ENC28J60 vs Wiznet: what's the CURRENT status?

It wouldn't be that hard to do.

It would be for me: as I mentioned in my original post, there's no way I could make a board with the Wiznet chip. Living in the hinterlands, I probably couldn't even find someone local to do the assembly.

If I used a module like the WIZ811MJ so I could do through-hole, it would take the parts cost up to that $35 range.

But the WIZWEB module is only $32, with 640K of flash, 36K of RAM, and more I/O. Plus it has the W5300 Ethernet chip, which eliminates the SPI bottleneck. The ATMega128 supposedly has support in Wiring, so turning it into an Arduino platform should require only a little more than modifying the Ethernet library to support the 5300.

The only downsides I see are the double-row headers (a modest increase in the difficulty of incorporating it into projects) and the requirement for an external 3.3V regulated supply. Some people might see the lack of a USB interface as a problem, but it seems to me that you're rarely going to need one for projects that use Ethernet.

I've been wishing for an Ethernet Arduino for a while, but I think the Wizweb makes more sense. If you want shield compatibility, just make a simple through-hole "carrier" board with a voltage regulator and shield headers. It'd almost certainly be both cheaper and more powerful.

westfw:
I am starting to be a little worried about a TCP/IP chip that doesn't support IPv6.

I don't, because my experience with looking through access logs on embedded systems I've deployed has led me to divide 8-bit (and even many/most 16-bit) networked micros into 3 categories: "firewalled", "screwed", and "not screwed yet".

There are so many zombie PCs out there that you just can't put simple systems on the net without something to protect them from being swamped by incessant probing. The router(-ish) device that connects them to the Wild Wild Web will eventually be one that translates between IPv6 and the legacy devices on the LAN running IPv4.

You could also check my work where i resolve some problems mentioned above

http://www.arduino.cc/cgi-bin/yabb2/YaBB.pl?num=1291904599

I made a library to help simplify the ENC ethernet shields:

But, if you have the money get a Wiznet shield - much easier.

What about getting a Wiznet breakout board?

I understand it is still quite expensive, but cheaper than the Arduino and a bit more flexible to include in the design.

Also, MDfly is selling a board based on this chip for $17. http://www.mdfly.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=9_41&products_id=109

They're sold out now, but I managed to grab one while still in stock. The price was just too temping, although it's clear that bringing it up is going to be a giant pain from everything I see written out there.

Pinging this thread up again, in case anyone finds it while trying to make this same decision.

After investing a couple of months in the ENC28J60, I strongly recommend ANYTHING ELSE :slight_smile: The big problem with the TCP/IP stack in software is that it's really unreliable. There is not a big community using this chip, so the stack does not get the benefit of crowd-sourced bullet-proofing. I've now installed and tested every implementation I could find, and I can't find anything that works as a client which is reliable and remotely easy to use.

But what is a big deal in this case is reliability: some of the sensors will be installed in locations where it would be an all-day trip to push the reset button, so it's important that there are no mystery gotchas in the drivers that cause the system to flake out once a week, or even once a quarter.

This is exactly what I'm finding happening. So now I'm working on a watchdog reset solution. But still, the mean time to failure in my system is about an hour of sending packets once a minute.

yuo might want to checkout http://wiki.hackspace.org.uk/wiki/Project:Nanode

nick:
yuo might want to checkout http://wiki.hackspace.org.uk/wiki/Project:Nanode

Cool.. Nanode is pretty nifty, I might want to make something like that! Problem is, Nanode uses EtherShield. Same problems as stated above :expressionless: Piles of complexity... Where do you even start if something goes wrong. Less cleaned up than EtherCard.

Have you seen the Freetronics EtherTen? Its basically an Arduino UNO plus the Wiznet Ethernet Shield combined into one (SD card slot included). It also supports Power over Ethernet, both a cheap version of PoE and the official version of PoE.

I bought one to act as the controller for a zigbee network and it took almost no time to load the standard web server example sketch and get it running (the one that returns readings from the analog pins).

Hello,

You can use the last library from : http://blog.thiseldo.co.uk/?p=504>

I try it on a arduino mega with .jpg file, and he works fine.

gg

Ethershield_webserver.pde (18.9 KB)

Librairies for EN28J60 chip are better end better....
-el-egg tells about thiseldo's one
-jcw (Jeelabs) is making a version allowing cleaner and clearer code :
http://jeelabs.net/projects/cafe/wiki/EtherCard

Good things like 'sleep mode' are coming for ENC28J60 :
http://blog.derouineau.fr/2011/07/putting-enc28j60-ethernet-controler-in-sleep-mode/

In my case the choice among available chips was :
-W5100 for a current work with 'server mode',
-ENC28J60 for a another app with 'client mode' feeding Pachube/ThingSpeak (no permanent ethernet connection, low power mandatory)

(New chip arrives : Wiznet W5200 with power down pin, Microchip ENC24J600 ....)

