This week we will discuss about the in built IP STACK feature in our HSPA Serial Data Modem (Intermax). This modem has been designed to suit a range of applications in the M2M industry. Intermax IPStack support two modes of operation and can be configured as a Server or Client mode. In Server mode the Intermax will be act as a socket server, meaning that it will be listening on a specific port and wait for incoming client socket connection. As soon as the client drops the socket connection, the Intermax will go back to socket listening mode as per IP stack configuration. On the other hand with client mode the Intermax will try to establish a socket connection to a preconfigured server IP address and port number. The client mode also supports a secondary server IP address just in case the primary server can not be reached. The in-built IP stack feature supports smarts such as PPP link check, TCP link check, PPP link timeout, TCP link timeout and MTU settings.

A common question we always get asked is should I use the Intermax in Server or Client mode. This depends on the device the modem is used with and the software that communicates with the data logger. To use the Intermax in Client mode your application should support incoming TCP/IP socket connection, That is to say that the Intermax will activate the PPP connection and establish a TCP/IP socket connection to a preconfigured server IP address and port number. If such a setup is not in place and the application software is designed to work in client mode then we suggest using the Intermax in Server mode where it will behave as a socket server and it will be listening to incoming client socket connections.

For further information on how to use this feature or on the operation, please contact Maxon Australia Technical help desk team by phone on +61 2 8707 3000 or e-mail support@maxon.com.au.

This week we will talk about the Unimax HSUPA VPN capabilities, with our Unimax HSDPA version, it only supported VPN path though, now with the Unimax HSUPA version it supports 4 VPN modes: VPN Gateway (L2TP/IPSec), L2TP/IPSec Client, IPSec Client and PPTP Client. Thus making the Unimax one of the cheapest VPN enabled NextG/3G routers on the market.

Unimax VPN Gateway mode enables you to access multiple devices on the Unimax LAN side(Local Area Network), for example if you have a remote location with multiple loggers / RTU’s / Computers and you need to access all these devices via their LAN IP address, you will configure the Unimax as a VPN Gateway , and from your office location you will establish a VPN connection using another VP device or Windows VPN connection to the Unimax out in the field, connecting you office Network to the Remote Location Network (LAN 2 LAN). Enabling you to access each of your remote devices separately, as if they are part of your LAN.

Unimax VPN Gateway supports L2TP with implementation over IPSec (L2TP/IPSec) that can accept up to 5 concurrent client connections. IPSec supports the following:

NAT-T (NAT Traversal in the IKE)
Key Exchange IKE
DES, 3DES and AES as cryptographic algorithms
ESP authentication (Encapsulating Security Payload )

In order to use the Unimax VPN Gateway you will require a private wireless IP Address or a Public dynamic IP Address with Dynamic DNS registration, and both features are available with the Unimax as we have discussed in earlier blogs

For further information on the VPN gateway setup or how to use this feature, please contact the Maxon Technical help desk team on +61 2 8707 3000 or e-mail support@maxon.com.au.

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Measurements & Metering Innovation

Date: 17th to 19th May 2010
Venue: Hilton Brisbane Hotel
190 Elizabeth Street, Brisbane, Australia
Stand #: 18

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Stand #:c43
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Power ON the Unimax Router and connect to a computer using an Ethernet cable. To launch the web interface of the Unimax, open a web browser such as Internet explorer for Windows and type the LAN IP address in the address bar. For example, the default IP address of Unimax is 192.168.0.1.

Enter username and password in the pop-up window that prompts for login details. Username and password is “admin’ by default.

Further instructions are continued here

When a computer on the internet sends data to the external IP address of the Unimax router, the router needs to know what to do with the data. Port Forwarding simply tells the router which computer on the local area network to send the data to. When you have port forwarding rules set up, Unimax router takes the data off of the external IP address port number and sends that data to an internal IP address port number. Port Forwarding rules are created per port. So a rule set up for port 21 will only work for port 21.

Please note that a port can only be used by one program at a time! Think of how this rule interacts with NAT. The Unimax router has only one external IP address on the WAN. When computer 1 is using port 500, it is using port 500 on its internal IP address. If you have set up a port forwarding rule for computer 1 and port 500, the external IP address’s port 500 is also in use. This means that you can only use port 500 on one computer on the network at a time. Using port 500 on two computers at the same time would violate the one program rule, and your data would get messed up. Unimax router requires users to specify an internal IP address to forward ports to, just for this reason.

Some applications in which Port Forwarding can be an ideal solution are: Remote desktop, multiple host devices using different port numbers, video surveillance and restricting access to certain ports on the LAN.

For further information on the Port Forwarding or applications where this feature can be used, please contact the Maxon Technical help desk team on +61 2 8707 3000 or e-mail support@maxon.com.au.