What command is used to verify that the computers can communicate each other?
|
Scanning for IP address lets you have better control over your network. With 1-2 commands, you 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 understand how are IP addresses assigned. Show
Follow these four simple steps to scan your network for IP addresses in use:
DHCP (Assigning IPs Dynamically)An automated process in networking, called DHCP (Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol), assigns IP dynamic addresses to hosts as soon as they enter the network. In a home or small network, the DHCP server is usually a part 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 you, so that your device can communicate with others without any conflict. Dynamic allocation of IP addresses is a great advantage for both end-users and network admins. But sometimes you would need to have some control in order to manage and troubleshoot your network more efficiently. Related post: Find device or IP with MAC Related Post: PowerShell Kill Process Command If you are here for free tools and trials, here is our list of the six best tools for discovering IP addresses on a network:
What will you learn in this TutorialIn this tutorial, you will learn the basic networking skills on how to scan a network for IP addresses. We will scan a network with native OS commands, find which addresses were assigned dynamically, which statically, and test their connectivity. In the end, we will compare some free IPAM tools aka IP address scanning tools that can give you additional information. To improve your IP addressing insights, even more, we will show you some tools that allow you to track IP addresses and even manage them. Simple IP ScanningOperating Systems, like Windows and Linux, come with their own native simple networking set of tools. Commands such as “ipconfig”, “arp -a”, or “ping” allow simple scanning and troubleshooting. The simplest way to get a quick list of IP addresses and their devices connected to your network is with those OS native commands found in the command line. With a list of the assigned IP address and their devices, you can easily find the devices that are causing the most problems.
Related Post: Best IP & Port Scanners Reading The OutputFinding your own network adapter configurationIn the following screenshot, you’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 > type ipconfig
Now you know your subnet, which in this case is 192.168.1.0/24 (using the CIDR range). Now you need to find the rest of the IP address in your network. Scanning your NetworkThe 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 cache of information. When a new computer enters the LAN, it receives an IP and updates its ARP cache with the Gateway information. This ARP cache can be found using the “arp-a” command.
Testing ConnectivityFinally, with some information, you can test connectivity. In the following test, we tried an extended ping with “ping -t” to the gateway. With this, you can learn some simple insights about delay and latency.  From the list generated by the ARP command, you could ping all the live hosts. Or you can go beyond and ping the entire subnet to find hosts not found by the ARP (but that would be too much manual work…). Later, we’ll discuss how to automatically ping entire subnets at once. Enhancing IP ScanningAlthough having a list of devices and their allocated IP address will give you good insights, the information will not be enough when your network scales. Manual IP scanning in multiple subnets and BYOD (Bring-Your-Own-Device) scenarios is nearly impossible. As the network scales, problems will scale too. Larger networks demand more results, flexibility, and easy-to-read set of commands. An IP Address Scanner tool helps you 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 not depend on ARP but they operate using repeated ping tests. A Ping Sweep tool lets you ping entire subnets and find live hosts just with one button. Some other IP Scanners go the extra mile and give more information such as Port number, DNS, DHCP, etc. All of this data is also presented in the most visual and easy-to-read format. They also allow users to save all results and present them in detailed reports. The best IP Address discovery toolsOur methodology for selecting a third-party tool to scan for IP addressesWe reviewed the market for IP address discovery tools and analyzed options based on the following criteria:
With these selection criteria in mind, we identified a number of network scanners that will discover IP addresses and identify the devices to which they have been allocated by mapping to MAC addresses. 1. SolarWinds Ping Sweep – FREE TRIALPing Sweep from SolarWinds helps you find free IPs and identify which ones are unavailable. It is classified as a networking discovery tool from the SolarWinds Engineer’s Toolset. A comprehensive network software, that includes over 60 handy tools. Ping Sweep from SolarWinds is included in the Engineer’s Toolset and is dedicated for ping testing. For the MAC address, port scans, SNMP scans, etc, there are more dedicated tools in the Engineer’s Toolset. Key Features:
Just as when you ping from the command line, this tool shows the DNS name for each IP and response time. It can also let you export results in different formats such as CSV, TXT, XLS, and to an HTML page. Pros:
Cons:
EDITOR'S CHOICESolarWinds Ping Sweep is our top pick for an IP address scanning tool because it offers a quick on-demand network scan and can also be set to run recursively. The service provides a cross reference between the IP addresses in use on the network and the MAC addresses of the devices that they are assigned to. The output also checks on the hostname for each device by looking at your DMS server. The results of scans can be displayed as graphs and they can also be written to file in a variety of formats. Download: Get a 14-day free trial Official Site: https://www.solarwinds.com/engineers-toolset/registration/ OS: Windows Server 2. Paessler PRTG – FREE TRIALPaessler PRTG is a collection of sensors for networks, servers, and applications. You can customize the package by choosing which sensors to turn on. However, there is one sensor that is not optional because it forms the foundation of all of the PRTG monitoring systems – this is the IP scanner. Key Features:
The IP scanner in PRTG creates an autodiscovery service. It is actually based on the Simple Network Management Protocol (SNMP). Under SNMP processes, the PRTG server broadcasts a request for status reports. Device agents respond with a message that contains a database of details. The PRTG system compiles these reports into a network hardware inventory and that includes the MAC address and IP address of each device. Once the device information of the network has been recorded, all network monitoring can begin. PRTG is available for installation on Windows Server and it is also offered as a cloud service. Pros:
Cons:
