Scanning for IP address lets you have meliorate control over your network. With 1-2 commands, you tin can quickly map out the devices in your network and the IP addresses that they are using. But to understand how to scan a network, first, you need to empathise how are IP addresses assigned.

Follow these four simple steps to browse your network for IP addresses in use:

  1. Open up a Control Prompt window.
  2. On Windows or macOS type ipconfig or on Linux type ifconfig. Press return. Notation down the subnet mask, the default gateway, and your own computer's IPv4 address.
  3. Enter the control arp -a to get a listing of all other IP addresses agile on your network.
  4. Enter the command ping <IP_address> giving any of the addresses returned by ARP in social club to test the response times to that node – don't include the angle brackets that are shown in that case.

DHCP (Assigning IPs Dynamically)

An automatic process in networking, called DHCP (Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol), assigns IP dynamic addresses to hosts equally soon as they enter the network. In a home or small network, the DHCP server is unremarkably a role of the router. When you come into the network, the router will look for an available IP address in its pool and assign it to y'all, then that your device can communicate with others without whatsoever conflict.

Dynamic allotment of IP addresses is a groovy advantage for both terminate-users and network admins. But sometimes yous would need to have some control in order to manage and troubleshoot your network more efficiently.

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What will y'all learn in this Tutorial

In this tutorial, you lot will larn the basic networking skills on how to scan a network for IP addresses. Nosotros will scan a network with native Bone commands, find which addresses were assigned dynamically, which statically, and test their connectivity.

In the end, we will compare some costless IPAM tools aka IP address scanning tools that tin give you additional information. To amend your IP addressing insights, even more, we will show yous some tools that permit you to track IP addresses and even manage them.

Simple IP Scanning

Operating Systems, like Windows and Linux, come up with their own native simple networking gear up of tools. Commands such as "ipconfig", "arp -a", or "ping" allow simple scanning and troubleshooting.

The simplest mode to get a quick listing of IP addresses and their devices continued to your network is with those Os native commands found in the control line. With a list of the assigned IP address and their devices, you can easily find the devices that are causing the nigh issues.

  • ipconfig
    This command displays all network settings assigned to one or all adapters in the computer. You can find information such every bit your ain IP, subnet, and Gateway. For Linux and MacOS is "ifconfig".
  • arp -a
    When yous upshot the "arp -a", y'all'll become IP-accost-to-mac conversion and the resource allotment type (whether dynamic or static) of all devices in your network.
  • Ping
    It helps determine connectivity betwixt two hosts and detect the IP address of a hostname.

Related Post: Best IP & Port Scanners

Reading The Output

Finding your own network adapter configuration

In the following screenshot, y'all'll see the output from the ipconfig command. On a Windows, the ipconfig command can be entered through the Command line.

Go to Run > type cmd > blazon ipconfig

  • This Windows reckoner has 5 network adapters, but the last one (Wireless LAN adapter Wi-Fi) is the only one connected to a network. The remainder are disconnected.
    ipconfig to view Network adapters
  • In this network, the router (or Default Gateway) is playing the role of the DHCP server. Information technology is assigning the IP address dynamically and giving admission to the Internet.
  • Yous are reading two of the almost important IP addresses for your device; Your own device'south IP (IPv4 and IPv6) and your Gateway. The Subnet Mask is also very important, it shows that y'all are on the same subnet as the gateway.

At present y'all know your subnet, which in this case is 192.168.i.0/24 (using the CIDR range). At present you need to find the residuum of the IP accost in your network.

Scanning your Network

The job of the ARP protocol is to map IPs to MAC addresses. It provides a method for hosts on a LAN to communicate without knowing any address and create a enshroud of information. When a new computer enters the LAN, it receives an IP and updates its ARP enshroud with the Gateway information. This ARP cache can be found using the "arp-a" command.

