Information

• Talk2MFree+ is available for all Ewon routers
• Talk2M service is available in 156 countries
• Unlimited number of machines and users
• Over 30 servers and 3+ hosting providers
• Optimised server locations for minimum latency
• Supervised 24/7/365 by on-duty engineers

1. Talk2M – a Trusted, Reliable Service
2. Before the Talk2M
3. Talk2M Benefits
4. What Is the Talk2M
5. Talk2M Security
6. Talk2M Free+ & Talk2M Pro
7. What You Need To Connect to the Talk2M
8. How to Connect to the Ewon Modem via the Talk2M
9. Does Your Ewon Necessarily Need to Rely on the Talk2M?
10. Talk2M Specifications

Talk2M – a Trusted, Reliable Service

Since 2006, the unique Talk2M service has been meeting the expectations of machine builders, system integrators and OEMs who want to access their machines remotely in an easy, secure way. Over the years, the Talk2M has become more than a cloud solution for remote access to machines. It has evolved into a fundamental link in the Industrial IoT value chain. Software teams also take advantage of the Talk2M platform to securely retrieve data from the field, developing applications which add value to the data. With well-defined operational services to manage accounts and devices, the Talk2M is the best choice for your remote solution.

Convenient Preparation
Before a machine is shipped to the factory for the end customer, there are many unknowns. By using the Remote Access FAQ, factory owners understand what is necessary to ensure a successful installation. Furthermore, for on-site testing, you can utilise the Talk2M Connection Checker to get live diagnostics of your connectivity potential with the Talk2M. Possible firewall issues or proxy requirements are immediately identified as action points.

Easy Configuration
When it comes to setting up your Ewon router, the free-of-charge VPN client, the eCatcher, allows you to configure the router without ever making a local connection. By using the USB wizard, you can get your router registered into your Ewon account in less than 5 minutes.

Successful Installation
Once your machine has been installed in the factory, you want to ensure that you can reliably make remote connections at the request of your customer. There is usually some additional integration work to be done in order to meet customer deadlines. Thanks to the Talk2M and the free-of-charge VPN client, concerns of network overlap issues and IP conflicts are a thing of the past. You can now simply log in to your account and connect to your device!

Before the Talk2M

To remotely access their PLCs and other industrial devices, machine builders and system integrators used to use dial-up connection via a modem. If they were lucky, their customer's network administrator would provide them with a public IP address, meaning that they could remotely monitor their machines via the Internet. Today customers are putting more and more pressure on suppliers to start troubleshooting as soon as a machine breakdown occurs and take immediate action by travelling to the customer's shop floor to solve the problem. These situations often require unexpected, costly interventions.

Talk2M Benefits

The Internet provides exciting opportunities for all kinds of users. You can call a friend who lives in the US or control a colleague's mouse on their computer screen in Australia – without paying a cent. Likewise, the Talk2M service offers the same benefits. It enables you to monitor a PLC controller on the other side of the world, remotely debug a PLC program, perform maintenance or add a new function to your project.

What Is the Talk2M

The Talk2M is an internet service that runs on a web server abroad. This server establishes and maintains connection between a remote Ewon on the shop floor and the computer that you use to connect to this Ewon. The connection is secure, bidirectional VPN (Virtual Private Network) connection.

Simply put, you install an Ewon modem on your customer's shop floor and set it so that is can connect to the Talk2M server. Then the Ewon connects to the Talk2M server. We are talking about outbound communication here, using HTTPS and frequently used (open) ports. You then log in to the Talk2M (as a user), choose the Ewon that you want to connect to and connect to it. At that moment, a secure connection is established between you and the Ewon modem.

For you to be able to start using the Talk2M service, you have to install the free eCatcher client software on any PC with the Windows operating system. This takes about 5 minutes. Then you need another 5 minutes to run the configuration wizard for connecting your Ewon to the Talk2M. When your Ewon has been set and the connection tested, you can connect to the remote device(s) behind the Ewon in the same way as you would via dial-up connection.

