Best RS232 to Ethernet Converter - 2023 extended guide

Perle IOLAN device server

Perle is a company that provides a wide variety of serial to Ethernet adapters. Depending on the form factor you need, you can choose among different Device Servers, Terminal Servers, and Console Servers. The common features in all Perle’s solutions are the support for IPv6 protocol and the ability to network a wide range of async devices.

If you want to remotely access a POS terminal, a PLC, or a card reader over TCP/IP, you can buy an IOLAN Device Server fitting from 1 to 8 RS232, RS422, or RS485 ports and communicate with your devices across the network.

Standard Perle’s converters come with DB9, RJ45, and DB25 serial connectors and are able to operate in hazardous locations.

Serial port to Ethernet adapter by Antaira

Another tool that may come in handy for sending serial data packets to Ethernet is the RS232 to Ethernet adapter by Antaira. The solution that is called the STE-708 Serial Device Server is an 8-port unit that works with RS232/RS422 and RS485-enabled devices and comes with dual LAN ports. With those ports, you can set up a ring topology network.

Also, the STE-708 device allows you to establish bi-directional communications with several devices across TCP/IP, which is especially convenient when using industrial environmental apps to manage COM port equipment such as security access controllers, CNC controllers, etc.

EMC protection and 2.5 KV optical isolation are the two more advantages offered by this product.

NetPort hardware for sharing RS232 to Ethernet

With a plug-and-play serial to Ethernet converter by NetPort, it’s simple to monitor any remote COM port device through your preferred Internet browser. All you need to do is connect the device that you want to network to the adapter’s RS232 port. The data from the peripheral will be converted and redirected over Ethernet thanks to the TCP/IP protocol stacks built into the NetPort solution.

MOXA NPort 5100 Series

Our next pick is a compact 1-port NPort 5100 Device Server by MOXA. It is a simple yet efficient tool capable of connecting devices like card readers and payment terminals to an IP-based local network.

Why choose NPort 5100 hardware? It has everything you need to connect to a remote serial device from your PC over LAN. NPort offers a user-friendly Windows utility for configuring the device server. In addition, it gives you a way to control and manage your connections over Telnet, or via a web browser. Plus, you get an adjustable pull high/low resistor for RS-485 ports.

RS232 to Ethernet convertor - SB800 EX 2 Port

As an alternative to the previous solutions, you may also consider the 2-Port Serial to Ethernet Server by NetBurner.

This versatile and secure Serial to Ethernet server allows sharing devices over Wi-Fi. What’s more, it makes it possible to network-enable serial devices out of the box – without any additional programming or development.

Hardware converter by Waveshare

Our review wouldn’t be complete without the RS232/485 TO ETH solution - an industrial RS232/RS485 to Ethernet converter designed by Waveshare company.

Here’s why users choose this tool for data transmission between serial port devices across Ethernet:

• It’s stable and reliable.
• It offers 10/100M Auto-MDI/MDIX Ethernet interface for network communications.
• It allows configuring the baudrate and parity check options.
• It’s able to operate in different modes, including TCP server, TCP client, UDP server, UDP client, and HTTPD client.
• It provides the ability to detect broken connections and auto reconnects devices, and more.

To sum up, I’d like to mention that a hardware solution will be a good choice for those who have no possibility to use a PC or ARM on the server side. Also, if you don’t think the installation of both the hardware device and accompanying software is a headache or you do not consider the price a critical factor, it might be a good idea to choose hardware serial to Ethernet converter.

As for the software tool, Serial to Ethernet Connector, it seems to be simple to use and more affordable than most of the hardware adapters. The program is not limited in the number of COM ports it can create and provides a bunch of advanced features and options that are not available in other products.