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atmega8

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Joined: 19/11/2013
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Posted: 04:43pm 20 Dec 2023

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Hello to the world,

I know we live in 2023/4, but in our IT world we deal with high-end systems every day, which are initially still configured via conventional RS232 interfaces.

To avoid sitting in cold data centers and getting sick, it makes a lot of sense to be able to communicate remotely with these systems.
This should be possible with MMBASIC and the PICOW?! Unfortunately, I have a mental block at the moment.
How could this basically be implemented???
Thanks for your intelligent ideas ;-).

atmega8

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Joined: 19/11/2013
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Posted: 04:53pm 20 Dec 2023

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Better Topic:

RS232 over the Air

Plasmamac

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Joined: 31/01/2019
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Posts: 554

Posted: 05:00pm 20 Dec 2023

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Wifi uart bridge : https://hackaday.io/project/161491-qmesh-a-lora-based-voice-mesh-network/log/194667-esp32-serial-to-wifi-bridge-complete

A full support for all Hardware pin in MMBasic is imho possible even on high baudrates with gpio.

I have tested udp with this and no problem with speed and lost paket.

Plasma

lizby
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Joined: 17/05/2016
Location: United States
Posts: 3150

Posted: 05:03pm 20 Dec 2023

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Heresy for this forum, but perhaps a more economical device (with Annex RDS for firmware running Basic): ESP32 S2Mini

PicoMite, Armmite F4, SensorKits, MMBasic Hardware, Games, etc. on fruitoftheshed

atmega8

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Joined: 19/11/2013
Location: Germany
Posts: 722

Posted: 05:14pm 20 Dec 2023

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Thank you,

i know all this solution, also some commercial ones:
https://www.get-console.com/shop/en/27-airconsole
but this is an MMBASIC Forum, isn't it?
;-).

TassyJim

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Joined: 07/08/2011
Location: Australia
Posts: 6098

Posted: 07:57pm 20 Dec 2023

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I use a Raspberry Pi (or any other Linux PC) running ser2net.

VK7JH
MMedit MMBasic Help

Volhout
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Joined: 05/03/2018
Location: Netherlands
Posts: 4238

Posted: 10:33pm 20 Dec 2023

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Pleas be honest. You are not telling the truth. A administrator of a server, or datacentre would NEVER bring the console connetion outside the building. Security.

Volhout.

PicomiteVGA PETSCII ROBOTS

Mixtel90

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Joined: 05/10/2019
Location: United Kingdom
Posts: 6792

Posted: 10:55pm 20 Dec 2023

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A WLAN terminal with root access? Who would allow that?
Root is for wired connections only.

Mick

Zilog Inside! nascom.info for Nascom & Gemini
Preliminary MMBasic docs & my PCB designs

athlon1900
Regular Member

Joined: 10/10/2019
Location: Austria
Posts: 48

Posted: 12:44pm 21 Dec 2023

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atmega8 said
but this is an MMBASIC Forum, isn't it?
;-).

Personally, I wouldn't see it that way.
I think it's a forum for microcontrollers and electronics, no matter what kind.

If i'm wrong, please correct me.

atmega8

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Posted: 12:47pm 21 Dec 2023

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@Volhout, i am honest
@Mixtel90, yes of course for initial Config

So, we have the PICOW, whe have Telnet, we have COM Ports.

So i need to forward telnet receive to COMPORT and COMPORT receive to telnet.
But how mmbasic Friends???

THX

pwillard
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Joined: 07/06/2022
Location: United States
Posts: 292

Posted: 01:33pm 21 Dec 2023

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This is not a best use-case for the WIFI world, as stated.

You probably want to use a private link...

This is why XBEE/Zigbee was created by DIGI. DIGI are a datacenter product manufacturer, makers of things like 16 port Serial to Ethernet terminal servers.

