Connecting serial ports to your Opengear device

Opengear devices offer a wide selection of network and port connectivity options, an up to date summary can be found on our product comparison web page.

This article covers physically connecting the serial ports.  Once physically connected, the port must be configured via the web UI or CLI to Console Server Mode before you can connect to ports over the network.

The following cover the most common target device serial ports:

RJ45 target

Opengear have standardized on the "Cisco Straight" aka "X2" pinout for RJ45 RS-232 console ports.

What this means you can generally connect your target device's RJ45 serial port (e.g. the light blue CONSOLE port the back of a router or switch) directly to the Opengear using a cat 5 straight-through patch cable – no adapters or special cables.

On select models, we offer software selectable "Cisco Straight/Rolled" aka "X2/X1" pinouts.  Once an Opengear console port has been switched to X1 mode, use a Yost/rollover cable rather than a straight-through cable.  This option is particularly useful if rollover cabling is already in place.

While there is no official standard pinout for RS-232 over RJ45, the majority of vendors use the same pinout as Cisco.  Please consult this list for specific examples.

For a target device with an idiosyncratically pinned console, you can either crimp a custom cable or use the original cable that shipped with the target device connected to the included 319016 adapter, as shown below:

DB9 target

DB9 console ports tend to be wired in the standard DTE configuration, ala the serial port you would find on a PC or laptop.  Connect the 319015 adapter to the target device, and then to the Opengear using a straight-through patch cable.

For DB9 ports that are wired in the standard DCE configuration, ala the serial port you would find on a dial-up modem, use the 319014 adapter instead.

USB target

The Opengear device's USB console ports use a standard Type A connector, ala the USB port you would find on a PC or laptop.  Use an off-the-shelf USB cable to connect to your target device's USB console.

While USB consoles have no special pinout or cabling requirements, they do have software driver requirements.  Refer to this article for details on drivers supported by your Opengear device – the vast majority of USB consoles will just work.