Do I need an ICOM for G series?

[vorax]

Hi!

To use ISTA+ for G11, G20 or G30, I'm trying to understand if I need an ICOM, especially for the plug-in hybrid versions.

I'm waiting for an ENET cable to be delivered, but do I also need to consider an ICOM Next for programming?

I've seen there are multiple versions, ICOM Next A1, B1, C1, they come in original versions (about $800), as well as clones for $200, or special custom versions, like ICOM Pro N3+.
All of this becomes quite confusing, especially when I read some people claiming that they were able to code the whole car just with an ENET cable. If you can do everything with ENET only, what's ICOM's purpose then?
Can someone shed some light on this please?

The reason I'm asking is that I'm looking to replace at least one of the battery packs in a G11 plug-in hybrid, I plan to get a brand new pack from BMW, hence I probably need to also replace the management module and program it amongst many other things, so all in all this is not going to be a cheap exercise, so I'd like to understand if an ICOM is also needed.

Thank you!

P.S.: I have a BimmerGeeks K+D CAN Cable, as well as the Protool Bluetooth adapter, besides an OBDLink MX+ and OBDLink EX, but I was not able to make the latest version of ISTA+ work with any of them. As I understand I probably need EDIABAS and Standard Tools installed and configured, which they don't come as part of the package, plus it would be much slower, so I can either wait for the ENET or get an ICOM if that's what's needed.