Optigo Networks Blog

What is a BACnet router and gateway?
The router and gateway play key roles in your BACnet network, and are often easily mixed up. It’s important to understand how these disparate parts communicate with one another.

What are the most common names in the Building Automation Industry?
At Optigo, we love learning about industry trends: artificial Intelligence and machine learning, data tagging, the push towards personalization in our buildings…
Another ongoing trend we’ve noticed — at all the conferences we attend, on our customer lists, in the form submissions when someone signs up for a webinar — is a lot of the same first names. We don’t have every Tom, Dick, and Harry in our database, but it does feel like we have every Tim, David, and Michael.

Common BACnet IP and Ethernet issues
There are many different issues that can crop up on IP and Ethernet networks.

Common BACnet MS/TP issues
It is a truth universally acknowledged, that an MS/TP network rife with problems probably has bad wiring.
MS/TP has been a foundation for building automation for a long time. While many newer buildings are shifting towards IP and Ethernet, lots of old structures are slower to move away from their traditional, hardwired roots. Once the building is up, it’s hard to alter the network’s foundation without a serious overhaul. There’s also an “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” attitude in the industry, and a lot of professionals don’t see MS/TP as “broke.”

Project haystack and tagging — explained.
In building automation, there’s a growing — and very apparent — need for Project Haystack and tagging.

Which is “better”? BACnet, LonWorks, Modbus, or KNX
BACnet gets compared to a lot of other protocols on the market, including LonWorks, Modbus, and KNX. In this article, we break down the advantages and disadvantages of each protocol. Be sure to check out our articles on each of the protocols: LonWorks, Modbus, KNX, and a few reasons we think you should adopt BACnet.

Learn to troubleshoot with Visual BACnet
Have a troublesome network and a pcap file, but don’t know where to start with Visual BACnet?
Our team of BACnet buffs has seen just about every BACnet issue under the sun. They regularly field questions on the best ways to filter, drill down, and pinpoint problems in Visual BACnet.
To help, we recently hosted a webinar to troubleshoot submitted pcap files, live. Our presenters, Monica McMahen, Daniel Tan, and Ryan Hughson, walked through the files with step-by-step instructions and insights.

How to use Visual BACnet Site Monitoring
Trying to keep up with rampant device issues, constant network changes, or vendors pointing fingers instead of solving problems?
Visual BACnet Site Monitoring is indispensable on large BACnet networks. Our customers at Penn State University, Princeton University, and many other campuses have embedded it into their workflows, and they’ve seen a steady increase in their network health.
But what is Visual BACnet Site Monitoring, and how can you use it most effectively?

A Realcomm 2019 retrospective
Interview between Monica McMahen, Marketing Director, and Pook-Ping Yao, CEO of Optigo Networks.
After eight years attending Realcomm, Optigo Networks has seen a real evolution in the conference. From conversations to conference attendees, Optigo CEO Pook-Ping Yao shares the most notable differences that he’s seen at Realcomm 2019.
Monica McMahen (MM): How have you seen Realcomm change over the 8 years you've been attending?