I have an IAI X-Sel Scara Controller with Ethernet, an AB CompactLogix, a Spectrum WebPort, a Mitsubishi E-Termal E-615 and a DVT Camera all on ethernet. The way it should work is as follows; The X-Sel communicates directly with the DVT camera. The Compact Logix communicates directly to the E-Terminal. The Compact Logic communicates to the X-Sel through the Webport. It all works. kind of.

The problem I am having is that when the X-Sel is on the network, I get communication errors showing up on the e-terminal saying it cannot communicate with the Logix. It does connect and the data is updated, but very slow. I can pass data back and forth between the Logix and the X-Sel (through the WepPort) without any issues. And the DVT to X-Sel is working fine too.

The only way I can get the Logix to E-Terminal connection working normal (No errors and fast response) is to remove the X-Sel from the network. With that fact, I thought I would get the same result by removing the Webport from the network but this did not reproduce the same results as removing the X-Sel.
Any ideas?

 

What mechanism is the X-Sel and the DVT camera using to communicate over Ethernet ?

What kind of switch are you using ?

I've seen systems that use fast UDP multicast traffic and unmanaged or improperly-configured switches cause ordinary TCP-based traffic to slow down to unusable speeds, but that's just a guess.

If I were in your shoes I'd be going after the problem with an Ethernet sniffer and a port-mirroring switch.