Networking 543
Hardware Considerations:
If the controller was purchased from Hypertherm Automation with the networking option included, it
will be shipped with a 3COM “fiber optic” network card installed. The operating system will also be
setup to use DHCP to obtain the required TCP/IP address. This setup allows the controller to
automatically obtain all the needed network settings when it is turned on, and connected to a
network which includes a DHCP server.
The advantage of this approach is that it eliminates the need for a network administrator to keep
manual records of assigned IP addresses and ensures that the address, netmask, DNS server, and
gateway addresses are automatically set to be compatible with the customer‟s network.
If the customers network does NOT support DHCP ( a situation that is becoming rare ) then it will be
necessary to go into the network setting screen and change the TCP/IP settings by hand in order to
make the control compatible with the customer‟s network. Making changes here will involve putting
a keyboard and mouse on the controller and accessing the Windows XP network setup parameters.
Select any listed network adapters that are NOT being used and double click.