Sending a Wake-on-LAN (WoL) messageLast Updated 2 years ago
Wake-on-LAN is a standard that allows a computer to be turned on by a network message. This message is sent on the data link layer (layer 2 in the OSI model), and broadcast to all devices on the network using a "magic packet".
The magic packet is a broadcast frame containing anywhere within its payload 6 bytes of all 255 (FF FF FF FF FF FF in hexadecimal), followed by sixteen repetitions of the target computer's 48-bit MAC address, for a total of 102 bytes1.
When sending from an Aurora NX, QX, or RX series controller, we will send this packet using a UDP Action. The command should be broadcast to 255.255.255.255, then include the payload as specified above.
For an example, see the attached WMOD file. With this example, you only need to define the target MAC address in the variable named 'sMac'. The Action will then include that 16 times in the string.
1 Reference and further information: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wake-on-LAN
This article was originally posted 12/3/2018