# Ethernet TCP/IP Lost Connection

**URL:** <https://forum.inductiveautomation.com/t/ethernet-tcp-ip-lost-connection/83270>\
**Category:** Ignition\
**Created:** [December 18, 2023, 4:49pm UTC](https://forum.inductiveautomation.com/t/ethernet-tcp-ip-lost-connection/83270 "2023-12-18T16:49:05Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 4\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Travis\_Larson](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/74df32/32.png) [@Travis\_Larson](https://forum.inductiveautomation.com/u/Travis_Larson)\
**Post date:** [December 18, 2023, 4:49pm UTC](https://forum.inductiveautomation.com/t/ethernet-tcp-ip-lost-connection/83270/1 "2023-12-18T16:49:05Z")

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I have a Ignition installation talking to some scales over Ethernet TCP/IP. Every now and then it stops communicating randomly. Inside Ignition it says they are still connected, but no data is being passed. Once we reset the connection the data starts flowing again. Has anyone run across this before? I am going to check with the scale manufacturer and see if it is possibly on that side, but wanted to throw it out here as well. Have not done a whole lot the Ethernet TCP/IP.

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**Author:** ![Kevin.Herron](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/inductiveautomation/user_avatar/forum.inductiveautomation.com/kevin.herron/32/7259_2.png) [@Kevin.Herron](https://forum.inductiveautomation.com/u/Kevin.Herron)\
**Post date:** [December 18, 2023, 4:50pm UTC](https://forum.inductiveautomation.com/t/ethernet-tcp-ip-lost-connection/83270/2 "2023-12-18T16:50:46Z")

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If you don't set the "Inactivity Timeout" then you end up at the mercy of you operating system's TCP stack when it comes to TCP keep alive detection, and that is generally on the order of _hours_.

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**Author:** ![louagejasper](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/inductiveautomation/user_avatar/forum.inductiveautomation.com/louagejasper/32/86311_2.png) [@louagejasper](https://forum.inductiveautomation.com/u/louagejasper)\
**Post date:** [December 20, 2023, 8:09am UTC](https://forum.inductiveautomation.com/t/ethernet-tcp-ip-lost-connection/83270/3 "2023-12-20T08:09:53Z")

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We have had the same issue. We've put the Inactivity Timeout to 30 min, so every 30 minutes the connection is remade. This is not super clean imo, but it worked.

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**Author:** ![Alex\_Guyer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a4c791/32.png) [@Alex\_Guyer](https://forum.inductiveautomation.com/u/Alex_Guyer)\
**Post date:** [January 2, 2024, 7:10pm UTC](https://forum.inductiveautomation.com/t/ethernet-tcp-ip-lost-connection/83270/4 "2024-01-02T19:10:56Z")

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As the others have said, the 'Inactivity Timeout' is likely the solution. I ran into the same problem with a device that would not send any data overnight. In the morning Ignition would still show 'Connected-True' and it was sending data but Ignition wasn't reading any change. I would disable then re-enable the device in Ignition and it would work all day again. I worked with support on a ticket, they termed this as a 'Dry Socket'. Setting the Inactivity Timeout completely solved the issue. You'll be able to see in the Gateway logs that 'X device timed out due to inactivity' (no new data) so Ignition automatically closes and re-opens the connection.