The network debate nobody wins (and that’s okay)
In the world of industrial automation, asking “What is the best industrial network?” is a bit like asking a room full of Italians what the best pasta is. You’ll get heated arguments, passionate defenses, maybe even a fight, but you won’t get a single answer.
Yet it's a central question product managers, automation engineers, and operation managers constantly debate. Industrial networks are the nervous systems of our machines and factories. Selecting the wrong one can delay a launch, complicate integration, or lock you into a vendor ecosystem for decades.
So, is there a winner? A gold standard? One protocol to rule them all?
Not quite. But maybe that's not the point.
As we’ll explain in this blog post, the real key isn’t picking a single best, it’s choosing flexibility, openness, and readiness for change.
How to judge an industrial network: The 4 critical criteria
While each industrial communication protocol brings its strengths and quirks, there are four universally critical areas where (the rubber meets the road) to measure the strengths of network technologies.
- Determinism & real-time performance
In automation, timing isn’t everything - it’s the only thing. From synchronized multi-axis motion in robotics to precise I/O timing in packaging lines, milliseconds matter.
This is where deterministic protocols shine. EtherCAT and Sercos offer exceptional real-time behavior, often achieving cycle times under 1ms. PROFINET IRT and POWERLINK are also highly deterministic, especially with hardware support.
Other Ethernet-based protocols like EtherNet/IP and Modbus TCP offer good performance for general automation but may need tuning or extensions to meet strict real-time needs.
Takeaway: If you're in motion control, speed isn’t negotiable. - Scalability and topology flexibility
Is your application a single device in a small machine, or hundreds across a distributed system?
Networks like PROFINET and EtherNet/IP scale beautifully from a handful of nodes to entire production floors. They support flexible topologies: line, star, ring, and allow device-level additions without full system reconfiguration.
Wireless variants (like Wi-Fi-based implementations or 5G in the future) further expand the range. They also offer evolution and integration from their legacy fieldbuses like PROFIBUS or DeviceNet.
Takeaway: Scalability isn't just about size. It's about adaptability across lifecycle stages. - Interoperability & ecosystem support
Even the best-designed protocol falls flat without a strong ecosystem. What matters is how many vendors support it, how rich the toolchain is, and how easily it integrates with engineering software.
PROFIBUS and PROFINET owe their success to Siemens’ ecosystem. EtherNet/IP thrives thanks to Rockwell Automation. CC-Link IE has deep penetration in Asia due to Mitsubishi. Each of these technologies are supported from strong communities driven by well-organized organizations like (PI, ODVA or CLPA).
Protocols like OPC UA gain attention not only for their openness but also for cross-vendor compatibility and vendor-neutral data modeling, trying to unify the whole automation world.
Takeaway: Ecosystem matters as much as protocol spec. It’s not what a protocol can do, it’s who’s helping you do it. - Diagnostics, transparency & maintenance tools
The silent killer in industrial automation? Downtime - and it often begins with invisible problems.
Modern networks integrate detailed diagnostic capabilities: link health, signal quality, fault codes, device metadata. Technologies like PROFINET’s I&M functions or CIP’s device diagnostics enable predictive maintenance and faster root cause analysis.
Older fieldbuses can be opaque, with faults requiring detective work. Today’s smart factories demand networks with diagnostics as clear and intuitive as traffic lights.
Takeaway: Visibility is not a luxury. It’s your best insurance against unexpected downtime.
Cybersecurity and digitalization: The extended features that matter
While the core performance criteria are critical, two evolving forces have redefined what “best” means: cybersecurity and digitalization.
Cybersecurity: The invisible backbone
In an age of ransomware attacks and nation-state cyber threats, industrial networks can no longer afford to be open doors. Standards now evolve with encryption (TLS), access control (roles, certificates), and traffic filtering.
Protocols like CIP Security (for EtherNet/IP), Modbus Security or PROFINET Security Classes show how mature standards are adopting IT-style protections. Firewalls and secure gateways are no longer optional, they’re essential.
