Fully online technical training designed around real industry demand, so you can specialize at your own pace.
10/31/2026
Start Date
2 months
Duration
100
Total Hours
6 Modules
Program
Duration
Total Hours
Program
Start Date
ICTESS’s Industrial Networks (Profinet, Modbus/TCP, EtherNet/IP) Training Course is designed to train specialists in the design, configuration, and troubleshooting of Ethernet-based industrial communication networks. The program covers the three industrial protocols with the widest adoption on production floors: Profinet, Modbus/TCP, and EtherNet/IP.
You’ll learn the technical fundamentals applied in real installations: industrial network topologies, IP addressing in automation environments, configuring managed switches, traffic analysis using network sniffers, interpreting GSDML files, and time synchronization with the Precision Time Protocol (PTP). The course includes a capstone project where you’ll apply everything you’ve learned to a complete industrial network design and troubleshooting project.
The Industrial Networks Training Course responds to the growing convergence between automation systems and Ethernet-based communication technologies on the plant floor. Industry 4.0 demands professionals who can design robust networks that connect PLCs, drives, sensors, and SCADA systems with temporal determinism and high availability, minimizing unplanned downtime.
The course’s purpose is to train professionals who can implement complete industrial communication infrastructures. You’ll learn to design network topologies suited to each protocol, configure industrial switches with VLANs and redundancy, troubleshoot communication issues through frame analysis, integrate devices from different manufacturers, and ensure precise time synchronization between control equipment.
The training includes hands-on work with professional tools used across the industry, such as Wireshark for capturing and analyzing industrial traffic, managed switch configuration utilities, and GSDML file editors. The program culminates in a capstone project where you’ll develop a complete industrial network project applying every skill acquired.
The Industrial Networks Training Course prepares you for specialized technical roles at automation companies, systems integrators, machine builders, and industrial plant maintenance departments. You can work as an industrial network technician, a plant communications specialist, a control systems integrator, or a network infrastructure lead in production environments.
The training prepares you to manage complete industrial communication projects: designing network topologies suited to each protocol’s requirements, configuring industrial switches with redundancy protocols, troubleshooting communication failures through frame capture, integrating Profinet devices using GSDML files, and optimizing network performance.
You’ll also build the skills to audit industrial networks, propose availability improvements through redundant topologies, implement VLAN-based segmentation, and design time synchronization strategies for motion control applications. The hands-on approach lets you apply what you learn directly to real-world industry installations.
Study from anywhere with no commuting required. Balance your technical specialization with your current professional career.
Organize your study schedule around your own availability. Move through modules at the pace that works best for you and revisit anything you need extra practice with.
Learn Wireshark, industrial switch configuration utilities, and GSDML editors, the same software used for plant network diagnostics.
Technical video lessons, up-to-date downloadable materials, forums with specialized instructors, and hands-on configuration exercises.
With ICTESS, you’ll get specialized technical training focused on professional practice and designed to help you master the skills the industrial automation sector demands. Learn with an up-to-date methodology and real network diagnostic tools.
What you'll achieve
Design industrial network topologies (star, line, ring) suited to the determinism and availability requirements of Profinet, Modbus/TCP, and EtherNet/IP.
Configure managed industrial switches with VLANs, QoS traffic prioritization, and redundancy protocols (MRP, RSTP) to ensure high availability on the plant floor.
Diagnose industrial communication issues using network sniffers, analyzing Profinet, Modbus/TCP, and EtherNet/IP frames to identify root causes of failures.
Integrate Profinet devices using GSDML files, configuring communication parameters, addressing, and naming under the PI standard.
Implement time synchronization using Precision Time Protocol (PTP/IEEE 1588) for motion control applications and coordinating distributed axes.
Industrial digitalization is turning production plants into hyperconnected environments where communication reliability is critical. A large and growing share of new automation installations rely on Ethernet-based industrial protocols, and demand for plant communications specialists keeps climbing, driven by Industry 4.0 and IIoT projects.
A Shortage of Industrial Networking Specialists: The job market faces a significant shortage of technicians who can work confidently across Profinet, Modbus/TCP, and EtherNet/IP at the same time. Companies in the sector report difficulty filling roles that require OT network diagnostic skills, industrial switch configuration, and real-time communication troubleshooting.
IT/OT Convergence as a Market Requirement: Today’s projects demand professionals who understand both TCP/IP networking fundamentals and the specifics of industrial protocols. The ability to design segmented architectures, implement redundancy, and ensure temporal determinism is increasingly valued by integrators and end users.
