Hi all, I saw an ad for iobridge's IO-244 module and would like to know the difference and any pro's or con's between it and the Arduino Ethernet Shield (DEV-09026) from Sparkfun.
Thanks
Okay, so maybe that question was like comparing apples to oranges. :-[
I have been looking to get an Arduino Duemilonove board with the Ethernet Shield to play with and be able to get an LED to blink using my iPod touch. But when I saw the ad for the IO 204 module and watched some Youtube vids it looked like everyone was thrilled about how easy it was to get connected.
Since I am not strong on the programing side would it be a better to start with IO-204? I would imagine that the Ethernet Shield would require more programing.
One other thing, would the IO-204 module work if not connected to the web? It looks like its ease of use is due to its connection to iobridge's server.
Any thoughts would be appreciated.
Yep, apples and oranges, this forum deals with oranges, and you want questions answering about apples....
It looks very limited in comparison to an arduino, but probably easier to handle for the little it can do.
You don't need an arduino to do that with the IO-204 it will do that just fine all by itself. It's an odd duck though. They have the device tethered to their system to 'make it easier' so if you do get one make sure it can be used independent of them if they go belly up.
But a shield ischeaper if you have an arduino already
deleted crappy incomplete solarbotics shield
Example only
The ioBridge modules authenticate to our ioBridge.com web services...
AKA, if you don't keep paying them $$$, it won't work.
Thank you guys,
I'll have to look into it further.
We actually get this question a lot on our forum. The Arduino and the IO-204 are two different things with some overlap but definitely two different things. Lots of users connect the two together using serial, to allow the Arduino to get data from the web, or have the Arduino accessible from the web. Think of it like gotomypc for microcontrollers, but you don't have to have a PC running to have remote access. For the IO-204, there is not a fee for the web services.
I hope this clear it up a bit. Feel free to continue on this thread if anything else comes up. I know it's a bit confusing.