Ethernet for industrial environment
The harsh environments of plants and workshops put much more stress on the components than the office environment does: Dust, moisture, chemicals, mechanical stress, extreme temperatures and much higher electromagnetic interference lead to specifications which were unknown and unrivalled in the past. At the same time, plants and workshops demand highest possible reliability and availability, as even short service interruptions lead to high losses.
One hour downtime of a PC in an office is annoying; one hour downtime of a production line is not acceptable as it inevitably means losing enormous amounts of money. Especially in the industrial environment quality and reliability of the components – above all outlets and connectors – are exceptionally important and in most cases mission-critical. So it’s no wonder that for industrial applications different standards apply, e.g. ISO/IEC 24702 for the cabling and IEC 61076-3-106 for the connectors

Protection class
In addition to the quality of carefully coordinated components, protection against solid and liquid substances is also important in industrial applications. The international standard IEC 60529 defines the IP code (International Protection) as a simple designation system: the first digit indicates protection against the ingress of solid bodies such as dust, the second digit indicates protection against water / moisture.
Protection against solid foreign objects*
First Digit | Description |
0 | no particular protection |
1 | Protection against solid foreign objects with Ø 50 mm or more |
2 | Protection against solid foreign objects Ø 12,5 mm or more |
3 | Protection against solid foreign objects Ø 2,5 mm or more |
4 | Protections against solid foreign objects Ø 1,0 mm or more |
5 | Dust-protected |
6 | Dust-tight |
* Definitions see IEC 60529
Protection against water*
Second Digit | Description |
0 | no particular protection |
1 | Protection against vertically dripping water |
2 | Protection against dripping water. There must be no harmful effect on materials tipped (in a container) up to 15° from its normal position |
3 | Protection against fine water spray |
4 | Protection against water splashing |
5 | Protection against water jet |
6 | Protection against stong water jet |
7 | Protection against water, when the material is temporarily immersed in water |
8 | The material is suitable for continous submersion in water; to be agreed between customer and vendor |
9 | Protection against water when highpressure or steam cleaners are used; to be agreed between customer and vendor. |