Hello,

The ENC28J60 is at more or less 8 or 15 euros, the other is at 25 to 30 euros ( but the lib
are built-in in arduino software.
For the ENC28J60 you need to add the lib but he works fine with this last version ( no to big html page ).
See the example in the lib.

I also find a way to put more html pages in the web server and also a image for the background.

// File d1.jpg in hex

prog_char d1[] = {
0xff,0xd8,0xff.....
};// number of chars = 767

// The bg.jpg send procedure
uint16_t web_bg(uint8_t *buf)
{
uint16_t plen;
plen=http200_img_ok();
plen=es.ES_fill_tcp_data_len(buf,plen,bg,767);
return(plen);
}

S

I don't know why ICs like ENC28J60 or W5100 / W5200 / W7100 should be much more than 6 Euro !
Where do you order?
I'm working indirectly for WIZnet, so I'm not independent. I'm prejudiced.
but, ! both chips cost less or around 6 Euro, for small quantities !.

--- please allow me a small commercial advertisement ---
See here what is possible on a small MCU + W5200:
Dacom West GmbH - Smart solutions for you - Startseite (open source Web server with Sensors and graphical 3D I/F, Java-Script, DHCP and SMB)
It's stable for weeks, month, and years. Sorry Microchip, I don't believe ENC28J60 can do that.
And this W7100 (4in1) is a 5 to 6 Euro IC (8051 + engine like W5200) in one silicon chip.
The W5200 is a 3 to 4 Euro chip (3in1: HW TCP/IP + MAC + PHY)

If you are private, ask www.Watterott.com to organize it for you. Sorry, Dacom West is for German B2B only (no online shop).
--- ---

I like Microchip and Atmel the same in MCU, and I just wanted to point out possibilities and correct price ranges when it comes to Ethernet.

BR, Joachim Wülbeck, FAE, Dacom West GmbH

For me, 4jochen, the good news is :

The W5200 is a 3 to 4 Euro chip

Good candidate for a new module (Wiz812 like, with direct fast SPI driving).
"Related Modules" needs something in W5200 column !
(W5200E1 Evaluation board is something else...)

Hello Arduino-Forum,

WIZnet proudly presents ....
WIZ820io is an embedded Module using WIZnet's W5200 !!!

WIZ820io: http://www.wiznettechnology.com/Sub_Modules/en/product/Product_Detail.asp?cate1=&cate2=&cate3=&pid=1161

The W5200 + some externals + crystal is on the Bottom-Side of the small PCB. The footprint is 100mil = 2.54mm pitch.
The two 6pin rows are 800mil = 8x2.54mm = 20.32mm wide. The PCB is 23mm wide and 25.62mm = 1inch long, the MagJack app. ~2.5mm overboard.

best regards,
Joachim Wülbeck

WIZnet proudly presents ....
WIZ820io is an embedded Module using WIZnet's W5200 !!!

Thanks 4jochen for this news !!
Open Source ...Good point for Wiznet....

open source.jpg

4jochen:
Hello Arduino-Forum,

WIZnet proudly presents ....
WIZ820io is an embedded Module using WIZnet's W5200 !!!

WIZ820io: http://www.wiznettechnology.com/Sub_Modules/en/product/Product_Detail.asp?cate1=&cate2=&cate3=&pid=1161

The W5200 + some externals + crystal is on the Bottom-Side of the small PCB. The footprint is 100mil = 2.54mm pitch.
The two 6pin rows are 800mil = 8x2.54mm = 20.32mm wide. The PCB is 23mm wide and 25.62mm = 1inch long, the MagJack app. ~2.5mm overboard.

best regards,
Joachim Wülbeck

WOW.

I like "WOW" as reaction. 8)
And "open source" means, open hardware and open code.
The schematic you can allready see at the EVB: W5100E01-M3 -> downloads.
And a lot of driver and applications source code is already available also.

Maybe we can compare W5200 vs. W5100 with a simple "new" ethernet-shield (simple perfboard, german:Lochrasterplatine) soon.
Who will adopt the driver first?

looking forward and best regard, Joachim

Hi 4jochen !

Who will adopt the driver first?

If someone adapt 5100 driver for 5200, I could be the first to adopt it !! :slight_smile:
More serious : Cortex M3 working code helps 5200 data sheet hands on...
Driver is in this project :
http://www.wiznet.co.kr/UpLoad_Files/ReferenceFiles/W5200_TCP_and_UDP_SampleCode_v1.0_kr.zip waiting for AVR/Arduino porting .....

Any idea about (approximative) unit price (hobbyst) for WIZ820io ? about 10€ if chip is 3 to 4 € (reply #23)

The W5200 is a 3 to 4 Euro chip (3in1: HW TCP/IP + MAC + PHY)