Windows Connecting A Thunder Laser To LightBurn Via Ethernet

Windows Connecting A Thunder Laser To LightBurn Via Ethernet

This article describes how to set up a direct connection to the machine which omits routers, hubs and switches that can add complexity and may not work even if you are able to ping the machine. If you are connecting your laser through a Router, then this article is not the one you need.


Quick Start Videos:

Scenario 1:
In this video, we cover where to find your WIFI IP and how to setup the computer to talk to the Laser when the WIFI IP does conflict with the Laser's Default IP

Scenario 2:
In this video, we cover where to find your WIFI IP and how to setup the computer to talk to the Laser when the WIFI IP does not conflict with the Laser's Default IP


Config Wizard:

You can also use this wizard to guide you through the configuration




Complete Guide:

This guide is broken down into a few sections. Discovery phase and Implementation phase are the sections where the work is done. If you are in need of additional knowledge and troubleshooting of your connection, you can skip down to those two sections as well as you may not need to read them from the get go, but if you stumble then they are good sections to find answers to the problems you may run into.

Discovery Phase of IP Selection:

You need to complete these steps in order to be able to complete the configuration of the IP properly. If you skip these steps, you will likely have issues.

INTERNET NETWORK IP CONFLICT CHECK:

This is the most critical step of the process. We need to know your Internet IP (can be through WIFI or Hardwired) so that we can set what the Laser and Hardwired Machine Network IP's will be. Without doing this step, you will likely have communication issues. The main goal is to determine if you computer is already assigned an IP in the 192.168.1.xxx network space from the network automatically.

How To Find your Internet Network IP:


Compare your Internet Network IP:
Use this table to compare your Internet IP to the options shown, then use the IP's listed in to set up your hardwired connection.
Set the IP for these Devices:
If your Internet NW IP is 192.168.1.xxx 
(xxx is between 001 and 254)
If your Internet NW IP is anything but 192.168.1.xxx 
(xxx is between 001 and 254)
Computer to Laser Machine Hardwired Ethernet Setting
192.168.2.100
192.168.1.100 (Machine Factory Default)
Lightburn Device IP Setting
192.168.2.100
192.168.1.100
Laser Controller IP Setting
192.168.2.101
192.168.1.101



Implementation Phase- Setting the IP's From the Discovery Table:

Ok, so you have completed the Discovery Phase work from up above, now it is time to do the actual configuration.


Step 1: Setting the Laser Machine IP (Only required if changing from default 192.168.1.100):

Navigate to the "ipconfig+" Menu Set the IP Accordingly


Press the blue MENU button and then navigate with the Up and Down arrows to Ip Config+ sub menu. Press the green Enter Button
Use the blue MENU button to move between IP boxes. Select each digit in the box with the Left and Right arrows. Set each digit individually with the Up and Down arrows.  Press the green Enter button to save your settings.

Step 2: Setting the IP on your computer (Required)

You need to navigate to the prompt of your choice that will let you enter your IP address from the Discovery phase. Note that the Example Images below show 192.168.1.101 but that may not be what you set your Computer IP to, please use what you set in the Discovery phase above.



Example of Older IPv4 Setup (Easiest to user)
Example of Windows 11 Updated IP Configuration Prompt
Example of Windows 11 Summary Page



























(If it asks for a Subnet Prefix length and will not accept 255.255.255.0 as the subnet mask, try 24 as it is the equivalent shorthand)



Step 3: Lightburn Target device Setup for Ethernet (Required):

When you create a device you can select it as Ethernet and enter the IP. If you need to edit the IP after creation, you can do it from the Edit> Device Settings window in Lightburn.


Method 1: New Device Wizard IP Setup Step in Lightburn
Method 2: Device Edit Prompt in Lightburn:


Create a new or edit and existing device in Lightburn and enter the appropriate IP from the table above
Go to Edit>Device Settings in Lightburn and edit your IP in the device settings Prompt (Newer Versions of LB)







Additional Considerations:


Please also consider reviewing this article if terms like IP, Subnet Mask, Host ID and Network ID seem like a foreign language:

-Cable - The included Ethernet cable will work. You can use longer patch Ethernet cables as well if needed. Ethernet is generally limited to 100meters. Plug it directly into your computer and directly into the machine, nothing in between (except a USB converter type device) .

-Find My Laser - The Lightburn function for "Find My Laser" does not work with Ethernet connections, only USB.



Troubleshooting Steps:

Ok so you have completed the Pre-work and Configuration steps above but it is still not communicating. It could be the software configuration or even hardware(cable, machine port). See below for some troubleshooting steps.

