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Running the Cables and Hardware to interconnect the system
Depending on your expertise and preference you can either purchase CAT5 cables to
length with the connectors already attached to both ends. This makes it somewhat
difficult to get the connector into the blender panel because of the head on the cable,
but not impossible. Either way you will need to have some sort of Hub, Switch, or
Router to interconnect all of the blenders with the PC. If you already have a plant LAN
then you should just run drops to each blender and one to the PC from your main
network. If this will be a stand-alone system then you can purchase a hub or switch to
accomplish the same thing. A 5-port hub will cost around $40 and is shown below:
5-port Hub
Sample network. Be sure not to connect the blenders or PC to the uplink port on the
hub or switch and to also use straight through cables