Centroid Community CNC Support Forum

Will acorn work through a usb C ethernet dongle? What about through a switch?

Looking at picking up a newer laptop because the 16gb of ram on my current one is limiting.
Problem is that it does not have an ethernet jack and i would need to use an adapter.

How well does acorn work through a usb C ethernet adapter?
What about through an unmanaged network switch?

I need to be plugged into my file server over ethernet too, which i accomplish now through a usb C ethernet dongle. I am wondering if it would work to just use the dongle on the new laptop and plug both acorn and the server into a switch to the pc.

Please save your laptop criticism for another thread, im more interested in the adapter and switch compatibility

Thanks!

Since you don't wish to hear that neither laptops or USB to Ethernet are recommended by Centroid, and there needs to be a dedicated connection from the CNC - PC, I would say damn the mfgr's recommendations, just go for it. You picked the ultimate connection trifecta, what could go wrong?

How well does acorn work through a usb C ethernet adapter?
What about through an unmanaged network switch?

In my experience there is no way to make the unmanaged switch see both a static IP address for Acorn and a DHCP address for your file server!

There might be a work around! You'll have to set the USBC ethernet adapter to the static IP that Acorn wants and then use wifi to connect to the router that the server is on. If it is not on wifi then buy a cheap wifi router and see if that works.

Will it crash at the most inopportune time? Who knows as most of the people on here follow the manufactures recommendations of making a dedicated CNC PC with a Static IP port.

And if you are having memory limit issues with 16GB of memory now, what the heck are you using the PC for while trying to run Acorn? (I know, none of my business, LOL)

Dave C.

Dave_C wrote: ↑Sun Sep 04, 2022 9:30 am And if you are having memory limit issues with 16GB of memory now, what the heck are you using the PC for while trying to run Acorn?

A bad google chrome tab addiction Gotta have my jams when milling! And you know how McMaster tabs tend to accumulate

that and fusion and solidworks open always


I ended up finding a better laptop with an ethernet jack, but i might try using a switch for science reasons on some non critical parts.
Anker brand usb C ethernet adapters have been super reliable for me as well, but have not tried one with the mill yet.


As far as using a laptop for running the mill, it has been nothing but reliable for me. Granted your mileage may vary. I have over 300 days of uptime on it, nearing a year without power down. The laptops battery has helped me keep milling through some brief power outages too. I have the mill electronics on a UPS. (by brief, i mean a few seconds, enough that the monster capacitors in the DC spindle motor driver kept it going, just lost a bunch of rpm. I dont have a 240V UPS)

but i might try using a switch for science reasons on some non critical parts

Keep in mind that Acorn has to have a static IP address and an unmanaged switch will not be able to do that! A managed switch that you can configure each port separately can have static IP ports.

Dave C.