  • Use the control line to enter the "arp -a" command.arp -a command
  • This computer has been connected for some fourth dimension into the LAN, so its ARP enshroud is very precise and complete. The get-go IP address shown in the display is the Gateway (the same nosotros found through the ipconfig command).
  • The output shows the IP, the MAC addresses, and their assignation type. The addresses displayed hither were dynamically assigned by the DHCP server in the LAN. All of these IPs are devices connected to the LAN (192.168.1.0/24). The other static addresses are reserved for Multicasting.
  • With the MAC information, you tin can know the vendor. Try searching for vendor prefixes or employ an automatic online tool such as MACvendors.

Testing Connectivity

Finally, with some information, you tin test connectivity. In the following examination, nosotros tried an extended ping with "ping -t" to the gateway. With this, you can learn some simple insights nigh delay and latency.

ping -t command

From the listing generated by the ARP command, you could ping all the live hosts. Or y'all can go across and ping the entire subnet to find hosts not found past the ARP (merely that would exist as well much manual work…). Later, we'll talk over how to automatically ping entire subnets at once.

Enhancing IP Scanning

Although having a list of devices and their allocated IP address volition give yous good insights, the information will not be enough when your network scales. Manual IP scanning in multiple subnets and BYOD (Bring-Your-Ain-Device) scenarios is nearly impossible.  As the network scales, problems will scale as well.

Larger networks demand more results, flexibility, and easy-to-read fix of commands.

An IP Address Scanner tool helps y'all with larger demands. These tools are able to map the entire local network, finds live hosts, and to provide the results of the "arp-a" in a clearer format. Other IP Scanners do non depend on ARP but they operate using repeated ping tests. A Ping Sweep tool lets y'all ping entire subnets and find live hosts but with one button.

Some other IP Scanners get the extra mile and give more information such as Port number, DNS, DHCP, etc. All of this data is besides presented in the most visual and easy-to-read format. They also let users to save all results and present them in detailed reports.

Avant-garde IP Scanners

Hither is our list of the seven best tools for discovering IP addresses on a network.

  1. SolarWinds Port Scanner (Free TOOL) A gratuitous IP accost scanner that will search for all addresses within a given range and place which are in use and and then examine which ports on each device are active. This tool uses multi-threading for loftier-speed searches. Installs on Windows Server.
  2. ManageEngine OpUtils (Gratuitous TRIAL) A suite of network accost monitoring tools that covers IP addresses, MAC addresses, and port numbers with a cut-downwards costless version as well available. Installs on Windows Server and Linux.
  3. Angry IP Scanner A gratis network scanner that identifies all continued devices and lists their IP addresses plus connexion response speeds. Available for Windows, macOS, Linux.
  4. SolarWinds Ping Sweep (FREE TRIAL) Function of the Engineer'southward Toolset, this tool searches the network for all agile IP addresses, reporting on the response fourth dimension and showing hostnames from the local DNS server. Installs on Windows Server.
  5. MyLAN Viewer A network scanner that identifies all continued devices and lists their IP addresses and MAC addresses. Runs on Windows.
  6. SolarWinds IP Address Tracker (FREE TOOL) A free version of the SolarWinds IP Address Manager. This tool is able to discover all devices continued to a network and give details of IP accost usage. Runs on Windows Server.
  7. SolarWinds IP Address Scanner (Gratuitous TRIAL) This is part of the SolarWinds IP Address Manager. Apply this every bit a standalone utility to identify all addresses in utilise or as office of the IPAM for wider IP address direction functions. Runs on Windows Server.

The best IP Address discovery tools

one. SolarWinds Port Scanner

solarwinds port scanner

The SolarWinds Port Scanner tool is a great all around tool for scanning port DNS Addresses and IP's within the range that you specify, along with advanced abilities and capabilities that brand it our #1 Selection on the list.

Some great features of this tool include some of the following features:

  • Ability to create a listing of Open up/Airtight/Filtered Ports of IP addresses specified in your range
  • Browse Range along with specified TCP & UDP ports for identifying possible vulnerabilities
  • Multi-threaded Scanning for Faster Scans!
  • Ability to Launch and Run from either GUI or Command-line
  • Choose a Custom DNS Server to utilise for Scanning
  • Power to Salvage Customized Configurations for Scanning
  • Manage & Rail Device and User Activity
  • Edit & View IANA Port proper name definitions
  • Export to CSV File for Majority Editing and More!

