Welcome to TCP-Com

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Welcome to TCP-Com

TCP-Com is a software based RS232 to TCP/IP converter. TCP-Com allows any of the RS232 serial ports on your PC to interface directly to a TCP/IP network. For example, you can use TCP-Com to turn a PC into a “Serial Device Server” so that you can connect any RS232 serial device directly to a TCP/IP network and communicate with that device from any other workstation in the same network or across the Internet.

TCP-Com can also create “Virtual” RS232 serial ports that are actually connections to a TCP/IP port. This allows you to use existing Windows based serial communications software to send and receive data across a TCP/IP network.

TCP-Com can also be configured to run as a Windows Service so that it loads and runs automatically even before a user logs onto the workstation where you run it.

TCP-Com is an extremely simple program however it is also extremely powerful and can be used to solve a wide variety of device interfacing and RS232 or TCP/IP communications problems.

A brief description of some common applications are listed below:

Use TCP-Com as a multi port serial device server.

Instead of purchasing hardware based serial device servers, use a PC and TCP-Com to do the same job. TCP-Com supports connections to up to 256 COM ports in a single PC so you can create a serial device server that supports up to 256 RS232 serial devices.

Use TCP-Com to create Virtual COM ports that connect to serial device servers (or to any TCP/IP port).

The ability to create Virtual COM ports with TCP-Com makes it possible to use existing serial communication software to send or receive data through a TCP/IP port. This includes the ability to connect to and communicate with any serial ports exposed by another copy of TCP-Com running in a different workstation where it has been configured to work as a serial device server. You can also create virtual COM ports that connect to hardware based serial device servers available from a number of different manufacturers. In both cases the Virtual COM ports behave as if they were local serial ports installed directly in your PC. This means that you can use existing serial communications software to open a serial port on a different workstation in your network (or across the Internet) or to open the serial ports on a hardware based serial device server connected to your network.

Use TCP-Com to allow more than one RS232 serial communications program to open the same COM port simultaneously.

Normally Windows will not allow two serial communications programs to open the same serial port at the same time however it is possible to use TCP-Com to feed data from a physical RS232 serial port to multiple “Virtual” serial ports so that more than one application program can input data from the same physical RS232 serial port simultaneously.

Use any TCP/IP network (including the Internet) as a giant serial cable.

Run TCP-Com on one PC configured as a TCP/IP server and run another copy of it on another PC as a TCP/IP client connecting to the first copy of TCP-Com (the server). Any data that goes in the serial port on either PC will go out the serial port on the other PC and vice versa.

Use TCP-Com to map a TCP/IP port to a different TCP/IP port – either as a client or as a server.

Run one instance of TCP-Com configured to create a virtual COM port and connect that virtual port to a TCP/IP port. Then, configure a second instance of TCP-Com in the same workstation to open the virtual COM port created by the previous instance of TCP-Com and connect to a different TCP/IP port. Any data that goes in either TCP/IP port will go out the other TCP/IP port and vice versa.