Why can't TIA Portal find my PLC?

04 Sep 2024

This article describes what to do when you can ping your PLC but TIA Portal is failing to discover/search for it.

 

APPLICABLE PRODUCTS

  • Ewon Cosy
  • Ewon Flexy

 

ISSUE

I can ping my PLC but TIA Portal can't find it.

 

ANSWER

Profinet in particular uses link-layer protocols for the "discovery" feature and these are not routed through the Talk2m VPN. There are a couple solutions to this:

  • You can enable broadcast forwarding (also called PLC Discovery) on the Ewon which will allow you to do the discovery but there is a slight catch. This will forward broadcast traffic from the Ewon's LAN network through the VPN, even if you aren't connected with Ecatcher. Depending on how much broadcast traffic you have, this could consume all your Talk2m credits very quickly so make sure to monitor usage on the Ewon. We recommend disabling this feature when you aren't using it and you should reboot the Ewon to ensure your network-related settings take effect.

    More info on broadcast forwarding and traffic usage can be found here:
    PLC discovery through Talk2M
    The VPN traffic is too high, how can I reduce the number of GB used?

  • If you already know the IP of the PLC, you can connect directly (without scanning). In TIA Portal, when you go online, you can double click in the Address field to connect directly to the PLC.

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  • If you need to search for Profinet devices, you can also use the Ewon's built-in Profinet Explorer to search for and commission the PLC since the Ewon is local to the network. Once the IP is set, you can use that IP address to go online as mentioned above.

    profinet_explorer.PNG

 

ADDITIONAL INFO

PLC discovery through Talk2M

The VPN traffic is too high, how can I reduce the number of GB used?