Connecting WiFi Throttles via USB

WiFi throttles can’t normally connect to an EX‑CommandStation via USB, however it is possible to temporarily create a USB to IP connection on your PC using tools like socat or SerialToIPGUI (for windows).

Using

Using socat in Linux:

socat TCP4-LISTEN:2560 /dev/ttyUSB0,b115200,raw,echo=0

or (to provide more information)

socat -d -d -d TCP4-LISTEN:2560 /dev/ttyUSB0,b115200,raw,echo=0

Note: Change ‘dev/ttyUSB0’ to the appropriate USB port that the command station is connected to.

Using socat in Microsoft Windows:

socat TCP-LISTEN:2560 /dev/ttyS11,b115200,raw,echo=0

or (to provide more information)

socat -d -d -d TCP-LISTEN:2560 /dev/ttyS11,b115200,raw,echo=0

Note: Change S11 to the appropriate USB port. Whatever ‘COM’ number appears in the Device Manager, subtract 1.
i.e. ‘COM12’ in the Windows Device Manager becomes ‘/dev/ttyS11’

Using SerialToIPGUI (For Microsoft Windows) (Recommended):

Figure 292 SerialToIPGUI

• start SerialToIPGUI

• Select the correct COM port for the command station

• Enter the port of ‘2560’

• Click Start

Once started…

• Open your WiFi throttle app on your Android/iOS/etc. device

• On the connection screen/fields:

• Enter the IP address of your PC (The one running socat or SerialToIPGUI)

• Enter the port of ‘2560’

• Connect

Warning

This ‘trick’ only supports a single connection at a time. So it is important that JMRI (if you are using it), or the Arduino IDE serial monitor, or anything else that might be using the COM (USB) port are shut down first.

Downloads

• SerialToIPGUI - https://sourceforge.net/projects/serialtoip/

• socat for windows requires downloading the ‘cgywin’ and installing the optional ‘socat’ package when you install - https://www.cygwin.com/

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Troubleshooting (Windows socat)

In Microsoft Windows and using the command line socat, if you see a “command not found” error, Here is what you need to do to fix it:

• Right click on “My Computer” -> Properties -> Advanced -> Environment Variables

• Add a new environment variable, called CYGWIN_HOME and set its value to C:\cygwin

• Edit the PATH environment variable and add C:\cygwin\bin to it (usually separated by a ‘;’).

• Just click okay, exit any command prompts or bash shells (over cygwin) you may have open, and open it again - it’ll work!

Note that if you installed cgywin to a folder other than “C:\cgywin” (e.g. c:\cgywin64), use that folder name instead in the change above.