Basic Troubleshooting:


If the Laser does not connect to your computer, check this list of Common Things Missed:

Check 1: Computer IP is not assigned

-Check your IP of your connection to the computer, if it reads back a 169.168.xxx.xxx type IP then you have not configured the IP for the computer connection properly. To find your Computers IP, use the CMD window and the command "ipconfig". Sometimes you may have the IP configured right but still get the 169.168.xxx.xxx IP, try disabling and then enabling the connection in the Windows Network Connection window.

Check 2: Does the screen show "Lan ON"

-Does the Laser Machine Screen Show "Lan On" in the lower right corner? If not, then there is a physical cable connection issue. Please verify the cable connection the Laser to your computer is plugged in and in good condition. You may need to bypass the outer port and plug directly into the controller inside the Laser Machine as a test.

Check 3: Make sure you selected the right device in Lightburn

-User has multiple Devices set up in Lightburn but has not selected the correct one in the Lightburn Laser Control Window.  Rename the Device to have "_Enet" in the name so it is easy to select, delete other unused devices vs just naming them all Ruida.


Check 4:Confirm that you are not on a USB device in Lightburn

-Next to the Device Selection there should NOT be a dropdown for a comm port that usually says "(Auto)" or has a USB port designation.

Check 5: Kick start the Communications 

-Right Click on the "Devices" button in the laser control window to kick start the communications, if connected, it will say "Ready" above the Pause button

Check 6: Did not enter an IP for your computer connection

-User did not set computer Ethernet connection to manual IP assignment or set IP correctly. Example for a 192.168.1.xxx network shown:

Double check your setup to make sure you did not assign the same IP of the Laser to your computer as well. In this example, the Computer is 192.168.1.101 and the machine would be 192.168.1.100



(Subnet mask can be 255.255.0.0 or 255.255.255.0, not 255.255.255.255)

Check 7: Didn't Change Machine IP from Default but needed to

-User did not change Laser machine IP (if needed). Use the screen on the Laser Machine to set the IP correctly (generally 192.168.1.100 or 192.168.2.100 but will vary by users network needs)

Check 8: Double Check Lightburn IP points to Machine IP

-User did not set up Lightburn Device with the correct IP to match what they set on the laser. Make sure the IP listed in Lightburn matches the IP listed on the Laser Control Screen

Lightburn Devices Window
Machine Control Screen


Example of the Device IP being set to 192.168.2.100
The Laser Machine IP must match the Target device IP that is set in Lightburn


Check 9: Double Check Machine IP

-Missed that pressing enter is used to save the machine IP settings on the machine, double check them again. If you set the numbers but then pressed the "ESC" button instead, they were likely not saved

Check 10: Can you Ping?

-Ping the laser at the address you assigned to it. Here is a reference video on how to ping.


Check 11: Non 255.255.255.0 Subnet Mask

This is a rare case but if you have a network setup such that your subnet mask is not 255.255.255.0 which would allow devices to usually talk across networks of other third octets, for examples a 192.168.4.100 IP on the Laser machine but a 192.168.5.51 IP on the Computer with a subnet mask of 255.255.252.0, you will be able to ping the laser but you will not be able to talk to the laser over lightburn. You need to assign an IP that is in the network range of the computer, so in this case a 192.168.5.xxx IP.

Further Troubleshooting:


-Plug USB to Ethernet adapter as directly into the computer as possible, eliminating Hubs and other converters
-Try a different computer
-Turn off WIFI connection for your computer
-Verify no other device is assigned the same IP as your Laser. Turn the laser Machine completely off and "ping" the IP address you assigned to the laser, it should not respond. Here is a reference video on how to ping. If the PING responds with the machine off, then you have a duplicate IP setup and you need to change the Laser Machines IP and redo your configuration



Check that Windows is allowing Lightburn to access Private and Public Networks:

If you are able to ping the controller IP but Lightburn will not connect, lets check this setting. You need to navigate to the Allowed Apps section of your Windows Defender Firewall settings






The What if I have it all sorted out but it is still not connecting:

Ok, so here is a likely scenario. While you were addressing the laser and computer connections, you might have created a "Duplicate IP" scenario where say both devices were assigned the same 192.168.1.100 IP address for example. Well, there tends to be a lockout of that IP address so try this.

-Change the computer IP Address again, like add 2 to the last number, make it .103.
-Change the Machine IP Address again, like subtract two from it and make it .98
-Unplug the cable from the computer and Laser, plug the cable back in to both
-Then change the computer IP back to say .101 and the Machine IP back to say .100. Then confirm that the computer and Laser are talking in Lightburn.


If all of the above does not work, please email tech support at support@thunderlaserusa.com




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