Direct Connect

Summary

For some users it is necessary to connect a machine directly to the computer in the event the logger can't be placed on a user's network or there is not a network to plug the machine into.

Please note that if the easiest method to get the equipment connected to your computer is with the use a network router.  The router will use DHCP and handle IP setup for each piece of equipment and the computer.

If a router can't be used, please follow the procedure below.

Procedure

Configuring PC:

1. Plug a network cable from the PC to the machine.  If using a switch plug a network cable from the switch to the machine and another network cable from the switch to the computer.
2. In Windows right-click on the Windows start button () which is usually located at the bottom left corner your display.
3. Select the Network Connections option from the popup menu.
4. The Network Connections window will display all the different network connections the PC has.  Please right-click on the local area connection that the logger or switch is connected to.
5. Select Properties.
6. In the Properties window select Internet Protocol Version 4 (TCP/IPv4).  See image 1 for details.
7. Click the Properties button.
8. You will need to manually enter the IP information for this network.  In image 2 below you will see the the first 3 octets (numbers) of the IP address and Default gateway match.  The last octet should not match.  For this PC example we chose an IP of 192.168.77.5, the Subnet was left default (255.255.255.0), and a Gateway of 192.168.77.1 was chosen.
9. Click Ok when IP information for the computer is configured.  Disregard warnings for Multiple default gateways.  This warning will occur for computers using wireless and cable connection or on a PC with multiple NICs.
10. Click Close.
11. Reboot the computer.

Configuring Equipment (Loggers):

1. On the face of the logger, select the menu button.
2. Choose SYSTEM SETTINGS.
3. In the System Settings window choose NETWORK.
4. The password to enter/change the Network options is 27604.
5. If DHCP is disable you will need to uncheck the DHCP option.
6. The IP information on the equipment now needs to be setup similar to what the PC was set to use.  For example, per the PC example, I am going to choose an IP address of 192.168.77.6, the Subnet will be 255.255.255.0, the Gateway will be 192.168.77.5, and the DNS Server 1 and 2 will be 0.0.0.0.  If more than one piece of equipment is being connected through a switch please make sure the first 3 octets (number segments) match the PC and the last octet (number segment) should be different.  Please note that the gateway IP address of the machine will need to be the same as the IP address of the PC.  This is important as the network connection on the logger will remain RED if the gateway address on the logger is not the same as the IP address on the computer.
7. Reboot the logger (Power off, wait 5 seconds, and turn it back on).

Notes:

• It may be necessary to reboot the logger and or PC after performing these changes.
• If the computer will be working with more than one network interface it will be necessary to manually select the network used by the PC.  This can be done in the NEXT Console.  You can find the NEXT Console in the windows notification area (double-click on the ) or in the Windows start menu.  Click the Network tab in the NEXT console to adjust communications (Figure 3).

Figure 1

Figure 2

Figure 3