The Allen-Bradley 1788-EN2DN is a device that is used to enable information-sharing and connectivity improvement in industrial automation systems. The linking device can be used to efficiently connect networks at the device-level to the control-level networks. The device is equipped with an Ethernet/IP interface that can support up to 63 connections with DeviceNet slave devices and can also support HTTP web servers and a functional Ethernet/IP network. The device functions by placing relevant data on one network interface so that it can be seamlessly read by the other network interface, thus enabling efficient data transfer while maintaining the readability of the data. The device can be used as a gateway link in programming, control, and data collection applications. It can also be used as a router to connect the Ethernet/IP network to the DeviceNet network.

The Allen-Bradley 1788-EN2DN is widely used as a linking and routing device and operates with an insulation voltage of 50 volts. A centralized storage capacity unit is available within the device to store the data shared between the Ethernet/IP network and the DeviceNet network. All the devices configured on both networks have access to the cross-network activity taking place between the two networks. The linking device can be installed by mounting it on a DIN rail, and a specially designed enclosure is not required for the installation. The device supports both power and Fieldbus connections and every connection is made to the same end of the linking module. The DeviceNet connections and power connections generally use Phoenix connectors, while an RJ45 style connector is used to configure the device over the Ethernet/IP network.