StarTech.com 2-Port Serial to Ethernet Adapter, IP Serial Device Server For Remote RS232 Devices, Wall/DIN Rail Mountable, Metal Housing, RJ45 LAN to DB9 Serial Converter

Product Overview

AI-generated summary

For £197 ex-VAT, this StarTech 2‑port serial‑to‑Ethernet adapter is best viewed as a “niche utility” rather than a bargain. It’s the sort of thing that actually earns its keep when you’re trying to bring legacy kit (RS232 devices, remote meters/controllers, old PLC peripherals, barcode/scale interfaces, etc.) onto your network without ripping and replacing hardware. Two ports is a nice fit for small deployments—think one site with a couple of devices that need reliable LAN reach—and the metal housing plus DIN/WALL mounting is genuinely useful in real wiring environments where you don’t want plastic/desktop gear.

I’d say **buy it if** you have a couple of RS232 endpoints you need to access remotely and you’re comfortable with the “serial over IP” approach (driver/protocol quirks on the software side, and making sure the application expects raw serial semantics). **Don’t buy it if** you’re after a general-purpose “print/USB/RS232 anywhere” solution or you don’t have a clear plan for how you’ll integrate the serial application, because the admin and troubleshooting effort can easily outweigh the hardware cost. Also, £197 for just two ports is steep enough that if you expect to scale or you’re unsure whether you’ll stick with RS232, you should sanity-check alternatives (multi-port units or different connectivity) before committing.