I have an Etherlite 32 switch that was originally used as a switch for dummy terminal to connect to a linux server. We would now like to use it as a windows network switch. Is it capable of doing this? How would I go about reseting the switch and installing the new drivers/firmware. I don’t have alot of experience with switches so the simpler the explanation, the better.
The ports on the EtherLite product are serial ports, not ethernet ports.
The term “switch” is not typically used for a unit which connects serial ports to a network.
If you are not planning to connect serial devices like printers, terminals or other serial devices, but you want to connect ethernet devices, then this product will not do what you want.
Just for future reference, what is this difference between serial and ethernet? Is it the wiring of the RJ45 cables? I found a couple other resources that explain to use different configurations for the twisted pair in order to connect to the etherlite unit. Also when I attempted to set up the etherlite unit, it asked for IP addresses, so I just assumed that it was capable of being used on a windows network.
The serial port is like the RS232 comm port found on a PC, albeit in RJ45 rather than DB9 or DB25 like a comm/serial port on a laptop would be. As far as using the Etherlite on a Windows network, yes, this is fine. Just plug the Etherlite’s Ethernet port into an Ethernet hub/switch and give it an IP address using DgIpServ, plug your serial devices into the serial ports on the Etherlite, install/configure the Realport driver to point to the IP you gave the Etherlite, and you’re all set.