Network Interfaces
The ModuCop Edge Computer MEC01/02 provides several network interfaces to connect to the outside world. This section describes how to use these interfaces.
Ethernet
ModuCop provides two Ethernet interfaces, labelled ETH1 and ETH2 on the front panel.
In some variants of the ModuCop, the ETH2 interface is not populated.
Both are 1Gbit Ethernet interfaces, which can be used to connect to a network switch or router. The interfaces are configured via NetworkManager, which is the default network management tool in the ModuCop Yocto BSP.
The interface names in linux are
end0for ETH1enp5s0for ETH2
The default configurations are:
| Interface | Configuration |
|---|---|
| ETH1 | DHCP |
| ETH2 | Fixed IP: 192.168.25.99/24 |
If you don’t want the fixed IP configuration for ETH2, you can just delete the configuration for it.
rm /etc/NetworkManager/system-connections/eth2.connection
Afterwards, it will be configured via DHCP like ETH1.
See also the Quickstart Guide for more examples.
WiFi
The ModuCop provides a WiFi interface, which is supporting both 2.4GHz and 5GHz bands. It can operate in both client and access point mode, even simultaneously.
Antenna configuration
On the MEC01/02 front, you see two antenna connectors, labelled WLAN1 and WLAN2. These are the antenna connectors for the WiFi interface. You can use either one or both of them, depending on your use case.
By default, both antenna connectors are enabled. However, if you only want to use one antenna (WLAN1), you must configure the WiFi interface accordingly. In this case, call
iw phy phy0 set antenna 0x1 0x1
This setting is not persistent across reboots, so you may want to add it to a systemd service or script that runs at boot time.
If you use only one antenna and you do not set the antenna configuration, the WiFi interface will still work, but it may not perform optimally.
Display available WiFi networks
To list all available WiFi networks, you can use the nmcli command:
nmcli --colors no dev wifi list
This will show you a list of all available WiFi networks, including their SSID, signal strength, and security type.
The --colors no option disables colored output, which works around an issue with the busybox shell. You should use this option every time you use nmcli in the ModuCop Yocto BSP.
Connect to a WiFi network (Client Mode)
The network interface for client mode is called mlan0. To connect to a WiFi network, you can use the nmcli command:
nmcli -a device wifi connect your-ssid
Password: **************
Device 'mlan0' successfully activated with '50cf3ec8-fe0a-40cb-8f55-4e2d17ce7d2d
Now you should be able to ping a host on the wi-fi network, for example:
ping <host-ip> -I mlan0
Disconnect from a WiFi network
nmcli device disconnect mlan0
Configure WiFi in Access Point Mode
The network interface for access point mode is called uap0.
To configure the WiFi as an access point, you may use the following nmcli commands. Replace <your-ssid>, <your-channel>, and <your-password> with your desired values:
nmcli con add type wifi ifname uap0 mode ap con-name WIFI_AP ssid <your-ssid>
nmcli con modify WIFI_AP 802-11-wireless.band bg
nmcli con modify WIFI_AP 802-11-wireless.channel <your-channel>
nmcli con modify WIFI_AP 802-11-wireless-security.key-mgmt wpa-psk
nmcli con modify WIFI_AP 802-11-wireless-security.proto rsn
nmcli con modify WIFI_AP 802-11-wireless-security.psk <your-password>
nmcli con modify WIFI_AP ipv4.method shared
nmcli con up WIFI_AP
To provide a DHCP server for the connected clients, the ipv4.method is set to shared. This allows the ModuCop to act as a WiFi access point, providing network connectivity to connected devices.
Cellular
Most models of the ModuCop Edge Computer MEC01/02 are equipped with a cellular modem, which can be used to connect to a mobile network. The cellular modem is configured via NetworkManager, similar to the WiFi and Ethernet interfaces.
The network interface for the cellular modem is called wwu1u1i5.
See the Quickstart Guide for a step-by-step guide on how to set up the cellular modem and connect to the Internet.