Ethernet¶

ETH.STATUS · RAK13800 · CH390 · TCP PORT

Some boards can be attached to a wired network alongside LoRa. On those builds there is one extra command, eth.status, and the node listens on a TCP port. This page describes what the firmware does there and which builds are involved.

Note

Source. This page was verified against the firmware itself: MeshCore v1.17.1, commit d929643, 14 August 2026 — files src/helpers/nrf52/EthernetCLI.h, src/helpers/ethernet/EthernetInterface.h, src/helpers/ethernet/SerialEthernetInterface.h, src/helpers/ethernet/ch390/CH390EthernetInterface.h, variants/rak4631/platformio.ini, variants/thinknode_m7/platformio.ini, and the official docs/cli_commands.md. Line numbers refer to this commit.

Overview¶

The markers in the Role column are explained in the CLI reference.

Command	Role	Default	Serial only	Source
`eth.status`	`build flag` `ETHERNET_ENABLED` · not companion	—		`nrf52/EthernetCLI.h` r.89

eth.status is not in CommonCLI.cpp but in nrf52/EthernetCLI.h. The script tools/cli-commands.py therefore counts eth.status as a command that is in the official documentation and not in the files the script scans.

Commands¶

eth.status¶

Status of the Ethernet connection. If the interface is not active the reply is ETH: not connected; otherwise the IP address obtained over DHCP with the TCP port of the CLI (nrf52/EthernetCLI.h r.89–100). The port defaults to 23 and can be changed with the build option ETHERNET_TCP_PORT (r.20–22). After a failed start the firmware retries every 30 seconds (ETHERNET_RETRY_INTERVAL_MS, r.28).

Example:

eth.status
  -> ETH: not connected

With a connection the reply looks like this:

eth.status
  -> ETH: 192.168.2.234:23

Which builds¶

The Ethernet code is only compiled in with the build option ETHERNET_ENABLED. It did not exist in 03b6ef4; it was added in v1.17.0.

Build	Hardware	What listens
`RAK_4631_repeater_ethernet`	RAK4631 with RAK13800 (W5100S)	CLI on TCP 23
`RAK_4631_room_server_ethernet`	RAK4631 with RAK13800 (W5100S)	CLI on TCP 23
`RAK_4631_companion_radio_ethernet`	RAK4631 with RAK13800 (W5100S)	companion protocol on TCP 5000
`ThinkNode_M7_companion_radio_ethernet`	ThinkNode M7 with CH390	companion protocol on TCP 5000

The companion has no command line; over Ethernet it speaks the same binary protocol as over BLE and USB, on port 5000 (ethernet/SerialEthernetInterface.h r.5–6). See The companion interface and Transport layers. For emergencies there is Companion: CLI Rescue.

Warning

The CLI on TCP 23 has no encryption and no separate access control: anyone who can reach the IP address gets the same command line as over the serial console. Do not put such a node on a network that reaches beyond your own LAN without shielding it, and in any case change the default password, see System.

Sources¶

Translated from Dutch by Anthropic Claude