on the

computer. In addition to this, the computer must also react to TCP connection initiations. An

alternative to the end device for monitoring connectivity is a Web server running on the

computer.

NOTICE

Blocking by firewall and NAT device

If there is a firewall, a NAT device or both between the RF350M mobile reader and the

computer sending the polls, it is possible that the service for monitoring the NAT connection

does not work if no changes to the configuration are made on the NAT device and on the

firewall.