I was recently told that the Ethernet connection on the Super Longboard is only used to physically connect directly to the PC running gSender and that it cannot simply sit on the network and be accessed via wifi by a computer on the same network. Is there any truth to this? I really hope not. I was really looking forward to not having the USB cable run from the computer to the machine, don’t want to just replace it with an ethernet cable.
Hi @wwthandmade,
I have been beta testing the SuperLongBoard for the Sienci team, and can confirm it is possible to connect it to a regular network through a switch, but isn’t necessarily recommended (my thoughts on that in a sec).
I can’t speak for Sienci, but coming from a controls and automation background, one weakness of having a machine sit on a general network, rather than one dedicated to control equipment, is that it lacks isolation from other potential sources of network traffic - whether it be benign but heavy (video streaming), misbehaving equipment, or viruses.
Hope that helps - as I said, I don’t speak for Sienci, just my thoughts. I have been testing it with a direct Ethernet connection, as the PC I’m using uses wifi to connect to the rest of my network.
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Thanks for the insight! I too have an automation background and completely agree with the potential traffic issues, however, in my situation I’m not worried. Not a lot of network traffic at my house.
@wwthandmade @elbarsal That was me that gave Mike the bad information, for which I apologize. Everything that I have read led me to believe that only direct static connections are possible at this time. In fact, it is recommended that, if the controlling PC has only one ethernet connection, we should either get a USB to ethernet dongle or add another ethernet card. At least, that is what I understood.
Ed has shown that I am mistaken. Again, Mike, my apologies. I plan on deleting my posts on Facebook later this afternoon.
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I wouldn’t say you were incorrect @gwilki, the messaging has very much been direct connection is preferred, with static IP address - putting the mill on a general network has definitely not been a focus.
I don’t know if DHCP is even possible for the board, but static is of course.
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No need for apology!! You gave the info as you understood it. That’s exactly what I did in my comment that you commented on… 
@wwthandmade Tks, Mike. I have deleted my comments on the Facebook page. When you get your SLB, I’ll be interested to hear how you make out with wireless connectivity. I don’t have a problem with running the ethernet cable from my controlling pc to the SLB, but there may be times when I am tiling a job that connecting wirelessly could come in handy.
DHCP is theoretically possible but untested by us - you’re able to change the IP mode in EEPROM using $301 between Static/DHCP/AutoIP. The workflow should be relatively straight forward but again, we haven’t sat down and verified the process - for much of the reasons mentioned, connection directly to the controlling PC is preferred.
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@KGN Tks, Kevin. I put my foot in it and provided information that was incomplete at best on the Facebook page. I’ve since deleted it. The interest seems to stem from using a laptop connecting to the home network via wifi, eliminating the cable required by the USB connection. Since the SLB will still be connected to the home network using an ethernet cable, I must admit that I didn’t see the point. One way or another, the SLB is connected with a cable. Now I understand that, for some the issue is that the controlling laptop does not have an ethernet port, which is not unusual. So, these prospective SLB users have no issue having the LM tethered by an ethernet cable. It took a while for me to realize that.
There are differences in USB versus Ethernet connections so I can definitely see the benefit and I don’t think “in spirit” you were incorrect. The best way would be a direct connect as others have pointed out, network latency and congestion could become issues. TCP/IP does a decent job at error correction/retransmit and may be less susceptible to EMI/RFI than (un)shielded USB cables.
That being said, as a Data Center Technical Architect I would advocate that WiFi not only be strongly discouraged but I would go as far as wireless would be unsupported officially. Way too many potential hazards streaming over a wireless connection. You could be in the middle of a project and your neighbor keys up his Baofeng HAM radio and your carve is dead (not to mention my wife binge watching Love Island is the reason I’m away from the network anyway). We have kids in the neighborhood who use WiFi jammers to block our wireless security cameras so that should make you contemplate your options.
If you think your network is “quiet”, I propose you to bring up WireShark and see how chatty your network actually is.
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I started digging after Andy brought up the Beelink Mini PCs and took the leap. I bought one (Beelink EQ12) that had both dual Ethernet as well as a USB-C port so I can have multiple options of connecting to the SLB. The plan is to mount as close to the SLB as possible to minimize cable length as well as potential interference. For ~$250US, it’s a huge impact so far. I can remote desktop into it with Win11Pro if I wanted it to be headless but I went the route of putting a monitor on a swing arm and I can sit right at the machine and control everything. It has enough power to bring up Aspire to make a quick edit to a toolpath
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Please confirm the SLB will be using TCP/IP for the Ethernet.
Thank you.
@R.Portman I have my beta tester connected to my computer using tcp/ipv4, but Sienci has only tested the SLB using a static ip - connected directly to the controlling computer. That is, not through a router. If you would like confirmation of all this, I suggest that you write directly to Sienci.
The reason I ask is I worked on a project which chose UDP because the onboard processor was too slow and had minimal memory. It was an awful decision. We data errors occur randomly,
sometimes even after successfully running for hours.
We eventually convinced the project leader to replace the Arduino with a NUC.
Please read this for details on TCP vs UDP … Differences between TCP and UDP - GeeksforGeeks