FTDI FT232RL and VCP

Jason-WI

How many FDTI FT232RL devices will the virtual com port driver support? Instead of buying a PCI card with 16 serial port I/O's could I use 16 FTDI FT232RL·chips and a few USB hubs to get 16 serial ports? I know that each chip is programmed with a unique SN number at the factory so it seems like it should be possible to do.

Jason

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He who dies with the most toys wins!

uxorious

Yes, you can have as many com ports as you want from my experience. (but I believe 256 USB ports is the max?) I am using some wireless sensor network devices that use the FTDI chip for the USB interface (for programming the firmware) I discovered that each new one connected to a USB port shows up as the next available com port and I have had 18 connected through hubs at one time. However, I have seen some peculiar problems with the FTDI USB-Serial devices when connected through daisy chained hubs. When I use on-motherboard USB ports or USB ports from a PCI card, they work perfectly, always. Through hubs, I have intermittent issues that show up after plugging/unplugging devices a few times. This is more prevalent with cheap USB hubs. Good luck!

Chris Savage

This thread is being moved from the BASIC Stamp Forum to the Sandbox Forum.

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Chris Savage
Parallax Tech Support