Price: Free for up to 100 sensors. The paid version starts at $1,799 for 500 sensors. Download: Offered for a 30-day free trial. Download Free Trial! 3. ManageEngine OpUtils – FREE TRIALManageEngine OpUtils combines an IP address manager, a switch port mapper for MAC address discovery, and a port scanner to identify open TCP and UDP ports on all devices. This combination delivers all address-related functions that you will need in order to fully manage your network. Key Features:
The IP address manager is, in itself, a suite of utilities. This group of services includes an IP address scanner. This will discover all of the devices connected 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 to update your native DHCP server in case it fails to notice expired address leases. The IP address tracker service in the bundle can produce a hierarchical view of your network, enabling you to identify subnets and the allocation of addresses to each. DHCP management tools in the pack let you manage subnet address pools. The switch port mapper identifies each device by MAC address and switch port number. The port scanner in OpUtils lets you see which TCP and UDP ports on each device are open. OpUtils is available for Windows Server and for Linux. Pros:
Cons:
Price: OpUtils is available in a Free 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 free trial. Download Free Trial! 4. Angry IP ScannerAngry IP Scanner is one of the most popular scanners on the web, with over 29 million downloads. It is open-source, free, and available for Windows, MacOS, and Linux. It can let you scan your local network or the Internet-facing IP addresses. Key Features:
This tool is not only capable of scanning IP addresses but also ports. When you define an IP address range, you can also specify a number of the port, and see if a device in your network is using a specific service (defined by the port). Angry IP Scanner also lets you save all the scan results into multiple formats, such as TXT, XML, CVS, etc. When you scan, you’ll know what hosts are alive, their response time, hostname, MAC address, etc. If you want even more information, you can extend results by developing Java plugins. Pros:
Cons:
Price: Open Source and 100% free. Download: Get Angry IP from its official site. IP Address Tracker ToolsHaving a map of IP addresses, MAC addresses, used ports, etc, is great for networking inventorying and may help with some troubleshooting cases. But a list can not control and display real-time results. An IP address Tracker is a good upgrade to our set of tools and commands described so far. It does allow scanning multiple subnets and displaying results, but it also allows you to keep track of one or more IP addresses. An IP Address Tracker will notice when an IP address is released. This can be either because the device lost connectivity or it changed IP address. It will help you minimize IP addressing conflicts (when two devices are trying to take the same IP) and reduce DNS errors. MyLAN ViewerMyLAN 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 easy-to-read format. Key Features:
But MyLANViewer goes beyond, and not only shows computer name, IP, and MAC, but also NIC, OS version, logged users, shared folders, and much more. This tool is able to track specific IP addresses and show notifications when their state change. With it, you can also keep track of network security by showing port information 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 as well:
Pros:
Cons:
Price: Free, but only available for Windows systems. Download: Get MyLAN Viewer from its official site. Related Post: Best Wake On LAN Tools IP Address Management (IPAM)Basic IP Address Scanning should be enough to manage small networks. But when networks scale they depend on multiple subnets and detailed management requirements. Although SolarWinds IP Tracker is able to find IP address conflicts, it is not able to control them. Sometimes large-scale networks have standalone DHCP and DNS Servers in order to assign addresses to multiple subnets. But IP conflicts occur and it is really challenging to manage them manually. An IP Address Management or “IPAM” is a piece of software able to actively control DHCP and DNS. It also gives you the ability to manage multiple subnets. SolarWinds IP Address ScannerAmong SolarWinds powerful tools, the IP Address Manager does everything a large-scale enterprise needs to manage its addresses properly. It automates many processes to make IP Address management easier. From automated IP address tracking, quick static IP reservations, to multi-vendor DHCP and DNS support. Key Features:
SolarWinds IPAM comes with an integrated IP address management, DHCP, and DNS tools to administer your entire network. One of the most commonly used tools from this bundle 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 achieved by sending regular ICMP and SNMP polls. The automatic scans use ICMP polls to gather status of the IP address and hostname information. It also uses SNMP to find information on MAC addresses and other vendor information. SolarWinds IP Address Scanner supports both IPv4 and IPv6 address management. SolarWinds IPAM also provides detailed reports of your IP address in real-time. Pros:
Cons:
Price: Download the Free Trial for 30 Days! Download: Get a fully functional SolarWinds IPAM on a 30-day free trial. Download Free Trial! IP address scanning FAQsHow do I find a network name from an IP address?To get the network name of a host from an IP address you need to query the DNS server. Open a Command Prompt window and enter nslookup How do I identify an unknown device on my network?To see all of the devices connected to your network, type arp -a in a Command Prompt window. This will show you the allocated IP addresses and the MAC addresses of all connected devices. To get the hostname of each IP address you see in the list, use nslookup How can I tell what device is at an IP address?To get deeper information on devices connected 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 Performance Monitor is one example. What is the command to verify if the computer can communicate with other computer in the network?ping (This will ping the IP address of a device like a local computer, remote server or any client that receives an IP address to verify that it is reachable and that you can communicate with it properly.)
What is the command to check the connection between two computers?"PING" is used for checking the physical connectivity of computers.
Which command is used to test the network communication between two devices?Traceroute – The traceroute command is used to determine the path between two connections. Often a connection to another device will have to go through multiple routers. The traceroute command will return the names or IP addresses of all the routers between two devices.
Which Command Prompt command can be used to test your connection with an another computer?The ping command allows you to check if you can connect to a hostname or an IP address and provide a basic measurement of the latency or lag between your connection and the remote device. To use the ping command, simply open a command prompt and type ping [hostname] or ping [ip address] and then press enter.
|
