IP2SL iTach alternative

I have a few, maybe 5, devices with rs232 but no ip/telnet connection, so I had a look at the recommended IP2SL iTach devices. The PoE version is £179 in the uk, so £900 ($1128).

This seems very expensive just to connect 5 devices , largely av systems. Is the an alternative product that people in the uk use, or perhaps 5 port hub option? Network traffic must be tiny, so I assume if the serial ports are still individually addressable, then that could be an option.

Not sure what you're looking at. The IP2SL first of all is an ancient deprecated product nobody should be buying. It is a mystery why it is still being sold. Even when we sold them many years ago I would ask why it still exists. Anyway, the iTach Flex here in the US is currently $99:

https://amzn.to/3IbwIdS

PoE is $121:

https://amzn.to/3W8C27j

The Serial Cable is a generic white box on Amazon right now so I'm not going to link to that since I'm not sure what it is – the people who put GC products on Amazon have no relation to GC and it can sometimes be a comical mess like this. This is the cable needed, from a site that lists the products properly:

https://www.homecontrols.com/Global-Cache-Flex-Link-Serial-Cable-GCFLEXRS232

So that's $25. Total per unit therefore $146 US, or 117 GBP. That totals 585 GBP if you need 5.

Looks like better prices in the US.

The iTach Flex is £140 and the Link Cable is £30, so still at £170per device in the UK. Are there any 4 port hubs that work with a single ethernet port, and are cheaper per RS232 port?

I see a few other companies:

Lindy

Startech

and I wonder if anyone has had any success?

Feel free to experiment with other devices. Anything that provides a serial relay via TCP/IP should work fine.

However, I'm not clear on why you can't just order from the US. We used to ship them internationally all the time and certainly the prices we offered were global.

By the time I’d paid duty/admin/vat on import, the price would be the same as from the uk globalcache website.

I’ll try some alternatives