Industrial routers select fastest communication

A Westermo Data Communications product story

Edited by the Engineeringtalk editorial team Apr 1, 2008

Where HSDPA is not yet available the MR-250 will automatically fall back to 3G (UMTS) EDGE or GPRS to ensure it uses the fastest available communication.

Westermo Data Communications has released two high-speed industrial routers based on the fastest communications standards currently available to support remote telemetry and industrial control systems applications.

The MR-250 is a HSDPA (high-speed downlink packet access) router.

HSDPA is the latest 3G mobile telephony communications protocol that enables download speeds of up to 1.8Mbit/s.

Where HSDPA is not yet available the MR-250 will automatically fall back to 3G (UMTS) EDGE or GPRS to ensure it uses the fastest available communication.

The DR-250 router is based on the ADSL2/2+ platform, supporting the fastest broadband speeds available to give high-speed access to remote sites over an existing analogue telephone connection, at speeds of up to 24 Mbit/s.

ADSL2 offers considerable performance benefits over standard ADSL, including improved range and data rate.

Both routers have an integrated stateful inspection firewall and can support five IPsec VPN (virtual private network) tunnels which can be secured using optional TDES, AES, SSL, SSH encryption and MD5, SHA1 key exchange protocols.

These features ensure that the remote sites can use the latest security technology to resist denial of service attacks and hacking.

VPN tunnels can be used to securely interconnect different sites, replacing the requirement for dedicated leased lines.

VPN tunnels for both models can be terminated using a either a DR-250 or MR-250.

An optional license for 50 VPN terminations is also available for the MR-250 and 50 or 100 terminations (up to a maximum of 200) for the DR-250.

The DR-250 has an integral four-port Ethernet switch and a 25-pin RS-232 serial interface that supports protocols such as Modbus RTU.

The inbuilt RS-232 port on the MR-250 can be used to connect legacy serial-based equipment such as PLCs, RTUs or intelligent electronic devices.

Alternatively the internal serial port can be used as a backup connection to the remote site when used in conjunction with a suitable Westermo modem.

Both devices can be used for remote site access, allowing the user to browse web pages, monitor/edit PLCs or access any device connected to the LAN.

They will allow devices on the LAN side to send emails or connect to FTP servers for transferring files.

They also support VRRP (virtual redundant router protocol), allowing multiple physical routers to share a single gateway address and provide multiple backup WAN paths.

The units are supplied with a complete kit for DIN rail, wall or shelf mounting.

The -20 to +55C temperature range and 24 V DC supply (10-28 V DC for the DR-250) ensure that the routers can be used in industrial applications without the need for modification or consideration of the environmental conditions.