NI-Industrial Communications for Ethernet/IP

[Jack_South8]

Do I need to buy the Industrial communications for Ethernet/IP software to use Ethernet/IP communication with LabVIEW, or is it just a package that makes setting up an Ethernet/IP network more streamlined? Also if I want to communicate with devices using EtherCAT do I need the Ethernet/IP package? It seems that LabVIEW is already set up for EtherCAT, so I don't really understand why I would want to spend $850 for an Ethernet/IP package.

Thank you

[ZYOng]

Ethernet/IP and EtherCAT are both application layers built on top of ethernet physical layer. They define how the ethernet frames are being sent or received. You can build your own Ethernet/IP communication yourself using low level TCP/IP API but for sure it is going to cost more than $850 in term of time and effort.

EtherNet/IP versus EtherCAT: What's the difference?

NI IndusComm for EtherCAT is free.