The refractometer is designed to be connected to a network with PoE (Power over Ethernet, IEEE-802.3af) modeA support, as it receives its operating power through the Ethernet. The refractometer is equipped with an integrated Ethernet cable, 10 m (33 ft) long. The cable can be connected to any standard RJ45 Ethernet equipment. For additional length you can use a UTP joint adapter/coupler with a standard Ethernet cable, length up to 50 m (164 ft). The maximum communication speed of the refractometer is 100 Mbit/s (Ethernet 100BASE-T).
In the simplest form the network consists of a refractometer, a computer, and a PoE switch. The following figure shows this configuration.
Several refractometers can be connected to the same Ethernet network. The refractometers also have an automatic function to detect the polarity of the network so that the network may utilize either cross-over or straight interconnecting cables.
The following figure shows an example of how to connect 3 refractometers to an existing LAN with no PoE functionality. A single PoE switch is enough in this case.
It is possible to use a WLAN access point to decrease the number of cables as shown in the following figure.
The maximum distance of a single Ethernet connection is 100 m (328 ft), including 1 joint adapter/coupler. If longer distances are required, you can use a fiber link to extend the range, as shown in the following figure.
