ETC Net3

showstack / protocols / etcnet3

Also called Net3, ETC Net 3.

ETC's branded network suite for Ion/Eos-era consoles and DMX/RDM gateways: it uses sACN (E1.31) for live DMX levels and full ACN (E1.17)/RDM (E1.20) for device discovery and configuration, plus ETC's own proprietary extensions on top. It is what a Net3 One/Two/Four-Port Gateway, or an Ion/Eos-family rig from that era, is actually running to move DMX and RDM around a building.

Lighting controlProprietary, documentedElectronic Theatre ControlsReported

Stewarded by Electronic Theatre Controls (ETC).

Control Small, urgent, must arrive

Small messages that either repeat constantly or fire once. Bandwidth is almost never the problem.

What kills it. Latency and loss on the messages that fire once. A repeating level survives a dropped packet; a GO does not.

The four flows, and why the model is worth having →

Ports

udp/5568 sACN live DMX data, shared with the ACN SDT root layer Net3 is built on
Inherited from the open ANSI E1.31/E1.17 layers Net3 sits on, not a Net3-specific assignment.

Multicast

239.255.0.0/16 (sACN universe multicast)
Live levels ride standard sACN multicast. The parts that are specifically "Net3" are the device discovery/configuration layer (full ACN/DMP) and proprietary extensions, which are not documented as a fixed address block.

What goes wrong

ETC staff confirm on ETC's own community forum that sACN per-address priority is "an ETC extension to the sACN standard" using a start code outside ANSI E1.31 itself, so non-ETC sACN receivers may simply ignore per-address-priority packets rather than honouring them.

ETC's own Net3 gateway spec sheet describes Net3 as "a superset of the standard ACN Protocol Suite including additional proprietary communication protocols" — there is no single published "Net3 protocol" document, only the open ACN/sACN/RDM standards underneath plus scattered gateway manuals.

ETC's own website files the Net3 DMX/RDM Gateway product line under a /Products/Legacy/ URL even though the current Eos Family online help says Net3 "remains the current standard" and is not deprecated — a "legacy" URL does not mean the protocol is dead on a live show.

ETCNet2 (introduced 1997 in the Obsession II) and Net3 are different generations; Eos software v3.2.0 and later dropped ETCNet2 support entirely, so an older ETCNet2-only node will not talk to a modern Net3-only rig without a bridge/gateway in between.

What speaks ETC Net3 (5)

Product	Direction	Notes
ETC Eos Apex 10 ETC	bidirectional	ETC networking.
ETC Ion Xe 20 ETC	bidirectional	ETCNet3 for ETC gateways, Net3 and Sensor racks.
ETC Response Mk2 DMX/RDM Gateway ETC	bidirectional	Net3 device discovery and configuration.
ETC Sensor3 Dimmer Rack ETC	bidirectional	Net3 for control, feedback and configuration.
ETC ThruPower Rack ETC	bidirectional	ETC networking.

Typical use

DMX/RDM distribution from Ion/Eos-family consoles through Net3 One/Two/Four-Port Gateways
Legacy Unison architectural dimming/control installs predating native sACN-only deployments
Device configuration and management via full ACN (E1.17)/DMP where system components support it
Gateways that also accept sACN, Art-Net, ETCNet2 and Strand ShowNet on the same hardware

Sources

Net3 Four-Port Gateway spec sheet ("superset of the standard ACN Protocol Suite... additional proprietary communication protocols") — Electronic Theatre Controls (ETC) primary
Eos Family Online Help — Control Protocols (Net3 developed to replace Net2, uses sACN for live control data) — Electronic Theatre Controls (ETC) primary
ETCNet2 Products (ETCNet2 introduced 1997 in Obsession II; new development work only on Net3) — Electronic Theatre Controls (ETC) primary
Net3 protocol specification? (ETC staff confirming per-address priority is an ETC extension to sACN) — Electronic Theatre Controls (ETC) community forum
DMX/RDM Gateways (Net3) product page, filed under /Products/Legacy/ — Electronic Theatre Controls (ETC) primary

Understand the mechanism

DMX on the wire Show networks

Something wrong, or missing?

Known gaps on this entry: first_published, implementations. If you can source one of them, that is a ten minute pull request.

Edit this entry on GitHub — one file, editable in your browser, and your handle goes on it permanently.

Work at Electronic Theatre Controls (ETC)? Confirm or correct this entry — it is free, it stays free, and nothing about it is for sale.