Using Private Static IP Addresses

[Joe B]

I have an OEM customer whose machines are installed globally.  They are currently using a V130 to control their machines.  They want to be able to monitor/troubleshoot the program, load new data into datatables, change settings in the program, etc. all remotely via a GSM modem.  Problem is, they do not want to pay for 200+ per year public IP addresses.

 

In theory, if they had private static IP addresses in GSM modems connected to their machines, and then used a VPN connection to their SIM provider to "tunnel" to these addresses, they should be able to accomplish this, right?

 

I had one of their machines set up with an Enfora modem and a SIM card with a private static IP address.  The provider then provided us with a VPN connection that was supposed to link us to this address.  The modem initialized, I got network registration, everything looked good.  However, after connecting to the VPN, I could not connect to the PLC.  I tried pinging the private static IP address of the SIM card (while still connected to the VPN connection) and could not get a reply.  I still have not got this setup to work.

 

Is anyone else trying to do something like this?  It seems like there would be a huge market for this - companies with machines in several locations or machines that are mobile, that the company would like to monitor.  Public static IP addresses are not cheap.  We were having trouble finding a provider who would supply us one - much less 200 per year.

[Alexander]

Unfortunately in order to connect from the PC to the PC the IP will have to be both publicly addressable and static. The connection will not work even if the dynamic IP is known. It is possible to dial out from the PLC to the PC using a private IP. The PC can be set to listen mode and the PLC can initiate the connection which would work for all of our software.