How do I use the VCOM software?

VCOM is software provided to create a virtual serial port on your computer using the serial over IP. When you set it up properly, the network serial devices operate as though they are connected to a physical serial port.

Before you continue, make sure that your computer can communicate with the network serial device over your network. For more information, refer to the following FAQ: www.startech.com/faq/serial_ip_networking_issues.

Install software

Before you configure the VCOM software, make sure that you have downloaded and installed the latest software from the StarTech.com website. To download the driver, navigate to http://www.startech.com/Support and enter the part number.

Configure the software

When you have configured your setup so the network serial device can be pinged on the same subnet as the computer, click Search in VCOM to use the software to detect the network serial device. If the network serial device is on a different network than your computer, you can click Search by IP and enter a range of IP addresses to search by.

To configure each network serial device individually, select the device and click Configure.

You can use the VCOM software to do any of the following:

• In Administrator, you can change the IP configuration of the unit.
• In UART, you can configure the serial port settings. Typically, you only modify these settings if the unit is going to be a serial client in an IP serial extender setup.
• In TCP, you can configure the client or server mode. For basic operation in VCOM, you need to set the serial device unit to Server. You do not need to configure anything to use the serial network device in UDP mode.

When you have correctly configured the network serial device for your network, you must map a COM port in VCOM to use the serial port on the network serial device. To map the COM port, complete the following:

1. Click COM Mapping > Add.
2. Select the network serial device from the list.
3. If necessary, change the COM number.
4. Press OK.

The COM mapping should now appear in the list. For more information about how to verify the COM mapping in Windows, see the following FAQ: https://www.startech.com/en-at/support/faqs/technical?topic=serial#com-port-listing-windows.