Control/Dimming Which ArtNet to DMX node do you use

Hello All, I am working on a converted cathedral about 1200 seats. Control is MA2 on PC to a POE gigabyte switch.
I need 2 DMX uni's on the truss and say 2 or 4 backstage. The nodes should have both input and pass through for the network. I plan on running Cat 5e or Cat 6 depending on price. Any help would be appreciated Thank You for your time. Old School
 
You won't see pass through with ethernet (if anything it's a twoport switch built in.. though I don't think I've seen any nodes with passthru.. especially not PoE passthrough)

Ethernet is much more star topology than daisy-chaining, You're better to drop a switch somewhere central and run lines for nodes from there.

Big names in the node front are pathport, ETC, and MA. There are a number of other artnet->dmx interfaces as well, depending on budget, feature need, and desired quality level. I'd get something that supports both sACN and artnet (MA2 will output either/both).
 
As danTt said, many gateways do not have built in switches to daisychain Ethernet and none of them would be PoE.
Our Pathport gateways are PoE and support both ArtNet and sACN. Other features you'd want to look for are:
 
Hey all: Thank you much on the input. Rob the Pathway nodes are sweet though I would have to purchase them used. I found I could get 2 C series 6202's from a private party for around $800.
To rsmentele, The Elation eNode POE 2 port looks like my main choice as of now. All the features for $300 each is not bad from my searches based on everyone's input.

From the MA2 on PC to a Ethernet POE switch backstage (I found a ton and have settled on a 4 port with 68 watts of POE power and the Elation eNode 2 port claims to only need 2.6 watts max). Then one line to my truss eNode and one line to my stage eNode. The MA's are sweet and guaranteed to listen and talk to my MA2 on PC rig but the price even for a 1k node is insane.
Then again I am an Old school Eng/LD/Programmer that never priced items out for a show or install. That's what the front office and account execs handled, I just turned in a plot with a BOM and was either approved or the package was tweaked for a client. I thank you all for your input.
 
For my rental stock, we strictly use the pathport nodes. They are rock solid and easy to configure (except the 2 ports). That being said, I have installed, or seen installed, ETC, Enttec, Elation, and MA. In installed applications I haven't had any reports of issues with any of those.
 
The elation ezkling converts from sACN or Artnet to DMX it also has a pass through switch. They require an external power supply but meet most of your requirements. I will say their flavor of dmx is too fast some older fixtures (vl1000 and EC dimmers from a early 90’s). I have had great luck with mine and they were relatively inexpensive. I think chauvet has a similar box as well.
That all being said I use Pathport nodes for most of what I do and they have great support. I also have found nodes in installations that are acient by Lighting standards and have used the software to update them to current firmware. I don’t know very many companies who lets you upgrade 10 year old gear to modern spec for free.
 
Hello All, I am working on a converted cathedral about 1200 seats. Control is MA2 on PC to a POE gigabyte switch.
I need 2 DMX uni's on the truss and say 2 or 4 backstage. The nodes should have both input and pass through for the network. I plan on running Cat 5e or Cat 6 depending on price. Any help would be appreciated Thank You for your time. Old School
Artistic Licence invented Art-Net. They also support streaming ACN (sACN) on their node products. If you are not interested in paying a lot of money for sheet metal, take a look at their 2 Port and 4 Port sACN/Art-Net nodes in a DIN rail package. In this case you would run cabling directly to the node and not pay for extra connectors you don't need.
FYI Goddard Design Co is now the US stocking dealer for Artistic Licence DIN rail products as well as several of their other items.
 

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