F series, ethernet connection

[willpower]

Hello, I have a F2424 PLC, I would like to connect using the ethernet connection.  I have downloaded the connection specs using the serial connection as per the manual.  After going through the manual, I am a bit puzzled.  I found the following on 2.7 Web Service: Accessing PLC's data from MS Excel

"One example, which you can try immediately, is to use the Microsoft Excel 2000 (or later version)
spreadsheet program. First, open a blank spreadsheet, then click on the ?Data? menu and select ?Get
External Data? -> New Web Query, as shown below: "

Does this mean that you do not need to use your Tri-Excel program to pull data off the plc using the ethernet connection.  If that is the case that will help greatly.

When I connect to the plc using the ethernet, I am unable to get a response.  When I check my network connections the PLC is there but there is limited or no connectivity, I have tried turning off my computers firewall and changing security parameters to no avail.  

When I try to ping to "192.168.1.5" there is no response. When I try to connect through my browser using "192.168.1.5:9080/hostlink/IR00." Still no luck.
I have tried using IR01 with no response as well.  

I have also tried to manually set up the network connection using the parameters downloaded from the PLC using the serial connection to no avail.  Any helpful hints on what I may be missing.

[willpower]

I managed to get connected using the ethernet connection.  But my question remains, do you need to use the tri-excel program to pull data off of the F-series.

Willpower

[support]

If you are using the web query method, then no ExcelLink is required.

ExcelLink is a "push" service where it takes data from the PLC and "push" to MS-Excel spreadsheet.

Using Web Query, the MS-Excel will be the one in control of what and when to "pull" data from the PLC. It is a very powerful capability available only on the F-series PLC at the moment.

It means you can essentially setup a single Excel spreadsheet and pull data from all the F-series PLCs from the network automatically for analysis / logging.

[willpower]

Thank you for the response, that is very good news as it adds another level of functionality to my product.  By the way, I am pretty impressed with the F-series being a big fan of the M-series.

Willpower