And let’s not forget segmentation. A flat network is a vulnerable network. Protocols need to support VLANs, subnetting, and access zones.
Digitalization: from sensors to the cloud
Collecting massive amounts of information from the plant floor to increase quality and efficiency is key for competitivity. And networks are the data highways enabling it.
Protocols that support IT/OT integration, like OPC UA, MQTT, or those embracing Time Sensitive Networking (TSN) - are more than buzzwords. They're the foundation for smart analytics, remote maintenance, AI-based optimization, and edge computing.
OPC UA, with its vendor-neutral architecture and semantic richness, leads the way in bridging automation and enterprise IT. MQTT is simple and effective, ideal to extend this data path to cloud-based applications.
Takeaway: The best networks don’t just move packets. They enable progress.
Real-world complexity: No winner, just survivors
With all that in mind, you'd think the industry would have converged by now on a single dominant industrial network. It hasn’t.
Why? Because the real world isn’t uniform:
- Regions have strong biases: PROFINET in Germany, EtherNet/IP in North America, CC-Link in Japan.
- Suppliers drive ecosystems: Siemens, Rockwell, Mitsubishi, each pushing their "home" network.
- Installed base systems still run PROFIBUS, DeviceNet, or even CANopen. They work. They stay.
And here’s the clincher:
According to the latest HMS Networks Industrial Network Market Study, the global market is still deeply fragmented. Over 20 protocols hold meaningful market share. Ethernet-based networks are growing, yes - but no clear winner dominates.
Takeaway: It’s not a winner-takes-all race. It’s a multilingual dance floor. Pick one language, and you're guaranteed to miss out on a lot of great conversations.
Flexibility wins: The practical alternative to standardizing
So what’s the smart move? Stop chasing the "best" and start enabling the rest.
The best-performing industrial teams treat networking like logistics: it’s about compatibility, adaptability, and long-term resilience. They don’t just select a network - they prepare to interface with many.
This flexibility pays off in:
- Faster time to market (no need to redesign for each customer’s protocol)
- Reduced integration costs (fewer surprises on the factory floor)
- Greater global reach (sell in Japan, Europe, and the US without network headaches)
Takeaway: Don’t fall in love with a network. Fall in love with the idea of communicating freely.
The Anybus concept: Communicate with any network
This is where HMS Anybus comes in - not to pick a side, but to remove the problem altogether.
Anybus doesn’t tell you what to speak. It helps you speak everything.
Anybus CompactCom
For device manufacturers: plug-in communication modules that allow your product to talk PROFIBUS, EtherNet/IP, PROFINET, EtherCAT, and more—without reengineering. Modular, pre-certified, and future-proof.
Anybus Communicator & Gateways
For machine builders and factories: protocol translators that let PLCs and equipment exchange data—even if they speak entirely different languages. Whether it’s Modbus RTU to PROFINET, or EtherNet/IP to CANopen, the gateway bridges the gap.
The core idea
Your device or machine should never be held back by the limits of one protocol. With Anybus, you connect once - and communicate everywhere.
It’s not magic. It’s just smart industrial design.
Conclusion: It’s not about the best, it’s about the fit
So, what is the best industrial network?
It’s the one that lets your machine, your device, your plant do its job - in any context, on any continent, with any partner.
It’s the one that doesn’t just meet a spec - it meets your strategy.
It’s the one that talks to all the others.
Because in this race, there’s no finish line. But with the right communication tools, you can keep moving forward - fast, flexible, and future-ready.
About the Author
Thierry Bieber is the Business Development Manager at HMS Networks Market Unit in Central Europe. Thierry has over 25 years of technical and market experience in industrial communication and machine infrastructure applications, and actively participates in standardization organizations such as PI (PROFIBUS & PROFINET International).
Final thoughts
Want to see the real-world data behind the network jungle? Check out the HMS Networks Industrial Network Market Study to see just how fragmented - and fascinating - the landscape truly is.
View report
Explore Anybus CompactCom – Embedded network solutions for device manufacturers
Explore Anybus Gateways – Protocol converters for machine builders and factories
