Networking questions

[jaymez35]

Newbie here for Christmas 2011

I am deciding if I should go residential or commercial for my home. I have spare slots on my electrical panel so I can wire that up without an issue. My questions concern the networking side of it. The house has been re-wired on Cat 6 for data.



Questions

1. Are the controllers obtain an IP address or can I assign a static IP address?

2. If I can assign static IP addresses does each unit have to programmed separately or can I daisy chain them and set the IP address remotely? Thinking about getting two units.

3. Will the controllers work on a gigabit network?

4. Will a PoE switch cause any problems?

5. Will my domain controller cause any issues?

6. Which OS should I use to run the program? I am running Win7 ultimate (64and 32 bit) and professional (32 bit). I am also running server 2008 and 2003 and a couple of VM’s of XP.

7. Will a separate VM of XP on a Win7 (64 bit) ultimate work?

8. Would a separate VLAN be better for the units?

9. If the units will work on a LAN do I need the extra USB , Serial controllers?

10. Non networking issue. Since the house is wired on 20 amp breakers do I need the double pole breakers or will single 20’s work?

Thanks in advance

[displaysinmotion_will]

you cannot use your home network with lor, lor uses a completely different language.

lor boards use rs485 serial protocal, meaning you cannot connect a ethernet cord directly to you network jack on your computer. you have to use a usb converter to connect your boards to your computer. you daisy chain each board together using ethernet cables, if you purchase the commercial boards, then on each board there are two dials that you set a unit number that will then be used to identify your boards in the software. if you purchase the residential controllers you have to connect each board 1 by 1 to your computer to set a unit id, then you can daisy chain them.

as far as the electrical is concerned you will have to determine how much of a load you are going to be using, if using incandescent lights you will be using much more power than if you are using leds

[gizmomkr]

Although your home wiring cant talk to the controllers via ethernet - you can still use some parts of it.

Controllers dont get IP addresses, but they do get an address - assigned via knob, switches, or via Hardware utility.

Most folks have somewhat of a challenge getting the Computer inside the house connected to the controllers outside.

You CAN use one of your Cat-6 runs to get from some area of your house out to the controller. You would need to remove the network switch from whatever particular port/ patch you were using.

So for example if you had a network jack in your living room, you could connect this to the RS485 adapter, then go to your basement or wherever your patch pannel is, and run a piece of Cat5 / Cat6 from your first controller into the "living room" port on your patch pannel.

Or, If you have a network jack in another part of the house thats closer to the controller network (say for example you want the PC in the livving room, and there is another jack in the garrage) you would remove those two jacks from the network switch, and link the two ports together with a patch cord at the pannel.

As for the other questions: I have Run LOR on XP, Server 08, and windows 7. I personally have not tried it in VMWare, but have read several posts from people that have with no issue.

Domain controller - doesnt matter

POE - doesnt apply as you CANT have anything between the RS485 adapter and the controller. (Your only using the Cat-6 as a piece of wire, No switches, POE, routers, or any other device inbetween)

VLAN - Doesnt apply

Breakers : It should all be single pole. Depending on how you wire controllers they can take (1) or (2) 15 or 20 amp feeds. You need to follow the spec sheet for your controller as to how hevailly you can load each channel bank.

[John2571]

I have not run lor from 64biit but it should work(I'm running it from my apple without problems!) as for your network cables you have three options, run separate wires fr you lor controllers(on the floor or ground), option 2 ,run wire in your walls and underground(witch is what I will be doing), and third, you can just use your existing network and disconnect it from your router. Also, don't run your cat5e cables near power cables! I do this and it messes up your show!

[Max-Paul]

Just to keep things clear. You have to isolate your Ethernet wiring from the RS-485 network. No where can the Cat Xx cables be confused and plug an RS-485 cat cable into an Ethernet switch, hub, router or Ethernet based device such as printer or computer. Totally different voltages and protocol. And unless you want to let the smoke out of something. best not get the cables confused. I would suggest that you use say blue cables for your Ethernet and say yellow or green for the LOR network.

[Nurples]

Max-Paul wrote:

unless you want to let the smoke out of something.

This can be a lot of fun and is pretty easy to do! Hard part is getting the smoke back in. It gets costly.

[KarlSmith]

Here is a good place to get answers.

http://www.lightorama.com/PDF/RS485_Adapters_Man_Web.pdf
http://www.lightorama.com/TypicalSetups.html