Help
  • Explore Community
  • Get Started
  • Ask the Community
  • How-To & Best Practices
  • Contact Support
Notifications
Login / Register
Community
Community
Notifications
close
  • Forums
  • Knowledge Center
  • Events & Webinars
  • Ideas
  • Blogs
Help
Help
  • Explore Community
  • Get Started
  • Ask the Community
  • How-To & Best Practices
  • Contact Support
Login / Register
Sustainability
Sustainability

Join our "Ask Me About" community webinar on May 20th at 9 AM CET and 5 PM CET to explore cybersecurity and monitoring for Data Center and edge IT. Learn about market trends, cutting-edge technologies, and best practices from industry experts.
Register and secure your Critical IT infrastructure

Capturing MSTP network bus activity

Building Automation Knowledge Base

Schneider Electric Building Automation Knowledge Base is a self-service resource to answer all your questions about EcoStruxure Building suite, Andover Continuum, Satchwell, TAC…

cancel
Turn on suggestions
Auto-suggest helps you quickly narrow down your search results by suggesting possible matches as you type.
Showing results for 
Show  only  | Search instead for 
Did you mean: 
  • Home
  • Schneider Electric Community
  • Knowledge Center
  • Building Automation Knowledge Base
  • Capturing MSTP network bus activity
Options
  • Bookmark
  • Subscribe
  • Email to a Friend
  • Printer Friendly Page
  • Report Inappropriate Content
Invite a Co-worker
Send a co-worker an invite to the portal.Just enter their email address and we'll connect them to register. After joining, they will belong to the same company.
You have entered an invalid email address. Please re-enter the email address.
This co-worker has already been invited to the Exchange portal. Please invite another co-worker.
Please enter email address
Send Invite Cancel
Invitation Sent
Your invitation was sent.Thanks for sharing Exchange with your co-worker.
Send New Invite Close

Related Forums

  • Intelligent Devices Forum

Previous Next
Contributors
  • DavidChild
    DavidChild
  • David_Purser
    David_Purser
  • DavidFisher
    DavidFisher
  • Dave_Shore
    Dave_Shore
  • BillNeville
    BillNeville
  • Benji
    Benji
  • CraigEl
    CraigEl
  • JohnBoehmer
    JohnBoehmer
  • Product_Support
    Product_Support

Invite a Colleague

Found this content useful? Share it with a Colleague!

Invite a Colleague Invite
Back to Building Automation Knowledge Base
Options
  • Bookmark
  • Subscribe
  • Email to a Friend
  • Printer Friendly Page
  • Report Inappropriate Content
0 Likes
4397 Views

Link copied. Please paste this link to share this article on your social media post.

Trying to translate this page to your language?
Select your language from the translate dropdown in the upper right. arrow
Translate to: English
  • (Français) French
  • (Deutsche) German
  • (Italiano) Italian
  • (Português) Portuguese
  • (Русский) Russian
  • (Español) Spanish

Capturing MSTP network bus activity

Picard Product_Support
‎2018-09-07 06:16 AM

Last Updated: Picard David_Purser Picard ‎2022-08-18 08:30 AM

Issue

  • How to get an MSTP capture file so it can be analyzed for comm activity on an MSTP bus
  • How to determine if a site is using bad COV management
  • How to determine if a controller has poor bus design or installation
  • How to determine if a site has multiple BBMD's on the same subnet

Product Line

Andover Continuum, EcoStruxure Building Operation

Environment

  • bCX4000, bCX4040, ASP, ASB
  • b3 controllers
  • Third party BACnet MSTP devices
  • Wireshark

Cause

Analyze MSTP traffic via capture.

Resolution

To capture MSTP communication activity to a capture file that can be analyzed using a network sniffer application such as WireShark you will need the following.

