Multi-port serial device recommendation

[miborn]

I am working on a point of sale project where one of the requirements is to allow the locations to use their legacy dumb character terminals and serial printers. I'm looking for recommendations for a 16-port device to use, with my priorities being 1) ease of setup/configuration and 2) price. Any suggestions?

Thanks in advance,
Mike

[BrianMicek]

Hi miborn,
I don't know if this helps or fits what your trying to do, but USB to serial "dongles" work really well with Linux.

[junmuz]

You can use brainbox multiport serial controllers. There won't be any troubles for you in setting that up.

[clarkem]

I am working on a point of sale project where one of the requirements is to allow the locations to use their legacy dumb character terminals and serial printers. I'm looking for recommendations for a 16-port device to use, with my priorities being 1) ease of setup/configuration and 2) price. Any suggestions?

Thanks in advance,
Mike

I have used octal serial port cards from a number of manufacturers. One issue is that if your legacy devices are really old is that the RS232 spec changed, and modern PCI express devices may use +- 5v outputs, whereas the older ones used +-12v. Though they should work (the minimum signal is +- 3v) we had issues on long signal runs. For that reason we used PCI cards with +-10v outputs.

We used Moxa C168H/PCI octal cards for RS232. Another issue is that some cards may need drivers installing, though from memory this is not an issue with Moxa. The cards can be ordered with 8 way cables terminating in 25 or 9 way D connectors. If these cards are no longer available more modern low voltage cards may have to be used, like the Moxa CP118-U/PCI.

Other cards include Sunix SER4066R/PCI and Comtrol Rocketport 550 /PCI. If you want PCIE, then visit the company's website. I think these cards needed linux drivers installing.

We found that most 16 port cards had external modules, and 8 port cards were more common.

[tiopablito]

We are very happy with Perle's Ultra-Port SI 16 port (04001970) - it's a bit pricey, but rock solid and FAST. We need the SI because we use it for RS422 as well as RS232. If you only need RS232 they also have an RS232 Ultra-Port (04001680) for about a third less. We use them with Windows, but they all come with linux drivers.

I am working on a point of sale project where one of the requirements is to allow the locations to use their legacy dumb character terminals and serial printers. I'm looking for recommendations for a 16-port device to use, with my priorities being 1) ease of setup/configuration and 2) price. Any suggestions?

Thanks in advance,
Mike