HMS Ewon IoT Gateway Alternative: A Better Solution for Remote Access?

For machine builders, HMS Ewon and its Talk2M platform have long been the "go-to" for a simple plc remote access gateway.¹ But is it a true, modern IoT Gateway? This article compares the Ewon (Cosy/Flexy) to a powerful hms ewon alternative: the Robustel industrial IoT gateway platform. We'll show how a Robustel IoT Gateway not only matches Ewon's secure remote access (via RobustVPN) but also adds a powerful, open (Debian/Docker) edge computing gateway for data collection—all in one box and at a lower TCO.

If you're a machine builder (OEM) or System Integrator, you know the name Ewon. For years, the HMS Ewon Cosy and Flexy, powered by the Talk2M cloud, have been the default, trusted solution for one critical job: secure remote access.⁵

They are the "Kleenex" of the plc remote access gateway world. When a machine on the other side of the planet goes down, an engineer in Germany can use Talk2M to securely "dial in" to its PLC and fix it. It's a brilliant, high-value solution.

But in 2026, is that enough?

Your customers aren't just asking for remote service anymore. They're asking for data. They want OEE dashboards. They want predictive maintenance. They want cloud analytics.

And this is where the Ewon model starts to show its age. You're here because you're looking for an hms ewon alternative. You're not just looking for a cheaper "VPN box"; you're looking for a smarter one. Let's compare the traditional Ewon approach to a modern, integrated industrial IoT gateway.

The Ewon Cosy/Flexy is a fantastic, secure "tunnel." Its primary purpose is to get your engineer's laptop securely connected to the PLC's programming port.

But what happens when your customer asks for data?

• You need to read Modbus data and send it to an MQTT broker.
• You need to run a local script to calculate OEE.
• You need to buffer data when the internet connection fails.

The Ewon Flexy can do some of this via proprietary BASIC or Java scripting, but it's clunky, underpowered, and a "black box." It's not a true edge computing gateway.

This often leads to the dreaded "Two-Box Solution":

1. Box 1 (Ewon): Sits there 99% of the time, just in case an engineer needs remote access.
2. Box 2 (A separate IoT Gateway): A second device you have to buy, install, and manage, just to handle the data collection.

This is expensive, complex, and doubles your points of failure. The best ewon alternative is a single device that does both jobs flawlessly.

This is the entire philosophy behind the Robustel IoT Gateway and cloud platform. We believe a modern industrial iot gateway must do both remote access and data processing.

First, let's match Ewon's core feature. Our cloud platform,

Add One Product: RCMS

, has a built-in feature called RobustVPN.

• What it does: It's a simple, secure remote access service, just like Talk2M.
• How it works: An engineer in your office opens the RobustVPN client. With one click, it creates a secure, encrypted OpenVPN tunnel to the remote Robustel IoT Gateway. This gateway then bridges the engineer's laptop directly and transparently onto the remote machine's LAN.
• The Result: The engineer can open TIA Portal, Studio 5000, or any other PLC software and connect to the PLC at 192.168.1.10as if they were plugged in locally.⁶

This feature makes any Robustel IoT Gateway a direct, powerful, and secure plc remote access gateway. We've matched Ewon's core value.

Here is the "AND." This is the part Ewon can't match.

After you've checked the "remote access" box, your Robustel IoT Gateway (like the

Add One Product: EG5120

) is also a high-performance edge computing gateway.

• Open OS: It runs RobustOS Pro, which is based on Debian 11 (Linux).⁷ This is not a "black box." It's an open platform.
• Docker Support: It runs Docker containers. This means your developers can use Python, Node.js, or any other modern tool to build a custom data collection app, an AI model, or run a local database, and deploy it as a container.
• Native Drivers: It comes with "code-free" software (like Edge2Cloud Pro) to easily configure Modbus to MQTT, S7 to MQTT, or EtherNet/IP to MQTT data flows.

With one single device, you are running your remote access service and your advanced data collection application. This is the "One-Box" solution. This is the ultimate hms ewon alternative.

When you're an OEM deploying 1,000 machines, the Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) is what matters.

• Hardware TCO: The Robustel "One-Box" IoT Gateway solution is almost always cheaper than Ewon's "Two-Box" (or one very expensive, limited Ewon Flexy) solution.
• Cloud TCO:Talk2M Pro (Ewon's paid plan) is priced per device and has data limits. RCMS (Robustel's platform) is built for fleet management at a massive scale, offering a far more cost-effective TCO for managing thousands of devices.⁸
• Developer TCO: This is the hidden killer. The "developer tax" of forcing your engineers to learn Ewon's proprietary BASIC scripting language is massive. The "developer freedom" of letting your team use Python and Docker on a Robustel IoT Gateway saves you thousands in engineering time.

Ewon and Talk2M are great tools. They perfected secure remote access for the last decade.

But the industry has moved on.

Machine builders now need both secure access and powerful data collection. The best hms ewon alternative isn't just a cheaper VPN box; it's a completely different category of device.

A modern industrial IoT gateway from Robustel provides the best-in-class remote access you demand, plus the open, powerful, and easily-managed edge computing platform you need for the future.⁹ Why settle for a one-trick pony when you can have a full-featured, open, and more cost-effective IoT Gateway platform?