BACnet Device Discovery in enteliWEB

Quick Answer

enteliWEB discovers BACnet devices by broadcasting Who-Is messages on the BACnet/IP network. Discovered devices appear in a list showing device instance, vendor, model, and IP address. Add devices to the site to begin monitoring their BACnet objects.

How BACnet Discovery Works

BACnet uses a Who-Is/I-Am mechanism for device discovery. enteliWEB sends a Who-Is broadcast; each BACnet device responds with an I-Am containing its device instance number, vendor ID, and network address. enteliWEB collects these responses and presents them in the discovery results.

Running a Network Scan

1. Navigate to the site configuration in enteliWEB
2. Click Discover Devices
3. Set the device instance range to scan (or leave blank for all)
4. Click Start — enteliWEB broadcasts Who-Is and waits for responses
5. Review the discovered device list

Adding Devices

Select devices from the discovery results and click Add. enteliWEB creates a device entry in the site database and begins polling the device's BACnet object list. Assign meaningful names and organize devices into logical groups.

MS/TP Devices

BACnet MS/TP devices are not directly reachable via BACnet/IP. They appear in discovery results when a BACnet router (typically a Delta Controls ORCA controller) forwards their I-Am responses to the IP network. Ensure the ORCA's MS/TP routing is configured before running discovery.

Troubleshooting Discovery Failures

• No devices found — Check UDP port 47808 firewall rules, verify network connectivity, confirm BACnet/IP is enabled on controllers
• Missing devices — Check for duplicate device instance numbers, verify BBMD configuration for cross-subnet devices
• Intermittent results — Network congestion or firewall rate limiting may drop Who-Is/I-Am packets; retry the scan