Network Device Scanner PRTG

Keep a constant eye on all devices in your network

Quickly pinpoint outdated or vulnerable device software versions
Easily generate a comprehensive inventory of all network devices
Discover open ports and detect rogue devices connecting to the network

Free download

product overview

Our users give top ratings for monitoring with Paessler PRTG

PRTG network device scanner: What you will find on this page

Power up your all-seeing network eye PRTG and scan your network’s devices
What network device scanning looks like in PRTG
5 reasons why PRTG is the network device scanning tool of your choice
Network device scanner: FAQ

PRTG makes tracking network usage as easy as it gets

Custom alerts and data visualizations let you quickly identify and prevent low bandwidth, packet loss, latency, and other network performance issues.

Free download

PRODUCT OVERVIEW

Power up your all-seeing network eye PRTG and scan your network’s devices

For network administrators, one of the truths you must embrace is that you don’t know all your connected devices. Even small networks are connected to scores of end devices; the bigger and more dynamic your IT infrastructure, the harder it is to watch everything. Paessler PRTG cuts through the noise and gives you instant, automatic visibility to your entire network.

Make device inventory management a breeze

New devices come online, old devices go offline, and connections can be reconfigured on a daily, weekly, or monthly basis. Keeping track of the ins and outs can be a full-time task.

PRTG’s automatic network discovery takes the complexity out of inventory management by scanning an IP address range in your subnet and automatically adding new devices to your monitoring.

Set scanning intervals & have it your way

Depending on the complexity and size of your network, you may need to scan it monthly or even weekly to identify changes.

Our network device scanner PRTG allows you to set the intervals between scans to keep a constant eye on your network’s evolution. After the scan results are available, you can tweak the list, group devices, or create easy-to-read network topology maps.

Detect vulnerabilities & unauthorized access

Network security is always a concern, no matter the size of an organization. PRTG is a team player in your security.

It detects outdated software vulnerabilities and unwanted devices with unauthorized access, such as private computers or cell phones. This is particularly important in environments where sensitive data is handled.

Keep your network healthy & devices running

Monitoring the health and status of your devices is a crucial part of network device management. PRTG makes proactive management easy with real-time monitoring and alerts.

The network device scanning software continuously gathers operational data from each device on the network, including memory and CPU usage, network traffic volume, and more.

Quickly identify failures and redundancies

Effective network management means ensuring your network is resilient, efficient, and capable of meeting user demands. PRTG helps you identify over- or underutilized resources, at-risk components, or failed devices.

With this information, sysadmins can better guide their teams in resource allocation, load balancing, root cause analysis, and preventative maintenance.

Take strategic network planning to the next level

Knowing what’s going on in your network at any given point makes strategic planning that much easier. PRTG gives you that information to make informed decisions about where to add capacity or scale back.

Know where to invest for strategic upgrades, expansions, or enhancements with real-time and historical data.

What network device scanning looks like in PRTG

Diagnose network issues by continuously tracking your network devices. Show performance data, hardware health and availability, and other key metrics, and easily detect new devices in real time. Visualize monitoring data in clear network maps and dashboards to identify problems more easily. Gain the overview you need to troubleshoot and manage your entire network.

Start network device scanning with PRTG and see how it can make your network more reliable and your job easier.

Free download

PRODUCT OVERVIEW

IT experts agree: Paessler PRTG is a great solution for IT infrastructure monitoring

“All-around winning
network monitor”

“The real beauty of PRTG is the endless possibilities it offers”

“PRTG Network Monitor
is very hard to beat”

5 reasons why PRTG is the network device scanning tool of your choice

User-friendly dashboards

PRTG provides all your data from a single, unified dashboard. Drill down to see your network devices in neatly arranged lists or even further for individual device information.

Support for multiple protocols

PRTG supports a wide range of protocols, including SNMP, WMI, SSH, HTTP, and more. This makes network monitoring easier across different systems and devices.

Comprehensive network reports

PRTG provides in-depth reporting capabilities, which can be customized and automated. These reports help you analyze trends and performance over time.

Monitoring of multiple locations

PRTG supports distributed monitoring, allowing you to monitor several geographic locations from a single interface.

Custom alerts & notifications

Get alerts how you want them. PRTG can send alerts via email, SMS, or push notifications, so you receive immediate notifications on any issue, anywhere and anytime.

PRTG is compatible with all major vendors, products, and systems

PRTG makes tracking network usage as easy as it gets

Custom alerts and data visualizations let you quickly identify and prevent low bandwidth, packet loss, latency, and other network performance issues.

Free download

PRODUCT OVERVIEW

“I would recommend PRTG because it has helped us significantly improve service uptime by highlighting important alerts that would otherwise result in a system failure or service disruption if action was not taken. Thanks to PRTG, we can ensure that The Ritz London’s network and IT systems are five-star, just like the hotel.”

Richard Isted, IT Manager

The Ritz London

”Adopting PRTG has been like going from being in the dark to being in the light. Before, we had limited visibility into what was happening in the infrastructure and in the network. Now, however, thanks to the comprehensive dashboard and real-time notifications, we receive constant updates on the status of facilities and services, and our way of working has gone from passive to proactive.”

Luca Meneghesso, Senior IT infrastructure and Security Specialist

Banca Profilo

”GESAC increasingly focuses on innovation to improve the quality of services offered and the experience of passengers handled every day by Naples Airport. Thanks to PRTG, we finally have unified, automatic, and continuous monitoring of the airport network and can guarantee quick and timely interventions.”

