开云体育

ctrl + shift + ? for shortcuts
© 2025 开云体育
  1. YaMoRC
  2. Topics

Use of LNWIs with YD7001 - does anyone have experience?

 

Hi

Does anyone have experience using Digitrax's LNWIs with a YD7001 (a DR500 upgraded using the YD9401 module)?? I am trying to establish if this combination works without problems.

Our situation:
  • I am asking on behalf or York Railway Modellers in Toronto - I am a member of this club.
  • We have a DR5000 command station and we are using 4 LNWIs to connect via WiFi to it - WiFi throttles are a combination of TCS UWTs and cell phones running Wi Throttle and Engine Driver.
  • Our membership is growing and we will need to add the ability to connect more throttles in the coming months.? Capacity can be increased by adding another LNWI or converting the DR5000 to a YD7001,? and then using the built in WiFi module or a external router to connect throttles.
  • The delivery or Wi Throttle support for the YD7001 in the last week make it possible to consider the upgrade as a solution to our need to grow.
Thank You
 

Jay,

The YD7001 has a built-in WiThrottle server, so there is no need for the LNWIs.

The LNWI is a very limited and poorly designed device. In addition to causing issues with some Duplex equipment, they don't release their four Wi-Fi throttle "slots" until they are rebooted, and are hard to manage, since each only supports four throttles. The LNWI also doesn't support the full WiThrottle protocol, it is a slightly modified version of it. Multiple LNWIs makes no sense, as JMRI WiThrottle server should be used instead, and will end up costing less for a much better system.

Alex

On Sat, Apr 22, 2023 at 10:40?PM Jay Lennox <jay.lennox@...> wrote:
Hi

Does anyone have experience using Digitrax's LNWIs with a YD7001 (a DR500 upgraded using the YD9401 module)?? I am trying to establish if this combination works without problems.

Our situation:
  • I am asking on behalf or York Railway Modellers in Toronto - I am a member of this club.
  • We have a DR5000 command station and we are using 4 LNWIs to connect via WiFi to it - WiFi throttles are a combination of TCS UWTs and cell phones running Wi Throttle and Engine Driver.
  • Our membership is growing and we will need to add the ability to connect more throttles in the coming months.? Capacity can be increased by adding another LNWI or converting the DR5000 to a YD7001,? and then using the built in WiFi module or a external router to connect throttles.
  • The delivery or Wi Throttle support for the YD7001 in the last week make it possible to consider the upgrade as a solution to our need to grow.
Thank You



--

Alexander Wood

Hartford-New Haven, CT

Modeling the modern era freelanced G&W Connecticut Northern in HO

Digikeijs DR5000 - JMRI - ProtoThrottle - TCS UWT-100 - TCS UWT-50p - Digitrax Simplex
 

Alexander

You have clearly established on this forum and the Digikeijs forum that you have not use for LNWIs.? So I have to conclude that you have no experience using them with a YD7001.? Hence I am unsure why you felt it necessary to reply to my question.

I have been to touch with Karst regarding any limits to how many throttles a YD7001 can support.? YaMoRC has tested the internal WiFi to 8, and they have tested to 10 throttles using a LAN connection from an external router (they did not have equipment to test beyond that).? Karst has told me that there is probably a limit to the number of TCP/IP connections the new WiFi/LAN module will support, but he does not know what that is.

For the club we need to be able to support 14 to 16 throttles concurrently at this time, with more needed as we add members.? I am trying to build a plan to move us forward later in the year.?
  • One option is to upgrade our two DR5000s (primary, and the backup that we use for our programming track) to YD7001s. Based on YaMoRC testing this will not provide enough capacity.? If we could continue to use the some of the LNWIs that would give us the capacity we need.
  • Another option, pointed out by Karst, would be to do the upgrades to YD7001s and then add the upcoming YD7910 to double the throttle connection capacity.? It is not clear what interesting issues we will run into with this option.? It would also add additional cost.
As I have stated on the Digikeijs forum there are only a couple of the members, me being one, who are comfortable with a JMRI based solution because it involves a computer.? The club members want a turn it on and use it immediately solution (they not willing to wait for a computer to 'start up').? I use JMRI WiThrottle at home and it works great.

I do not want to get into a debate about the pros and cons of LNWIs.? I am very aware of their limitations.? I have to work with what the club currently has.

Jay
 

Jay,

Since you're looking for 14-16 connections, the LNWIs or any other hardware solution are inadequate for that purpose. Even if perfectly managed/balanced, the throttle slots get "locked" or "stuck" to that particular throttle, so you'll quickly run out of capacity. The answer is using the real WiThrottle server in JMRI. With LocoNet, you can use a separate computer for WiThrottle server then what you're using for configuring and monitoring the system, so your WiThrottle server can be a Raspberry Pi or whatever else you want it to be. Further, you can auto-start WiThrottle server with Decoder Pro or Panel Pro, and it should be trivial to put either of those into the startup folder on Windows, which would create a one-click system to running a real WiThrottle server. Windows takes what, maybe a minute to boot up on even a five year old machine with an SDD and Windows 10? WiThrottle is widely used in the hobby and is table stakes for most clubs out there. The LNWI just isn't a scalable solution for a club environment, and will cause more problems than it solves compared to running a real WiThrottle server.

The built-in WiThrottle server on the YD7001 is pretty cool for a small layout with only a few operators, although you still lose the roster functionality that you'd get with a real WiThrottle server combined with Decoder Pro.

Alex

On Sun, Apr 23, 2023 at 12:54?PM Jay Lennox <jay.lennox@...> wrote:
Alexander

You have clearly established on this forum and the Digikeijs forum that you have not use for LNWIs.? So I have to conclude that you have no experience using them with a YD7001.? Hence I am unsure why you felt it necessary to reply to my question.

I have been to touch with Karst regarding any limits to how many throttles a YD7001 can support.? YaMoRC has tested the internal WiFi to 8, and they have tested to 10 throttles using a LAN connection from an external router (they did not have equipment to test beyond that).? Karst has told me that there is probably a limit to the number of TCP/IP connections the new WiFi/LAN module will support, but he does not know what that is.

For the club we need to be able to support 14 to 16 throttles concurrently at this time, with more needed as we add members.? I am trying to build a plan to move us forward later in the year.?
  • One option is to upgrade our two DR5000s (primary, and the backup that we use for our programming track) to YD7001s. Based on YaMoRC testing this will not provide enough capacity.? If we could continue to use the some of the LNWIs that would give us the capacity we need.
  • Another option, pointed out by Karst, would be to do the upgrades to YD7001s and then add the upcoming YD7910 to double the throttle connection capacity.? It is not clear what interesting issues we will run into with this option.? It would also add additional cost.
As I have stated on the Digikeijs forum there are only a couple of the members, me being one, who are comfortable with a JMRI based solution because it involves a computer.? The club members want a turn it on and use it immediately solution (they not willing to wait for a computer to 'start up').? I use JMRI WiThrottle at home and it works great.

I do not want to get into a debate about the pros and cons of LNWIs.? I am very aware of their limitations.? I have to work with what the club currently has.

Jay



--

Alexander Wood

Hartford-New Haven, CT

Modeling the modern era freelanced G&W Connecticut Northern in HO

Digikeijs DR5000 - JMRI - ProtoThrottle - TCS UWT-100 - TCS UWT-50p - Digitrax Simplex

1 - 4 of 4