Currently, there are over 30 Talk2M servers that users and Ewons connect to. European users connect to their Ewons via the server in Europe.

The Talk2M and Ewon represent a simple, affordable solution for monitoring and maintaining industrial assets across the globe. To install the client software, obtain certificates and keys and launch the Ewon configuration wizard, you need only 5 minutes.

Talk2M Security

Your computer communicates with your remote Ewon modem via secure VPN connection. The Talk2M relies on a layered security approach. The VPN security model uses SSL/TLS for session authentication and the IPSec ESP protocol for secure tunnel transport over UDP. It supports the X509 public key infrastructure (PKI) for session authentication, the TLS protocol for key exchange, the cipher-independent EVP interface (DES, 3DES, AES, BF) for encrypting tunnelled data, and the HMAC-SHA1 algorithm for authenticating tunnelled data.

Talk2M Free+ & Talk2M Pro

The Talk2M Free+ enables one user to connect to one Ewon modem – free of charge. If you have several engineers in your company who need to remotely connect to Ewon modems, the engineer who is connected to the Talk2M first has to disconnect before another engineer can connect to this service. There is no limit to the number of Ewon modems on your Talk2M account. If you would like multiple engineers to be able to simultaneously connect to a PLC (e.g. one engineer in your office and another one abroad), you need the paid Talk2M version, the Talk2M Pro. The Talk2M Pro allows multiple users to connect to multiple Ewon modems at the same time.

• Talk2M Free+ = Enables several users to sign in to the Talk2M simultaneously. However, only one user can be connected to an Ewon modem at a given time. This means that if you have 5 Ewon modems associated with your Talk2M account, you can connect to only one of them at a particular time.
• Talk2M Pro = Allows multiple users who are logged in to the same Talk2M account connect to the same Ewon modem or different modems (This is a paid Talk2M version.)

What You Need To Connect to the Talk2M

• An Ewon modem that supports the Talk2M
  • The Talk2M is supported by the Ewon Cosy 131, the Flexy 201-3 and the Flexy 205. The modem is connected to the Talk2M via the Internet or a GSM wireless network. If you want to connect to an Ewon modem via the Internet, you need to connect it to a customer's intranet network in such a way that the modem's IP address will allow you to access the Internet, namely HTTPS servers (see the section Talk2M – Setting Ports below). Put differently, you connect the Ewon to your customer's LAN as a standard computer with Internet access. You do not need a public IP address. If you want to connect your Ewon via a GSM wireless network that supports GPRS, EDGE or 3G, simply insert a SIM card into the modem and install a GSM antenna on it.
• A Talk2M server
  • Talk2M Free+ = Enables several users to sign in to the Talk2M simultaneously. However, only one user can be connected to an Ewon modem at a given time. This means that if you have 5 Ewon modems associated with your Talk2M account, you can connect to only one of them at a particular time.
  • Talk2M Pro = Allows multiple users who are logged in to the same Talk2M account connect to the same Ewon modem or different modems (This is a paid Talk2M version.)
• A computer
  • A computer with the Windows operating system and Internet access
  • The free eCatcher VPN client software installed on this computer (available for free download in the Downloads tab of each Ewon router in our online shop)

How to Connect to the Ewon Modem via the Talk2M

• The Ewon modem is on the customer's shop floor and is connected to the Talk2M.
• You as the user have a computer that is connected to the Internet. Install and run the eCatcher program (eCatcher.exe in the Downloads tab). Log in to eCatcher. You can see all your modems and their status (online/offline).
• If you click on a modem with the status online, you will immediately connect to it.
• The Talk2M will assign the modem an IP address. This IP address is the modem's address (for configuration) as well as the serial port's address. This means that when you are remotely connected to the modem, you can configure it, visualise data via the viewON, monitor alarms and event history. You will use the same IP address for programming PLCs via the STEP7, MicroWIN and other editors.
• If for any reason the connection gets disrupted, after a while the modem will automatically connect to the Talk2M server.