Discover your first device with BB-Eco
This guide takes you from a freshly-installed BB-Eco to your first discovered Brainboxes device — typically under thirty seconds on a typical office or factory network.
Before you start
- BB-Eco is installed and the dashboard is open. (If not, see Install BB-Eco.)
- A Brainboxes ED, ES, or BB device is powered on and connected to the same network as your computer — ideally the same Layer 2 broadcast domain (same switch, no routers in the path).
- Your firewall allows BB-Eco to send and receive UDP broadcasts.
Auto-discovery (the easy path)
BB-Eco starts scanning for devices the moment the app opens. There is no button to press.
- Connect your Brainboxes device to the network and power it on.
- Switch focus back to BB-Eco.
- Within a few seconds, the device appears in the dashboard.
BB-Eco uses SSDP (UPnP) under the hood — the same protocol Smart TVs and printers use to advertise themselves. Brainboxes ED, ES, and managed SW devices broadcast their presence every few seconds, and BB-Eco listens for those broadcasts on every active network interface. BB-400 Industrial Edge Controllers also publish themselves over mDNS, which BB-Eco listens for in addition to SSDP — handy on networks where SSDP is filtered but mDNS isn't.
Click any device card to open its detail panel — model number, MAC address, firmware version, capabilities, and quick actions like Locate (flashes the device's status LED for 30 seconds) and Reboot.
What if no devices appear?
Auto-discovery breaks when broadcasts can't reach BB-Eco. The most common causes:
| Symptom | Likely cause | Fix |
|---|---|---|
| BB-Eco is on Wi-Fi, the device is on wired Ethernet | The Wi-Fi access point isn't bridging to the wired LAN | Connect your laptop to the wired network for discovery |
| You're on a corporate VPN | The VPN client blocks LAN broadcasts | Disable the VPN, or add the device manually (below) |
| The device is on a different subnet | SSDP broadcasts don't cross routers | Use Add device manually with the device IP |
| The device is plugged in but not powered | Confirm power LED is on | Power-cycle the device |
| Windows Defender Firewall is blocking | First-launch dialog was dismissed without granting access | Open Windows Security → Firewall → Allow an app, find BB-Eco, enable both Private and Public |
A deeper troubleshooting checklist (No devices found in BB-Eco) is in the works during beta.
Adding a device manually
When auto-discovery isn't an option — cross-subnet, VPN, or restricted firewall — enter the device IP directly.
- Click Add in the dashboard top bar.
- Enter the device's IP address.
- Click Add.
BB-Eco fetches the device's devinfo.xml over HTTP, populates the dashboard card with model and capability information, and continues to monitor the device alongside auto-discovered ones.
If you don't know the device IP, plug the device into your Layer 2 LAN (a desk-side switch is enough) and use auto-discovery to read the address, then move it back to its production network.
Filtering and grouping
Once you have several devices visible, the dashboard provides three useful controls:
- Search — by device name, model number, IP, MAC, or firmware version. Matches partial strings.
- Filter — by family (ED / ES / BB / SW) or status (online / offline / all).
- View — switch between grid and list. Grid is friendlier for site walkthroughs; list is faster to scan when you have dozens of devices.
Next step
Now that BB-Eco can see your device, upgrade its firmware safely.
More resources
- BB-Eco overview — feature summary and supported families
- Brainboxes ED Range — Ethernet Remote I/O products
- Brainboxes ES Range — Ethernet-to-Serial gateways
- Brainboxes BB Range — Industrial Edge Controllers