 

Hardware

One is required to have an RS-485 Adapter to connect to the MS/TP trunk

  • USB to RS-485 Adapter
  • USB-RS485-WE-1800-BT FTDI, Future Technology Devices International Ltd | 768-1041-ND | DigiKey 
  • RoamIA or RoamIO
  • Any other RS-485 adapter compatible with BACnet MS/TP and baud rates used

Software

Download and install the following applications:

  • BACnet MSTP Capture Application
  • WireShark

Configuration

  1. If using the USB to RS-485 Adapter
    1. Connect the USB adapter cable to the USB port on a laptop PC
    2. Connect the RS232/RS485 adapter to the 9-pin end of the USB adapter cable.
    3. Attach a length of MSTP bus cable to the wire terminal on the RS485 adapter.
  2. If using the FTDI
    1. Connect the TDI RS-485 adapter to the USB port on a laptop PC
    2. Connect the cables to the MSTP trunk where Orange = Data+ (A) and Yellow = Data- (B)
  3. Ensure the RS-485 adapter driver is installed in Windows by opening Device Manager and ensuring that it is listed as expected under Ports (COM and LPT). Record the COMx being reserved by the adapter. DeviceManagerPorts.png
  4. If using Wireshark with MSTPcap.exe to capture
    1. Ensure MSTPcap.exe is installed in the Wireshark Extcap folder per MSTP Capture Application link above
    2. NOTE: Wireshark may need to be rebooted if MSTPcap.exe was added while it was open
    3. Launch Wireshark
    4. Select gear next to BACnet MS/TP on COMx
    5. Set known baud rate
    6. Click to start a capture. WiresharkMSTPCapture.png
  5. If using MSTPcap.exe via Command Prompt to capture
    1. Copy the MSTP Capture application to C:\
    2. Open a command window.
    3. Launch the application by entering C:\> Mstpcap com# ###### where com# is the PC's serial port (Com1, Com2, etc.) and ##### is the current baud rate the bCX/AS MSTP bus is configured for (19200, 38400, etc.).
    4. The command window will indicate the name of the file the activity is being captured to.
    5. Once done, close the command line window
    6. The capture data can be viewed by running Wireshark. Select File > Open and navigate to the folder the capture file was saved to and select the capture file.

With the higher-end MSTP capture tools such as tools developed by PolarSoft and Cimetrix, MSTP captures at 76.8K baud are possible. Lower-end capture applications like MSTPCap typically are only able to capture MSTP packets from networks running at bus speeds at or below 38.4K baud.

Also, check out the BACnet-Capturing MS/TP Traffic Quick-Help video on the Exchange. This video uses the older pipe method that was used before Extcap was available in Wireshark.

Labels (2)
Labels:
  • Andover Continuum
  • EcoStruxure Building Operation
Tags (3)
  • Find more articles tagged with:
  • 4616
  • DavidPurser22
  • DavidShore21
Was this article helpful? Yes No
100% helpful (2/2)

Link copied. Please paste this link to share this article on your social media post.

To The Top!

Forums

  • APC UPS Data Center Backup Solutions
  • EcoStruxure IT
  • EcoStruxure Geo SCADA Expert
  • Metering & Power Quality
  • Schneider Electric Wiser

Knowledge Center

Events & webinars

Ideas

Blogs

Get Started

  • Ask the Community
  • Community Guidelines
  • Community User Guide
  • How-To & Best Practice
  • Experts Leaderboard
  • Contact Support
Brand-Logo
Subscribing is a smart move!
You can subscribe to this board after you log in or create your free account.
Forum-Icon

Create your free account or log in to subscribe to the board - and gain access to more than 10,000+ support articles along with insights from experts and peers.

Register today for FREE

Register Now

Already have an account? Login

Terms & Conditions Privacy Notice Change your Cookie Settings © 2025 Schneider Electric

This is a heading

With achievable small steps, users progress and continually feel satisfaction in task accomplishment.

Usetiful Onboarding Checklist remembers the progress of every user, allowing them to take bite-sized journeys and continue where they left.

of