Ethernet Version

Any chance the electric imp will ever have an ETHERNET version of the IMP so we can offer a choice to customers, WIFI or ETHERNET and still use the same IDE for development?

This has been discussed, but no plans yet. If you have a particular application in mind, then please email us with details…

This is good suggestion - the main benefits I can see are that a base station type device would be much easier to install for the end user and (this is a big one) the cost should be significantly reduced over the wifi versions. Both have their place I think

This wouldn’t be cheaper; an ethernet chip costs about the same as a wifi chip these days… plus a socket and magnetics are more expensive than a PCB trace antenna!

And RJ45 is HUGE! You could harness PoE though.

@hugo Fair enough - I had done a brief BOM comparison between Imp (I have a breakdown of volume pricing) and a microchip offering and Imp came out worse by a few dollars. Besides the imp being much easier to get up and running for developers I may have missed something else out so I’ll happily defer to your greater knowledge.

@jwehr POE would be nice, wifi energy harvesting isn’t ever likely to be quite the same

Don’t forget the value of the entire platform being managed. Software and firmware updates, and the very powerful programmable agent.

My 2 cents contribution for what its worth…

Price: Wifi vs Rj45 should not make much difference.

Manageability: Should not be different for either version.

Cloud: Same functionality should be available for both, we are only talking about the physical layer, nothing more.

Commisioning: Wired should be simpler than WiFi since no need to config Wifi access credentials.

Physical size: I dont see the size of an RJ45 having any significant bearing on the overall size of any project. Once the imp has been mounted in an impee with sensors, relays, power supply etc the RJ45 pales into insignificance.

PoE: very big value from a simplicity of deployment point of view, especially if we could change the PoE 48V supply into a 3.3v many Amp supply to remove power problems.

Deployment: For many reasons in South Africa WiFi is far less prevalent than in US or Europe. Even in commercial/factory environment customers are far more likely to allow wired connections than wireless. Distances (to AP’s) also currently limit deployment opportunities.

In summary, I see an opportunity for a wired version…

@tanakasan1734 yes, but with an imp you are getting a managed platform. Electric Imp is not a hardware company; the value is in the impOS & cloud service.

the value is in the impOS
hmm, maybe when you are a Squirrel guru.... I hope I 'll have time to live to get the NOOB status ~X(

@hugo agreed - lots of added value, i’m up and running a lot quicker than I otherwise would have been, even as a squirrel newbie :slight_smile:

If price isn’t an issue, a quick google around found device that could be seen as an imp ethernet adaptor.

basically it’s a mini wifi access point powered by poe, it also presents a usb interface for powering the imp.

I sure there are others that google could find that are even more suitable

http://www.alibaba.com/product-gs/1566811216/AP01_150M_300M_usb_rj45_rj11.html?s=p

I think main thing is giving the customer the choice of Ethernet or WIFI. Cost or size is not an issue in my opinion, probably gets stuffed into a control box anyway and out of sight. Some plants have the guest WIFI that covers the entire plant, some don’t. Most have ethernet already to the plant machinery. I am speaking mostly from industrial manufacturing settings. The most most awesome thing about this setup is I can get to the device any time and debug and modify code no matter where in the world it’s installed. That is huge!