DIGI XBEE

Modules are around $23

IanRogers

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Joined: 09/12/2022
Location: United Kingdom
Posts: 151

Posted: 05:09pm 21 Dec 2023

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I used to use a tiny wireless unit,
it is sold by RF solutions and it is on the 868Mhz band
It is totally designed for RS232 bridge. Very good for battery operation as it works down to 1.8V so a 3.7V lasts for ages Zeta Plus modules
Zeta modules
Edited 2023-12-22 03:10 by IanRogers

I'd give my left arm to be ambidextrous

PhenixRising
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Joined: 07/11/2023
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Posted: 01:06am 22 Dec 2023

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IanRogers said I used to use a tiny wireless unit,
it is sold by RF solutions and it is on the 868Mhz band
It is totally designed for RS232 bridge. Very good for battery operation as it works down to 1.8V so a 3.7V lasts for ages Zeta Plus modules
Zeta modules

Nice

Thank you. Given me some ideas

atmega8

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Joined: 19/11/2013
Location: Germany
Posts: 722

Posted: 07:58am 22 Dec 2023

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Dear forum members,
I already know all the nice tools and recommendations from you.
Your proposals are pragmatic and targeted.
I love that.
However, I am exclusively concerned in this thread with whether and how this can be implemented with mmbasic and the PICOW.
No one has yet presented a solution to this and unfortunately I have no idea about a solution either.
Maybe Peter or Geoff can contribute an idea (Code snipped) to this?
Thank you, I wish you a Merry Christmas and less violence all over the world.
Edited 2023-12-22 17:59 by atmega8

Mixtel90

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Joined: 05/10/2019
Location: United Kingdom
Posts: 6792

Posted: 08:08am 22 Dec 2023

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I can't help with the Pico W - I've never had one and have very little idea about how they work.

A suggestion is to use ESP8266-01S modules at each end. These are TTL serial to WiFi modems and respond to AT+ commands. With a MAX232 RS-232 to TTL seral converter you have a point-to-point modem link over a local WLAN. Each is programmed with its IP address, the address for its local gateway and the destination address. This is a 1 to 1 connection, not a network.

Mick

Zilog Inside! nascom.info for Nascom & Gemini
Preliminary MMBasic docs & my PCB designs

JohnS
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Joined: 18/11/2011
Location: United Kingdom
Posts: 3802

Posted: 08:59am 22 Dec 2023

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If I understand your drawing, you need an encrypted link across the WLAN.

Looks OK with a Pico W but I haven't studied exactly which kinds of encryption it supports if running MMBasic.

As you'll (presumably) be connecting it to a router, you'll need to make sure it allows traffic through of whatever kind (protocol e.g. https) you choose on whatever port.

You'll also need an IP address & if the router hasn't got a public one then such as dyndns

As it looks like you'd originate a connection from the PC end you likely don't need to mess with the router or dyndns there (I think).

John
Edited 2023-12-22 19:02 by JohnS

atmega8

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Posted: 09:36am 22 Dec 2023

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JohnS said If I understand your drawing, you need an encrypted link across the WLAN.

Looks OK with a Pico W but I haven't studied exactly which kinds of encryption it supports if running MMBasic.

No Encryption needed

As you'll (presumably) be connecting it to a router, you'll need to make sure it allows traffic through of whatever kind (protocol e.g. https) you choose on whatever port.

You'll also need an IP address & if the router hasn't got a public one then such as dyndns

Everythinh is internal

As it looks like you'd originate a connection from the PC end you likely don't need to mess with the router or dyndns there (I think).

Yes.

John

matherp
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Joined: 11/12/2012
Location: United Kingdom
Posts: 9118

Posted: 10:38am 22 Dec 2023

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I don't understand the issue. Set the Pico-W as a telnet server connected to a router that sits on the WLAN. Run a program on the Pico-W that reads console input (telnet) and outputs it on a serial port.

However, this is a catastrophically bad idea as you will need to open the router to pass telnet which is totally insecure and the Pico-W does not support any sort of IP encryption. You could code some primitive encryption in the Pico so that the telnet data is garbled but the protocol itself is open.

I suppose you could create a VPN tunnel from the PC to the router and pass telnet over that which would be more secure but I'm with the consensus above that you should never bring the console connection outside of the data-centre

JohnS
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Joined: 18/11/2011
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Posted: 12:46pm 22 Dec 2023

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I specifically said encrypted - that leaves out telnet.

Though it could be through a tunnel - have fun with that.

Er...If everything is internal then why WLAN? I'm confused!!

John
Edited 2023-12-22 22:48 by JohnS

aFox
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Joined: 28/02/2023
Location: Germany
Posts: 76

Posted: 07:02pm 22 Dec 2023

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What about simple Bluetooth adapters?

I still have a 56k modem.
Via the intranet's tcp/ip telephone line?

Joke

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