Price:

100% Free!

Download:

solarwinds.com/complimentary-tools/port-scanner

Download Free!

ManageEngine OpUtils Network Monitoring Toolset

ManageEngine OpUtils combines an IP address manager, a switch port mapper for MAC accost discovery, and a port scanner to identify open up TCP and UDP ports on all devices. This combination delivers all accost-related functions that you will need in gild to fully manage your network.

The IP address manager is, in itself, a suite of utilities. This group of services includes an IP accost scanner. This will find all of the devices continued to your network and list the IP addresses allocated to them. The IPAM is able to produce IP address reconciliation reports that will enable you lot to update your native DHCP server in case it fails to notice expired address leases.

The IP address tracker service in the packet can produce a hierarchical view of your network, enabling you to identify subnets and the resource allotment of addresses to each. DHCP management tools in the pack allow you manage subnet accost pools. The switch port mapper identifies each device past MAC accost and switch port number. The port scanner in OpUtils lets you come across which TCP and UDP ports on each device are open.

OpUtils is available for Windows Server and for Linux.

Price:

OpUtils is bachelor in a Complimentary version, which includes a port scanner and Ping utilities. Contact the ManageEngine sales team for a quote on the paid version.

Download:

The paid version of OpUtils can be downloaded as a 30-day gratis trial.

three. Angry IP Scanner

angry ip scanner

Angry IP Scanner is one of the most popular scanners on the spider web, with over 29 million downloads. It is open-source, free, and bachelor for Windows, MacOS, and Linux. Information technology tin allow y'all scan your local network or the Net-facing IP addresses.

This tool is non only capable of scanning IP addresses just also ports. When you define an IP address range, yous can also specify a number of the port, and see if a device in your network is using a specific service (divers by the port). Angry IP Scanner likewise lets you save all the browse results into multiple formats, such as TXT, XML, CVS, etc.

When you browse, you'll know what hosts are alive, their response time, hostname, MAC address, etc. If you desire even more than information, yous can extend results by developing Java plugins.

Price:

Open up Source and 100% free.

Download:

Go Angry IP from its official site.

4. SolarWinds Ping Sweep

ping sweep

Ping Sweep from SolarWinds helps you find costless IPs and identify which ones are unavailable. Information technology is classified equally a networking discovery tool from the SolarWinds Engineer's Toolset. A comprehensive network software, that includes over lx handy tools. Ping Sweep from SolarWinds is included in the Engineer'southward Toolset and is dedicated for ping testing. For the MAC address, port scans, SNMP scans, etc, there are more dedicated tools in the Engineer'due south Toolset.

But equally when y'all ping from the command line, this tool shows the DNS name for each IP and response time. It can likewise let you lot export results in different formats such every bit CSV, TXT, XLS, and to an HTML folio.

Price:

SolarWinds Engineer'south Toolset gives you lot a fourteen-24-hour interval Gratuitous Trial and it includes over 60 must-have tools.

Download:

Get a fully functional Engineer's Toolset for 14 days past registering to SolarWinds official site.

Download Free!

IP Address Tracker Tools

Having a map of IP addresses, MAC addresses, used ports, etc, is great for networking inventorying and may assistance with some troubleshooting cases. Simply a listing can not control and display real-fourth dimension results.

An IP accost Tracker is a skilful upgrade to our fix of tools and commands described so far. It does allow scanning multiple subnets and displaying results, but it also allows y'all to keep runway of 1 or more than IP addresses.

An IP Address Tracker volition observe when an IP address is released. This can be either because the device lost connectivity or it changed IP accost. It will help you minimize IP addressing conflicts (when two devices are trying to take the same IP) and reduce DNS errors.

5. MyLAN Viewer

mylan viewer

MyLAN Viewer is a NetBIOS and IP address scanner for Windows systems. Just like the IP Scanners shown above, this tool will scan a network and show devices in an like shooting fish in a barrel-to-read format.

But MyLANViewer goes across, and not only shows computer proper name, IP, and  MAC, only also NIC, OS version, logged users, shared folders, and much more than.

