Wiznet no-MAC address policy unacceptable

[stevech]

If all the below can become a non-issue by some procedure that I don't know of, wonderful. Meanwhile...

For board and module level products, Wiznet states that they will not assign MAC addresses, perhaps from the block they have registered at IEEE. The customer must obtain their own MAC addresses. This is not practical for module level products as follows. Modules are sold as OEM or end user items, unlike chips. The customer has the expectation to purchase a small or moderate volume of modules, such as the Wiz810MJ, and employ them in a system where a valid and coordinated MAC address is of course needed. Wiznet's refusal to provide a MAC address with modules burdens the low volume customer with paying the IEEE in order to obtain MAC address(es); see costs, below.

LANTRONIX does not treat their customers this way for modules.

THE EXISTING MAC ADDRESS BLOCK REGISTRATION IS PUBLIC ON IEEE's SITE:

00-08-DC (hex) Wiznet
0008DC (base 16) Wiznet
5F Simmtech bldg., 228-3,
Nonyhun, Kangnam
Seoul 135-830
KOREA, REPUBLIC OF

Wiznet should annotate (sicker/stamp) their modules assigning a MAC address from this 0008DC block or some other. The MAC may but need not be loaded into the chip's memory by Wiznet.



What costs are involved with obtaining an OUI, OUI-36, IAB or EtherType Field?

The OUI is $1,650.00 (US), the OUI-36 is $550.00 (US), the IAB is $550.00 (US) and the EtherType Field is $2,500.00 (US). The only other fees that would be involved are a $15.00 bank fee that is only applicable with the wire transfer payment method and an optional fee to secure private status on the public listing. There are no annual fees for publicly listed assignments.

The IEEE accepts checks (payable to IEEE Standards Dept.), purchase orders, wire transfers, as well as American Express, Visa, Master Card, Diners Club and Discover Card.

[Winston]

Yes, it sucks (and so does IEEE's pricing policy, which makes it totally uneconomical for small volume users.)

I'm resorting to use 0x00:0xAA:0x.... addresses - similar to how virtual machines running under Xen get randomly assigned a MAC address in the 0x00:0xAA range. The chances of collision are pretty low.

Wiznet really ought to take a leaf out of SiLabs book - the SiLabs CP2200 and CP2201 chips have a MAC address assigned to them and will use these addresses by default.

[stevech]

Yes, it sucks (and so does IEEE's pricing policy, which makes it totally uneconomical for small volume users.)

I'm resorting to use 0x00:0xAA:0x.... addresses - similar to how virtual machines running under Xen get randomly assigned a MAC address in the 0x00:0xAA range. The chances of collision are pretty low.

Wiznet really ought to take a leaf out of SiLabs book - the SiLabs CP2200 and CP2201 chips have a MAC address assigned to them and will use these addresses by default.

Yes, Wiznet has their head in the sand, thinking they can sell low/moderate volume of modules and end-user boards without providing a MAC address.

What is the address block 0x00:0xAA:0x.... assigned to per IEEE?

Every other module/board vendor I've worked with does provide MAC addresses for their product. This includes LANTRONIX, Netmedia, Moxa, Digi, et al. I'm not saying they should assign MAC addresses for chip products, but they must do so for board level products.

[Winston]

Sorry, that should have been 0xAA:...

If you look at the MAC address of virtual machines (say, running under something like Xen or UML), they get assigned a random MAC by software, starting with 0xAA. At least you know you're certain not to collide with other bits of _hardware_ that way. It's not an optimal solution, the optimal solution would be for Wiznet to do like SiLabs or Microchip, and have a default MAC value for the W5100.

[jimmain]

...

[regina]

I am so sorry to hear such complains.

Lantronix Xport is serial-to-ethernet module. Also, Lantronix all various network modules are specific functional products. So they can have their own MAC address.

Also, every WIZnet gateway module such as serial-to-Ethernet module (WIZ110SR/WIZ110SR) has its own MAC address that we provide.

However, WIZ810MJ case is different. It’s just tool in order to use W5100 easily.
Only WIZnet can provide Hardware TCP/IP network module like WIZ810MJ.

Actually, WIZnet really want to provide WIZ810MJ with specific MAC address.
However, there is no memory room for MAC address saving in WIZ810MJ for now.
Moreover, IEEE prohibits selling or providing loose MAC address from any company.
To make matters worse, IEEE sell MAC address as only so mass.

Thank you for your message. WIZnet understand your difficulties well.
Until now, we did not think WIZ810MJ as a perfectly end product.
Frankly speaking, we treat WIZ810MJ as a kind of medium tool for our chip selling.

Immediately, we will try to find solution although it will be not easy or simple.
We promise!

We apologize for any inconvenience.

[stevech]

I am so sorry to hear such complains.

Lantronix Xport is serial-to-ethernet module. Also, Lantronix all various network modules are specific functional products. So they can have their own MAC address.

Also, every WIZnet gateway module such as serial-to-Ethernet module (WIZ110SR/WIZ110SR) has its own MAC address that we provide.

However, WIZ810MJ case is different. It’s just tool in order to use W5100 easily.
Only WIZnet can provide Hardware TCP/IP network module like WIZ810MJ.

Actually, WIZnet really want to provide WIZ810MJ with specific MAC address.
However, there is no memory room for MAC address saving in WIZ810MJ for now.
Moreover, IEEE prohibits selling or providing loose MAC address from any company.
To make matters worse, IEEE sell MAC address as only so mass.

Thank you for your message. WIZnet understand your difficulties well.
Until now, we did not think WIZ810MJ as a perfectly end product.
Frankly speaking, we treat WIZ810MJ as a kind of medium tool for our chip selling.

Immediately, we will try to find solution although it will be not easy or simple.
We promise!

We apologize for any inconvenience.

Thank you for the thoughtful response.
The Wiz810MJ is indeed comparable to competitors such as Lantronix XPort in every way except the '810MJ is less costly - it is user-programmable! Yes, the 810MJ is an end-product by its very nature. With the SPI interface, it too is an Ethernet to serial!

May I suggest that you allocate from WizNet's MAC address block an address to each 810MJ (or similar end-item, not chip). If there is no non-volatile memory on the '5100 in which to store the MAC address, then the MAC address, imprinted or affixed by a label, would seemingly comply with IEEE - as it is bound to a product. You could tighten this binding by relating a MAC address to a serial number per 810MJ, imprinted on the same label.