What are switches used for? 

Why do subnets matter? 

How do your BAS devices communicate with one another?

If you've found yourself wondering these questions then you are in the right place.

In this week’s episode of the Building Automation Monthly Podcast we will be discussing:

• How subnets work
• What you need to understand when adding BAS devices to a local subnet
• How to interpret Wireshark captures to detect issues with your local subnets

Switches and Frames

• What is a data link and why does it matter? (1:55)
• What do a zip code and a local subnet have in common? (4:45)
• How does local communication happen? (5:20)
• Why do you use switches? (5:50)
• The importance of the MAC address (7:25)
• How do BAS devices communicate on the local subnet? (10:30)
• The importance of the ARP broadcast (11:30)
• What do you need to know when working with layer 2 communications? (13:35)
• Why is it more important to understand how IT works than how to "do" it? (15:15)

What’s the difference between an application port and a switch port?

How do you avoid bandwidth constraints and dropped BAS packets?

If you are planning on having a career in building automation, these are just a few of the challenges you will face. IT networking is becoming a required skill for BAS professionals. But, outside of our IT course, no one is teaching what BAS professionals need to know. And that is why in this week’s episode of the Building Automation Monthly Podcast we will be discussing:

• How BAS devices use the network to communicate
• The different parts and pieces of a BAS network
• The three things you must understand to avoid network issues
• Why you must start learning IT now to futureproof your career

Ports and Wires

• The one model that makes sense of IT networking (4:20)
• What is the physical layer of networking? (5:55)
• How you can mess up BAS networking and how to avoid it (7:20)
• The different networking devices in a BAS network (8:30)
• How unmanaged switches are different then managed switches (9:25)
• Why physical and logical topologies matter (11:15)
• The two types of ports that you need to know (12:20)
• When to use access links vs trunk links (13:25)
• Why you must embrace the discomfort of speaking like an IT person (15:35)
• The one thing you need to learn about how wired communication happens (17:40)
• The effect of speed on BAS network bandwidth (23:35)
• Why we need to focus in on our networks wiring (26:25)
• The three things we need to remember about wired networks (27:30)

How would you setup 1,000 BACnet/IP devices? Would you know what to ask IT? Would you know how to troubleshoot these devices if something went wrong? How would you support all these devices?

The amount of BACnet/IP devices being installed is increasingly daily. Unfortunately, the understanding and knowledge of BACnet/IP is not!

That’s why in this episode you are going to learn BACnet/IP. By the time you finish this episode you will:

• Understand the top questions to answer when designing and deploying BACnet/IP networks
• How BACnet/IP devices are unique and the little know nuances to installing BACnet/IP devices
• The 5 questions you must be able to answer on every new BACnet/IP installation
• The most common problems with BACnet/IP and how you can easily troubleshoot it.

Listen to the episode below.

BACnet IP

• What is different with BACnet/IP (1:50)
• How the lack of IT knowledge is keeping you unsuccessful (3:45)
• Why the lack of IT training options is holding back the BAS industry (4:50)
• The impact of large-scale BACnet/IP networks (6:30)
• How BACnet/IP communicates (7:45)
• The two stacks of BACnet awesomeness (10:15)
• The two BACnet addressing schemes (12:40)
• How do broadcasts work in BACnet/IP (15:25)
• Why the BBMD is the most useful part of BACnet/IP (16:40)
• How to add new BACnet/IP devices (19:20)
• The step-by-step process to adding new BACnet/IP devices (20:15)
• The top questions you need to ask when working with BACnet/IP (22:25)
• How to easily deal with an IT group that won’t give you static IP addresses (25:10)
• Common BACnet/IP troubleshooting strategies (26:45)

Have you ever wired up a BACnet MS/TP trunk and it just wouldn’t work?

Or for whatever reason, the MS/TP trunk was crazy slow, and the customer was getting upset by slow point data?

If this sounds familiar you’re not alone. Early in my career BACnet MS/TP was super confusing. I didn’t know how to make sense of it. And learning BACnet MS/TP was made even more difficult by the lack of knowledge about MS/TP that was available.

That’s why in this episode we are going to dive into BACnet MS/TP. By the time you finish this episode you will:

• Understand the top issues that can cause your BACnet MS/TP trunks to fail
• What the most important BACnet MS/TP settings are and why you should care
• My five-step process to ensure that your BACnet MS/TP integrations go flawlessly
• The most common problems with MS/TP and how you can easily troubleshoot them.

BACnet MS/TP

• What makes up BACnet MS/TP (1:50)
• How daisy-chains make BACnet MS/TP work (3:55)
• Why manufacturers have different device limits (4:30)
• The secret of the MS/TP token (5:30)
• The single most misconfigured MS/TP setting (7:15)
• How MS/TP is addressed and why it matters (8:15)
• State machines and tokens (10:30)
• How your device Masters MS/TP (12:45)
• Ending your MS/TP trunks (15:40)
• How to integrate new BACnet MS/TP devices (17:05)
• Solving problems with bad MS/TP trunks (22:00)