This tool is able to rail specific IP addresses and testify notifications when their land modify. With it, you can also keep runway of network security by showing port data and detecting rogue DHCP servers. MyLAN Viewer tracks all devices in the subnet including hidden, and displays alerts when new devices enter the network, and others go.

This tool can also display the following metrics every bit well:

  • Display Whois data.
  • Perform traceroute.
  • Manage "Remote Shutdown and Wake On LAN (WOL)".
  • Monitor wireless networks.

Cost:

Free, but merely bachelor for Windows systems.

Download:

Go MyLAN Viewer from its official site.

Related Mail service: Best Wake On LAN Tools

6. SolarWinds IP Address Tracker

solarwinds ip tracker

SolarWinds IP Address Tracker is a standalone software and completely complimentary. In addition to creating inventories of all devices, this tool allows you to scan, track, and manage IP address, including their issue logs, all in a single place. SolarWinds IP Tracker is the costless version and feature-limited of the much coveted IP Address Manager.

Simply the IP Tracker does an amazing task to provide a centralized view of the entire IP addressing scheme. Information technology lets y'all monitor 256 (one subnet) IP addresses for gratuitous. Additionally, this tool allows basic management functionalities with tools such as, Ping, Telnet, Traceroute. The best of all is that, with SolarWinds IP Address Tracker you can detect IP accost conflicts created by misconfigured DHCP servers.

SolarWinds IP Tracker is only supported by Windows systems.

Price:

100% Free.

Download:

Register with SolarWinds to download the software for free.

Download 100$ Free!

IP Address Management (IPAM)

Basic IP Address Scanning should be plenty to manage minor networks. But when networks scale they depend on multiple subnets and detailed management requirements. Although SolarWinds IP Tracker is able to find IP accost conflicts, information technology is not able to command them.

Sometimes large-scale networks have standalone DHCP and DNS Servers in order to assign addresses to multiple subnets. Only IP conflicts occur and it is really challenging to manage them manually. An IP Accost Direction or "IPAM" is a piece of software able to actively control DHCP and DNS. It besides gives you the ability to manage multiple subnets.

7. SolarWinds IP Accost Scanner

solarwinds ipam IP Address Scanner

Among SolarWinds powerful tools, the IP Address Manager does everything a large-scale enterprise needs to manage its addresses properly. Information technology automates many processes to make IP Address direction easier. From automated IP address tracking, quick static IP reservations, to multi-vendor DHCP and DNS support.

SolarWinds IPAM comes with an integrated IP accost management, DHCP, and DNS tools to administer your unabridged network.

1 of the near commonly used tools from this package is the IP Address Scanner. This tool allows you to create automated IP address scans to maintain an updated inventory of all IP address blocks in the network. This is accomplished by sending regular ICMP and SNMP polls. The automated scans apply ICMP polls to gather status of the IP accost and hostname information. It also uses SNMP to notice data on MAC addresses and other vendor information. SolarWinds IP Accost Scanner supports both IPv4 and IPv6 address management.

SolarWinds IPAM also provides detailed reports of your IP address in real-time.

Price:

Download the Free Trial for 30 Days!

Download:

Get a fully functional SolarWinds IPAM on a xxx-day trial.

Download Gratuitous Trial!

IP address scanning FAQs

How do I find a network proper noun from an IP accost?

To get the network name of a host from an IP address you demand to query the DNS server. Open a Command Prompt window and enter nslookup <IP_address> putting in the IP address you lot have instead of <IP_address>.

How practise I identify an unknown device on my network?

To see all of the devices connected to your network, blazon arp -a in a Command Prompt window. This will prove y'all the allocated IP addresses and the MAC addresses of all connected devices. To go the hostname of each IP accost you run into in the list, utilise nslookup <IP_address> putting in the IP address you have instead of <IP_address>.

How can I tell what device is at an IP address?

To go deeper information on devices continued to your network rather than just an IP address or MAC address, use a network monitor that scans for details with SNMP – the SolarWinds Network Operation Monitor is one example.