Remotely accessing PLC network from Home via Raspberry Pi 4

huzzygr8

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Oct 2020
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Germany
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Hello everyone,

This is a bit off topic, more about Raspberry Pi then PLC anyway...

I was thinking if I could connect to my PLC (any PLC brand for that matter) that is connected to Raspberry Pi 4 as a local network from my home network.

In short the system looks something like this :

System1 : PLC (static IP address that is already known) connected to Raspberry Pi 4 (static IP address that is already known) through an Ethernet switch. The Raspberry Pi 4 is connected to the Internet through a Wi-Fi router (IP address unkown)

System2 : Laptop with Internet access.

How can i connect to PLC in system1 via the laptop in system2. I am looking forward to your replies and expert suggestions :geek::geek::geek:
 
Hi,

I recently fought this same fight and eventually won. What I did was create an Ubuntu VM on Google Cloud, installed Open VPN Access Server, and then installed clients on my laptop and Rpi. I took a bit to get it configured correctly but if you're still struggling let me know and ill add more details.
 
I have openVPN set up on my router, it gives me access to my home network so I don't have any internet facing file sharing.

It also gives me access to all of the home automation and homelab servers. I have for fun tested tethering my phone data and connecting rslinx to the slc5/05 on my home network and it does work. I'm somewhat leery of doing a full download this way though. I'm afraid of packet loss over such a convoluted connection.
 
You would need to set up NOIP (https://www.noip.com/) to allow you to route from the "internet to home" easily. Once you have done this on your firewall (AKA your router), you need to forward the ports you require to the target device, in this case, the RaspberryPI. You could put the PI in a DMZ but then all ports would be open to the interweb.

I do the same I have a windows server running at home and use this to "RDP" into it from the office, I have forwarded the RDP ports on my router. Before someone suggests our work block VPN tunnels.
 
To take into account that there are currently internet providers that no longer assign dynamic public IPs to their cable connection subscribers and even less in mobile connections (cellular)

Given the shortage of public IPs, they assign IPs from a private network, as if the subscribers were computers within a company.

If this is your case, the ports waiting for connections in your house will be unreachable, even using a dynamic DNS service such as NOIP. In this case, you will have to ask your internet provider to assign you public IPs.
 
I use SoftEther, which includes a Dynamic DNS feature. It uses NAT-traversal, which means it will work even if your home network is on a larger private network. My Home network, is behind a second network before it hits the Cable Modem, and SoftEther works fine.

It also supports layer 2 connections, so you do not have to worry about configuring all of your default gateways.
 
Last edited:
Go with Zero Tier and make life simple https://www.zerotier.com/

I think Ken Roach either has or was planning on setting it up with Rasberry Pi so it may be worth sending him a PM and ask his experience and tips with it on Rasberry Pi.

It's one of the best remote access and connectivity solutions as its Peer to Peer and combines the best of VPN and SDN over a Peer to Peer network. I recently did my 519th setup with it and our customers love it and you can't beat the price.
 
This is the document I follow when I use a stock Raspberry Pi with ZeroTier to access a remote network:

https://zerotier.atlassian.net/wiki...ZeroTier+and+local+network+with+a+RaspberryPi


ZeroTier can be a little intimidating until you get he hang of it, but it's super-useful and runs on all sorts of hardware and operating systems.

The only computers I've had trouble with it on are underpowered Windows 7 desktops that have numerous other stability problems thanks to their elderly and click-happy users.
 

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