Product Innovation
A PLUS for Transparent Production and Intelligent Processes in the Factory
Helmholz presents the new “WALL IE PLUS” variant of the popular industrial NAT gateway.
More transparency in production for greater added value in the production process?
The desire to integrate production machines into the factory network is not new, but it often fails due to incompatible connectivity with existing systems or security concepts.
The easy-to-configure “WALL IE PLUS” gateway from Helmholz is installed once and permanently between the machine and the production network.
NAT mode allows machines to be integrated into the factory network without having to change the machine’s IP addresses. The NAT operating mode is used to forward data traffic between different IPv4 networks. It enables address translation and uses firewall rules or packet filters to restrict access to the downstream automation network.
The “WALL IE PLUS” provides 8 ports with transmission speeds of up to 1000 Mbit/s for networking. All 8 ports can be freely assigned to the WAN or LAN network. The processor of the “PLUS” version operates faster, achieving higher data throughput. In addition, more ports with higher transmission rates of up to 1000 Mbit/s are now integrated. Machines and systems equipped with video cameras or IPCs can now be connected to the factory network with improved performance. For example, backups and the transfer of larger data volumes run much more smoothly.
The web interface has received a facelift and now appears slimmer and more user-friendly. Complex and oversized JavaScript and CSS frameworks have been deliberately omitted, which also provides a clear “PLUS” in terms of security. Helmholz consistently follows the principle of a minimal software footprint—not only for the web interface.
Key performance features of the “WALL IE PLUS”:
- Access restriction via packet filtering: IPv4 addresses, protocols (TCP/UDP/ICMP), ports, MAC addresses
- Reduction of network load through broadcast and multicast filtering
- DHCP server (LAN) / DHCP client (WAN)
- Configurable network ports (flexible assignment to LAN or WAN network)