Domenico Ciervo, GESAC ICT Manager

Naples International Airport

”As an international company, PRTG is ideal for us. If something went down half way across the world, we wouldn’t be woken up – we can rely on PRTG to identify the problem and alert us before it occurs – enabling the right person, in the right time zone to resolve the problem. At the end of the day, if we’re to provide an internal network experience for our employees that meets expectations, we need a tool like PRTG to be successful.”

Barry Kelly, Systems Engineer

Skyscanner

Richard Isted, IT Manager

The Ritz London

Luca Meneghesso, Senior IT infrastructure and Security Specialist

Banca Profilo

Your network device scanner at a glance – even on the go

PRTG is set up in a matter of minutes and can be used on a wide variety of mobile devices.

“Excellent tool for detailed monitoring. Alarms and notifications work greatly. Equipment addition is straight forward and server initial setup is very easy. ...feel safe to purchase it if you intend to monitor a large networking landscape.”

Read the complete review at Gartner Peer Insights

Create innovative solutions with Paessler’s IT partners

Partnering with innovative IT vendors, Paessler unleashes synergies to create
new and additional benefits for joined customers.

baramundi

baramundi and PRTG create a secure, reliable and powerful IT infrastructure where you have everything under control - from the traffic in your firewall to the configuration of your clients.

INSYS icom

With the combination of PRTG and Insys, the monitoring specialist Paessler and the industrial gateway manufacturer INSYS icom offer a practical possibility to merge IT and OT.

Siemon

Siemon and Paessler bring together intelligent building technology and advanced monitoring and make your vision of intelligent buildings and data centers become reality.

Find the root cause of the problem with our PRTG network scanner

Real-time notifications mean faster troubleshooting so that you can act before more serious issues occur.

Free download

PRODUCT OVERVIEW

Paessler PRTG

Network Monitoring Software – Version 25.1.104.1946 (March 18th, 2025)

Hosting

Download for Windows and cloud-based version PRTG Hosted Monitor available

Languages

English, German, Spanish, French, Portuguese, Dutch, Russian, Japanese, and Simplified Chinese

Monitor everything

Network devices, bandwidth, servers, applications, virtual environments, remote systems, IoT, and more

Pricing

Choose the PRTG Network Monitor subscription that's best for you

Discover more monitoring insights and stories

Solutions for all your monitoring needs

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Network Device Scanner: FAQ

What is network device scanning?

Network device scanning automatically identifies all the devices connected to a network. This includes their attributes, such as IP addresses, device types, operating systems, versions, and configurations.

Why should I use a network device scanner?

Scanning is important for keeping an up-to-date view of the network’s infrastructure. Among other tasks, network device scanning helps IT teams:

Build automatic network inventories
Efficiently plan network upgraded
Increase security by detecting unauthorized devices
Optimize network performance
Lower network expenses

How often should I conduct network scans?

How often depends very much on your organization’s size, the complexity of the network, and your industry’s regulations. Typically, at least once a day is recommended.

What types of devices can be detected in a network scan?

Network scans can detect any device that connects to a network as long as the device speaks a protocol that the used network device scanning tools support, including computers, servers, printers, switches, routers, and IoT devices.

What makes PRTG different from other network scanning tools?

PRTG as a network device scanner stands out for many reasons. Here are the top three:

PRTG is well-known for its user-friendly interface
Because of its sensor-based approach, it’s a leading provider of comprehensive network monitoring
PRTG is highly customizable
PRTG can scale with your organization’s network
PRTG not only scans your LAN, but also your virtual devices, as well as your cloud environment

What's the difference between a network scanner and an IP scanner?

The terms "network scanner" and "IP scanner" are often used interchangeably, but they refer to slightly different tools or functionalities within the broader context of network administration and security.

Network scanner

A network scanner is a tool designed to analyze and monitor an entire Windows or Linux-based network. Its functionalities include:

Detecting all devices connected to the network.
Mapping the network topology, showing how devices are interconnected.
Identifying open ports and services on each device.
Checking for vulnerabilities in network devices.
Monitoring network traffic and performance.

IP scanner

An IP scanner is a more specific tool that focuses on identifying devices associated with particular IP addresses within a network. Its primary functions include:

Scanning an IP range to detect active devices.
Identifying the IP addresses and corresponding MAC addresses of connected devices.
Providing basic information about the device, like hostname, operating system, and sometimes open ports.

IP scanners are typically used when the goal is to identify which devices are currently online or to discover IP conflicts.

Examples: Angry IP Scanner, Advanced IP Scanner, and Lansweeper.

What is a sensor in PRTG?

In PRTG, “sensors” are the basic monitoring elements. One sensor usually monitors one measured value in your network, for example the traffic of a switch port, the CPU load of a server, or the free space on a disk drive. On average, you need about 5-10 sensors per device or one sensor per switch port.

We asked: would you recommend PRTG? Over 95% of our customers say yes!

Paessler conducted trials in over 600 IT departments worldwide to tune its network monitoring software closer to the needs of sysadmins. The result of the survey: over 95% of the participants would recommend PRTG – or already have.

Still not convinced?

More than 500,000 sysadmins love PRTG

Paessler PRTG is used by companies of all sizes. Sysadmins love PRTG because it makes their job a whole lot easier.

Monitor your entire IT infrastructure

Bandwidth, servers, virtual environments, websites, VoIP services – PRTG keeps an eye on your entire network.

Try Paessler PRTG for free

Everyone has different monitoring needs. That’s why we let you try PRTG for free.

Start network device scanning with PRTG and see how it can make your network more reliable and your job easier.

Free download

PRODUCT OVERVIEW