HEX-NET : When too much VCDS is never enough!!

[DV52]

So, I've been using a HEX+CAN cable for a few years now and I just received a HEX-NET device from Ross Tech. Thought that I would share my out-of-the-box experience in case anyone else was considering an upgrade.

First, this is how the unit comes packed-up from Ross Tech:




Very neat and damage resistant package albeit it is a large box for what is a small device! The real goodies (and what you are paying-for) of course is the HEX-NET dongle, which looks like this:



The predominant difference with the HEX-NET is the separate USB cable and the "other" end of the dongle (i.e. the end that doesn't have the OBDII socket) - which looks like this:



So, HEX-NET can be used in the following two basic modes;

1. the traditional VCDS mode (which would be familiar to many) where the USB cable is plugged-into the dongle and the laptop, and
2. WIFI mode

In WFI mode, the HEX_NET can be used in two further modes as follows:

1. Access Point mode - this is where HEX-NET remotely communicates directly with the laptop or other device.
2. Infrastructure mode - this is where HEX-NET remotely communicates via an existing network, including the router on that network.

Setting-up the WIFI modes is pretty-much the same process as registering a normal WIFI device to a computer. I did this by using the new software that Ross Tech has made available called the "WIFI Configuration Utility". To use this software however, it was first necessary to download Java onto my laptop, but the process is easy!

So how does the HEXT-NET perform? Well, my first test was to compare the speed of the HEX-NET against my trusty HEX+CAN cable in the simple task of creating an autoscan report for my mk7. To do the test, I used the "elapsed time" reading that is placed at the bottom of the autoscan report for the following three scenarios:

• HEX+CAN cable
• HEX-NET configured in cable Mode
• HEX-NET WIFI connected in AP Mode

The autoscan tests were done for two separate Ross Tech software versions (both Beta SW)

The results of the test are shown in the table below:

AUTOSCAN SPEED TEST

VCDS Type	Elapsed Time (mins) ver: Beta 16.3.1.1	Elapsed Time (Mins) ver: Beta 16.5.0.4
HEX+CAN (Cable)	03:10	03:12
HEX-NET (Cable)	01:28	01:15
HEX-NET (WIFI)	01:47	01:25

An amazing result - I think that you will agree!!

Finally,I wanted to see how the HEX-NET would perform in an "unusual scenario". So I hooked-up the dongle to my control module test bench, which is a simple device that has a CAN Gateway connected to a BCM (and nothing else). The set-up showing the HEX-NET connection is in the picture below:




Fired-up the HEX-NET in WIFI mode and told it to poll the 2-module car and it worked wonderfully!!

Conclusion- very happy with my new HEX-NET

Don

PS: Now trying to get my head around VCDS mobile - it's an "App" style interface that is resident inside the dongle. So it really is only a matter of pointing a web browser to the correct IP address and "presto". Looks very much like OBDeleven, but it has some real neat gauges and nifty graphing functions (plus it has a VCDS-cloud function that does all the programming functions of a normal VCDS cable). But it does rely on a good internet facility at the point of use!

[IanPGonzaga]

very nice

would be interested to see how logging goes with data having to fly around the air first

[LunchboxVRS]

Did you order straight from Rosstech or another source?
What did it cost landed to your door?

[DV52]

very nice

would be interested to see how logging goes with data having to fly around the air first

Ian: Good question!!

The answer is in the numbers in my "speed-test" table. Compare the elapsed times between HEX-NET (Cable) and HEX-NET (WIFI).

What the table says (for the latest Beta SW 16.5) is that there is a 10 sec overhead (~13% of the time for the cable configuration) for using the WIFI facility for my car - which has 14 x control modules. Not much really!!

Don

[DV52]

Did you order straight from Rosstech or another source?
What did it cost landed to your door?

lunchbox - got it direct from Ross Tech - my situation was a little unusual, so my purchase price is not applicable (I kept my old cable). You can get a discount if you want to swap your old cable for the upgrade HEX-NET - see the store page on RT website. But HEX-NET not a cheap tool to buy. Nevertheless, I believe that it's value for money (albeit I acknowledge that other folk may define "value" differently)

Don

[LunchboxVRS]

lunchbox - got it direct from Ross Tech - my situation was a little unusual, so my purchase price is not applicable (I kept my old cable). You can get a discount if you want to swap your old cable for the upgrade HEX-NET - see the store page on RT website. But HEX-NET not a cheap tool to buy. Nevertheless, I believe that it's value for money (albeit I acknowledge that other folk may define "value" differently)

Don

I have the cable but would probly just sell it on to anouther member. I know it's not cheap but I have an iPad Pro and a iMac now so the wireless part is what I'm keen on as I can't plug the cable into the iPad and I can't sit with a 27" iMac on my lap. My old laptop only works on constant power a crashes every 10min and it's not worth fixing so would be good to know a rough price with currency conversion and postage for unit no trade in. Pm if you don't want to post public. Would get a obdeleven but there only android.