Contemporary Controls EIGR-VX : Skorpion Gigabit Wired VPN Router, Wide-Temp -40 to +75C, OpenVPN Client + Server (15 Router + 15 PC Clients), Self-Hosted VPN + RemoteVPN Compatible, 10/100/1000 Mbps + 4-Port LAN Switch, UL 508

The EIGR family is Contemporary Controls' gigabit Skorpion router line, all sharing the same 41 mm DIN-rail enclosure, 4-port gigabit LAN switch, stateful firewall, and NAT/PAT/Port Forwarding capabilities. The differences come down to temperature range and VPN capability: EIGR-E (0 to 60°C, no VPN), EIGR-EX (-40 to +75°C, no VPN), EIGR-V (0 to 60°C, OpenVPN client/server with 15 router + 15 PC clients), EIGR-VX (-40 to +75°C, same VPN as EIGR-V), and EIGR-VB (0 to 60°C, OpenVPN client + bridge-mode server with 10 PC clients and broadcast/multicast pass-through). Pick by environment first, then by VPN need.

Self-Hosted VPN uses the EIGR-VX's own OpenVPN server functionality - you set up your own VPN server in your office or data center using a EIGR-VX (or EIGR-VX) configured in OpenVPN server mode, with no subscription fees and no cloud-service dependency. The EIGR-VX supports up to 15 router clients + 15 PC clients simultaneously and includes a built-in webpage tool for generating certificates and keys - so non-IT staff can deploy a VPN without learning OpenVPN command-line setup. RemoteVPN is Contemporary Controls' cloud-hosted alternative: a cloud-based OpenVPN server is maintained for you (subscription required), and your EIGR-VX acts as a VPN client that connects to the RemoteVPN service. Both approaches work; self-hosted gives you control, RemoteVPN gives you convenience.

Choose the EIGR-V for most VPN deployments - it supports more clients (15 router + 15 PC clients vs 10 PC only on the VB) and routed-mode VPN is sufficient for the vast majority of remote access use cases (HTTP/HTTPS to controller web pages, Modbus TCP, port-forwarded access to specific devices, RDP into a workstation, etc.). Choose the EIGR-VB only when broadcast or multicast traffic must traverse the VPN - the most common case is BACnet/IP discovery (Who-Is/I-Am) when no BBMD is available on the remote subnet.

The EIGR-VX is rated -40°C to +75°C (-40°F to +167°F), versus 0°C to +60°C for the standard model. Wide-temp is required for outdoor enclosures, rooftop equipment shelters, unconditioned mechanical rooms that can exceed 60°C in summer, refrigerated warehouses, water and wastewater pump houses, cell-tower equipment shelters, and any installation where ambient panel temperature is not actively controlled. The wide-temp variant uses the same firmware and feature set as the standard variant - only the components are rated for the extended range.

Yes. The EIGR-VX is UL 508 Listed for Industrial Control Equipment and CSA C22.2 No. 142-M1987 compliant. UL 508-listed components are directly acceptable for use in UL 508A panels without invalidating the panel listing, as long as the device is supplied from a Class 2 limited-energy source per the panel's circuit requirements.

Yes. The EIGR-VX accepts 24 VAC ±10% on a half-wave rectified low-voltage input, which lets it share a common 24VAC source with other control devices such as actuators, valves, and thermostats. A second power input accepts 10-36 VDC for either redundant power or DC-only installations. The two inputs are independent - you can mix sources (for example 24 VAC primary with a 24 VDC battery backup). Power consumption is 7 W DC or 11 VA AC.

No. Like most IP routers, the EIGR-VX does not forward broadcast messages between subnets, which BACnet/IP relies on for device discovery and Who-Is/I-Am traffic. The standard solutions are to deploy a BACnet/IP Broadcast Management Device (BBMD) on each subnet, or to enable Foreign Device Registration (FDR) on remote BACnet devices so they can register with a single central BBMD. Contemporary Controls' BAS Router (BASRT-B) is commonly paired with the EIGR-VX to provide BBMD functionality alongside MS/TP-to-IP routing. For BACnet broadcast traffic across a VPN specifically, see the EIGR-VB which uses bridge-mode VPN to pass broadcasts through the VPN tunnel.

For typical BAS panels running BACnet/IP between controllers, 100 Mbps is more than sufficient and the older EIPR series remains a cost-effective choice. Gigabit becomes worthwhile when at least one device on the network natively prefers gigabit - IP cameras and NVRs, Niagara Supervisor stations and historian-heavy JACEs, BACnet/IP networks with thousands of points polling at high frequency, large building portfolios where the panel network is part of a corporate gigabit infrastructure, or applications doing bulk data transfers (firmware updates, log retrievals). The EIGR-VX also future-proofs your panel network: deploy gigabit today, run at 100 Mbps if that's all your devices need, and gain headroom for additions over the panel's 15-20 year service life.

The default LAN-side IP address is 192.168.92.1 with subnet mask 255.255.255.0. To configure, connect a PC directly to one of the LAN ports with the PC set to obtain an IP address automatically (the EIGR-VX's built-in DHCP server will assign the PC an address), then browse to http://192.168.92.1. Default username and password are both admin and must be changed on first login (8-63 characters, at least one letter and one number required). The reset switch on the front panel restores factory defaults if you need to start over - hold for at least 3 seconds while powered, then power-cycle the unit.