Serial over LAN technology - an easy and reliable way to share serial devices over LAN network. Find out more about RS232 over LAN software and hardware in this list of top rated solutions.
Serial ports are still in use today, though they are not high on the priority list of modern computer manufacturers. Industrial electronic devices used for automation rely more heavily on serial interfaces than they do on the USB protocol. If you are searching for a solution for using a device that requires a COM port on your computer that only has USB interfaces, we have some answers for you. These solutions also enable serial over LAN connectivity to access devices that are remotely located.
Serial to Ethernet Connector
Designed as a cross-platform solution, Serial to Ethernet Connector supports serial over LAN on Windows or on the Linux OS. This RS232 to TCP/IP converter enables the redirection of COM ports to virtual PC, Hyper-V, VMWare, etc. The application lets you create a virtual serial port pair which can then be connected to a program allowing it to communicate with serial devices or other serial-enabled software running on another network-attached computer. The parameters and functionality of physical serial ports are emulated in all of the virtual COM ports that you create and share.
Serial to Ethernet Connector supports Windows operating systems from XP (32-bit and 64-bit) to Windows 10 (32-bit and 64-bit) as well as Windows server 2012.
A Linux version is available for users of ARM-based devices.
Serial to LAN hardware
Another option available in the market of serial over LAN solutions is hardware called an RS232 to LAN converter. This small device is designed to convert TCP/IP packets into Ethernet data and is also known as a serial device server or a serial port over LAN adapter. But whatever it’s called, the solution will help you establish serial communications over RS232/RS422/RS485 protocols.
When you purchase an RS232 over LAN converter, you commonly get a software driver together with a hardware device. The driver should be installed on your PC so that you can configure and control serial connections created using your COM port over LAN converter. In order to connect the hardware to your computer, the driver creates in your system a virtual serial port through which the device becomes visible to your machine.
There are a plenty of hardware SOL solutions out there and choosing the one that is right for you can be rather challenging. In order to help you make your choice, we offer a brief overview of four efficient COM to LAN adapters which are very popular today:
- NetBurner
- Perle solution
- SerialLynx software
- Lantronix