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- Quickly pinpoint outdated or vulnerable device software versions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
Our users give top ratings for monitoring with Paessler PRTG
PRTG network device scanner: What you’ll find on this page
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.
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It detects outdated software vulnerabilities and unwanted devices with unauthorized access, such as private computers or cell phones.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.
Traffic graph with live monitoring data
Device overview of the PRTG probe device
Custom PRTG dashboard for keeping an eye on your entire IT infrastructure
Start network device scanning with PRTG and see how it can make your network more reliable and your job easier.
“All-around winning “The real beauty of PRTG is the endless possibilities it offers” “PRTG Network MonitorIT experts agree: Paessler PRTG is a great solution for IT infrastructure monitoring
network monitor”
is very hard to beat”
5 reasons to choose PRTG as your network device scanning tool
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.
Your network scanner at a glance – even on the go
Set up PRTG in minutes and use it on almost any mobile device.
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.
PRTG is compatible with all major vendors, products, and systems
Create innovative solutions with Paessler’s partners
Partnering with innovative vendors, Paessler unleashes synergies to create
new and additional benefits for joined customers.
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.
INSYS icom
“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.”
Infrastructure and Operations Engineer in the Communications Industry, firm size 10B - 30B USD
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.
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 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.
PRTG: The multi-tool for sysadmins
Adapt PRTG individually and dynamically to your needs and rely on a strong API:- HTTP API: Access monitoring data and manipulate monitoring objects via HTTP requests
- Custom sensors: Create your own PRTG sensors for customized monitoring
- Custom notifications: Create your own notifications and send action triggers to external systems
- REST Custom sensor: Monitor almost everything that provides data in XML or JSON format
Paessler conducted trials in over 600 IT departments worldwide to tune its network monitoring software closer to the needs of sysadmins. We asked: would you recommend PRTG?
Over 95% of our customers say yes!
The result of the survey: over 95% of the participants would recommend PRTG – or already have.
Paessler PRTG is used by companies of all sizes. Sysadmins love PRTG because it makes their job a whole lot easier. Bandwidth, servers, virtual environments, websites, VoIP services – PRTG keeps an eye on your entire network. Everyone has different monitoring needs. That’s why we let you try PRTG for free.Still not convinced?
More than 500,000
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Monitor your entire IT infrastructure
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Start network device scanning with PRTG and see how it can make your network more reliable and your job easier.
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PRTG |
Network Monitoring Software - Version 24.4.102.1351 (November 12th, 2024) |
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Hosting |
Download for Windows and cloud-based version PRTG Hosted Monitor available |
Languages |
English, German, Spanish, French, Portuguese, Dutch, Russian, Japanese, and Simplified Chinese |
Pricing |
Up to 100 sensors for free (Price List) |
Unified Monitoring |
Network devices, bandwidth, servers, applications, virtual environments, remote systems, IoT, and more |
Supported Vendors & Applications |
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