BG500 Management Interface - Unable to Access

[Anonymous user]

Hi there,

My name is Jo Ann. I would like to access the BG500 management interface to control the settings. I do not have a router or modem, only wifi. In the Device IP Configuration Utility, I attempted to "Find And Setup Devices Off Network" on three computers. The first two computers were only connected to wifi and the utility asked me to "select the connection you wish to use for your search". There were two selections: one was the IP being used over the wifi, and the other appeared to be the UPS (since it only appeared when connected directly to the computer by the supplied ethernet cable). Neither selections worked, so I could not setup a static IP for the device as it wouldn't find it. I took the UPS to a colleague's computer which was connected to a router, and was able to find both the device "Off Network" and "On Network". I was then able to access the interface, to which I can still do as long as I physically take it to my colleague's router and keep it connected there (which does me no good). Although now for some reason on that same computer, the utility cannot find the device anymore off network, only on network. I did try tinkering with Manual Mode under Custom Network Settings in the interface to no avail. I tried entering the settings that would have been entered to setup an off network static IP in the configuration utility. 

So now that I can establish I've at least been able to setup management interface to show the UPS works, now brings the original question. I still need to access it with the UPS directly connected to my computer, which only uses wifi. So no router or modem. Otherwise, no device settings can be changed.

Let me know what you think.

Best,

Jo Ann

[BillP]

Hi Jo Ann,

How is your wifi provided, if not by a router? Or is it a router/access point in an area like an apartment building or something that you don't have personal access to?

I think the main problem here is that the management interface on the BG500 can only be accessed over a wired ethernet connection and has no wireless/Wi-Fi capability itself. You'd have to direct connect to it each time or research if there is a way to add/plug in a device (maybe a bridge?) to the UPS's wired ethernet port that can convert the wired connection to wireless.

Let me know if I misunderstood here.

[Anonymous user]

Hi Angela,

Well for one, it would be nice to just connect the BG500 directly to the computer via the supplied ethernet cable. That it what you have to do anyways to setup an off network static IP in the configuration utility. What I meant by only having wifi is that the PC uses the building's wifi. So I have no router or modem to directly connect it to.

[BillP]

Hi Jo Ann,

What you can do to directly connect to the BG500 directly would be to set up a peer to peer network between your PC and the BG500 to allow access. This would be what is explained here ultimately -> http://www.apc.com/us/en/faqs/FA156366 for this to work though, your PC needs to have some static IP settings set up on it which are on the same network as whatever you assign to the BG500. This is what that FAQ walks you through doing. You may experience problems with internet connection on your PC though if you use wifi and the direct connection at the same time so ideally, you'd want to disable wifi if you want to connect to the BG500 and make sure the ethernet/wired cable is disconnected from your PC if you want to use wifi on your PC.

If you don't have a router or modem to directly connect it to, that's OK if you use the direct connection. Are you seeing an instruction that says you have to plug a modem or router into it? It may be misleading in the sense that this UPS is designed for devices like modems and routers and may have dedicated outlets with those labels but at the end of the day, it is just a UPS with a network management interface and you can plug anything you want into it for battery back up - your PC, a clock radio, etc. A modem and router is not required if you want to manage it through the peer to peer connection. I think instructions and other docs are maybe mentioning those since 99% of customers do have a modem and router?

Let me know if I misunderstood again or you have further questions.

[Anonymous user]

Hello Angela,

Thank you. Looking at the link provided, I'm not sure the significance between the "serial cable" and the "crossover cable" mentioned in the article, and the required "terminal emulation program" (including what it is, how to set it up) mentioned in the video. If I may discover how to approach these three details I hope to resolve the dilemma.

Best regards,

Jo Ann

[BillP · Accepted solution]

Hi Jo Ann,

Sorry for the delay. I'll try to explain a little bit.

The serial cable refers to the communication cable many of our products some with that connect to some sort of DB-9 or serial communications port that uses RS-232.

A crossover cable refers to a certain type of Ethernet/network cable that signifies how the pins inside the cable are oriented to facilitate network communications. These days, it is not always required to use based on the design of modern network adapters in our PC's.

Terminal emulation program refers to a tool that can speak over serial or RS-232. Examples are HyperTerminal (old school Windows program), PuTTy, TeraTerm.

I think technical support could walk you through an initial set up of the TCP/IP settings on your BG500 if you can download something like PuTTy or TeraTerm which are freeware utilities. From there, then you can just in the future browse to the IP address of your BG500 in your web browser using a network cable plugged into the BG500, as necessary.