A Competitive Edge in the Job Market: Specialized training in industrial networks sets you apart significantly from generalist automation profiles. Mastering the market’s three leading protocols, professional diagnostic tools, and structured cabling best practices positions you as a top candidate at leading companies in the sector.
Completing the Industrial Networks Training Course positions you in a sector that’s critical to modern manufacturing. IT/OT convergence and Industry 4.0 are driving growing demand for specialists who can design, maintain, and troubleshoot robust industrial communication networks.
Access to Specialized Technical Roles: You can pursue positions such as industrial network technician, plant communications specialist, control systems integrator, or OT infrastructure lead. Specializing in the market’s three leading protocols significantly broadens your opportunities across different industrial sectors.
Mastery of Professional Diagnostic Tools: Proficiency with Wireshark for industrial traffic analysis and the ability to interpret GSDML files sets you apart in the hiring process, since these are essential skills for resolving plant communication issues and reducing downtime.
Ability to Design High-Availability Networks: You’ll build the skills to implement redundant topologies, configure failover protocols, and ensure the temporal determinism that critical control applications demand in continuous production.
Recognized Professional Certificate: The ICTESS professional certificate validates your technical specialization in industrial networks, strengthening your position in the job market and confirming your skills to automation and integration companies.
This course is designed for technical professionals looking to specialize in Ethernet-based industrial communications for automation environments. Recommended profiles include:
Program details
The capstone project is the culminating stage of the program and represents the practical integration of every technical skill developed throughout the course. It involves developing a complete industrial network infrastructure project, from the design phase through diagnostic documentation, applying the professional methods and analysis tools used across the industry.
The project must address designing an industrial network topology that integrates devices using different communication protocols. You’ll define the IP addressing scheme, select and configure industrial switches with VLANs and redundancy, specify structured cabling under applicable standards, configure PTP time synchronization where applicable, and integrate Profinet devices using GSDML files. You’ll also run a sniffer-based traffic analysis documenting the behavior of each protocol.
The project includes preparing professional technical documentation: network diagrams, addressing tables, switch configuration, diagnostic procedures, and a communication test plan. The final documentation must be presented with the technical depth and format systems integration projects require, demonstrating your ability to design, configure, and troubleshoot industrial networks with the rigorous methodology that could be applied directly to real installations in the field.
ICTESS’s Industrial Networks Training Course includes hands-on training with professional diagnostic and configuration tools. You’ll learn to use Wireshark for capturing and analyzing industrial traffic, identifying Profinet, Modbus/TCP, and EtherNet/IP frames. You’ll also work with industrial switch configuration utilities to implement VLANs, QoS, and redundancy protocols. For Profinet device integration, you’ll use GSDML file editors that let you configure communication parameters under the PI (Profibus & Profinet International) standard. These are the same tools field technicians use to diagnose and resolve communication issues on real industrial installations.
A basic understanding of TCP/IP networking (IP addressing, subnet masks, switching concepts) is recommended, along with familiarity with industrial automation environments. The course is designed for automation technicians, industrial engineers, and maintenance professionals who already work with PLCs, drives, or SCADA systems. If you have PLC programming experience but not networking, the program includes introductory modules that reinforce topology and addressing fundamentals before moving into the specific industrial protocols. The ability to read electrical schematics and technical documentation is essential to get the most out of the content.
The ICTESS professional certificate validates your technical specialization in industrial networks and is recognized by companies in the automation sector as high-level supplementary training. The certificate documents specific, in-demand technical skills: designing Profinet, Modbus/TCP, and EtherNet/IP topologies, configuring industrial switches, troubleshooting with network sniffers, and structured cabling best practices. Integrators, machine builders, and maintenance departments especially value this hands-on training, since it demonstrates real capability to resolve plant communication issues, a profile that’s increasingly hard to find in the job market.
This Industrial Networks Training Course stands out for its multi-protocol focus and its emphasis on practical diagnostics. While many automation courses barely touch on communication networks, and IT networking courses skip industrial protocols entirely, this program dives specifically into Profinet, Modbus/TCP, and EtherNet/IP from the perspective of a plant technician. The content includes real configuration of industrial switches with specific features such as MRP (Media Redundancy Protocol), Wireshark-based frame analysis covering the fields unique to each industrial protocol, device integration via GSDML, and PTP time synchronization for motion control applications. This hands-on, specialized approach isn’t available in generalist training.
