Windows PC Network - Network Mapping Software?

[WorkshopChris]

I have PC's on a cabled network in the house, outside office and workshop.
Plus full coverage on wi-fi everywhere.
The network consists of incoming Broadband to a Netgear managed switch.
Then off to Workshop to a small 4 port hub.
Two feeds out to Office each feeding a 5 Port hub, one feeds an additional hub in another outbuilding.
Everything works but suddenly my main cad office pc (win7) can now only see the parts of the network that is connected to, (the small hub).
I am still getting internet but cant see the network printer any more.
Printer works and can be accessed via other pc's.

I can't remember any network kit passwords so cant log into the Netgear switch.

Can anyone recommend anything that will map the network showing whats connected to what?
Also, whats available to have a good look at the wifi and make sure everything is secure? I used to use netstumbeler back with xp.

 

[Kayos]

Nmap

I’m a bit out of date but it’s what I used to use

 

[130]

I would guess your broadband has dhcp server on and maybe the wifi point if separate too..........

...............beware IP conflicts

What did you change last? Problems usually follow changes

Just add the name and IP of printer to hosts file

 

[mrdom]

I use an android app called Fing, works quite well for me and handy because I always have a phone

 

[WorkshopChris]

I would guess your broadband has dhcp server on and maybe the wifi point if separate too..........

...............beware IP conflicts

What did you change last? Problems usually follow changes

Just add the name and IP of printer to hosts file

If must be something more that that as i can see the printer from the house and access the print manager page from ip address over wi fi just cant connect from cad pc, i turned the firewall off earlier to see if it was this.
Just noticed looks like cad pc might be part of a workgroup, laptop i am on now isn't.

 

[skotl]

I use an android app called Fing, works quite well for me and handy because I always have a phone

Huh. Hadn't heard of fing, but it looks pretty handy!

They have a Windows, Linux and Mac version as well as ios and android. This is my network, according to fing:

 

[WorkshopChris]

I will give that a go in the morning i had a look at the Nmap but just installing it looked complicated, haven't played with dos and command prompt since win 95.
The more i look into this it has me thinking it may be a pc problem will try to remove the computer from a workgroup tomorrow and see what happens then.
Thanks, everyone for the input so far.

 

[aguycalledsteve]

Then off to Workshop to a small 4 port hub.
Two feeds out to Office each feeding a 5 Port hub,

Are they Hubs or Switches? The reason I ask is that hubs are notorious for locking up and causing issues with connectivity.

Many years of supporting SOHO networking setups, I've seen this happen where devices plugged into a hub lose all connectivity with the rest of the network. Rebooting them usually sorts it out but it's only temporary until next time.

 

[ajlelectronics]

Windows workgroup can be the issue. They changed the default WORKGROUP for MSHOME in later versions so you can have mismatches.

 

[knighty]

I always use Angry IP Scanner

it's well worth turning each router/switch/hub/wifi access point on and off again to see if that helps

even better, turn them all off, then turn your router on, give it 5 min to boot up, turn the switches/hubs on, give it 5 min again,turn a wifi point on, 5 min wait and turn the final wifi point on


(I'd run the network mapper / ip scanner / whatever first, in case it's just a windows problem... which it often it!)

 

[maz0]

Download a Linux live disk, burn it to USB and boot up in the cad machine, see if you can ping the printer/access the printers config page via the live disk OS, if it all works fine then you can consider it a Windows problem, not network hardware or routing.

 

[DaveB]

Huh. Hadn't heard of fing, but it looks pretty handy!

They have a Windows, Linux and Mac version as well as ios and android. This is my network, according to fing:

View attachment 139553

I hope those MAC addresses are all fake....

 

[130]

If must be something more that that as i can see the printer from the house and access the print manager page from ip address over wi fi just cant connect from cad pc, i turned the firewall off earlier to see if it was this.
Just noticed looks like cad pc might be part of a workgroup, laptop i am on now isn't.

Not necessarily. Try and ping it

Windows boxes are usually workgroups unless joined to a domain. Workgroups don't mean much at all.

Ping printer by name on a PC that can see it.
Then watch the ping result for IP

Ping it by IP on the cad machine
If it answers you have connectivity (barring firewalls on ports)

You could them connect / map the printer by IP.


However, modern Windows will occasionally decide it is on an unidentified network and filter connectivity so make sure the network is identified as home or work

 

[indy4x]

Have used most over the years, Angry IP is good for listing whats live and simple to use, Nmap is overkill but there is a gui available for it.

Back to your original question, none of the above will show you whats connected to what, they will merely list what you have live on your network. I have used LAN Surveyor for mapping many years ago and there used to be a free version but now long gone

Have a look at this page, there are some free options https://www.pcwdld.com/top-10-network-diagram-topology-and-mapping-software

Do a hard reset on the network switch and login with the default password, you can then reset it once your in

From the PC that is having difficulty seeing the printer, ping is your friend for basic connectivity testing

Do you have a spare switch you can use to swap out the one the CAD PC plugs into just to rule it out

 

[WorkshopChris]

Do you have a spare switch you can use to swap out the one the CAD PC plugs into just to rule it out

I have had a play with the mentioned programs i am sure this is a pc issue now as the hub is ok as the cad pc has internet connectivity i just cant see anything that isnt pluged into the same hub.
Going to have a dig around all the cad pc network settings today.

 

[maz0]

I have had a play with the mentioned programs i am sure this is a pc issue now as the hub is ok as the cad pc has internet connectivity i just cant see anything that isnt pluged into the same hub.
Going to have a dig around all the cad pc network settings today.

When you say hub, do you actually mean hub or a switch? If it's actually a hub then you might wanna upgrade to switches, they are far superior and typically quite cheap nowadays. Not saying this is likely to solve your problem just not heard anyone actually using a hub for a long time.

 

[brewdexta]

When I was a young and spotty nerd I used to use tkined/scotty as a nice package for discovering and displaying small networks I was testing, this was a long time ago but it is still available https://sourceforge.net/projects/tkined-scotty/ Linux only though.

You could look at Nagios or opennms, but that is probably overkill.

 

[Kayos]

Have used most over the years, Angry IP is good for listing whats live and simple to use, Nmap is overkill but there is a gui available for it.

Back to your original question, none of the above will show you whats connected to what, they will merely list what you have live on your network. I have used LAN Surveyor for mapping many years ago and there used to be a free version but now long gone

Have a look at this page, there are some free options https://www.pcwdld.com/top-10-network-diagram-topology-and-mapping-software

Do a hard reset on the network switch and login with the default password, you can then reset it once your in

From the PC that is having difficulty seeing the printer, ping is your friend for basic connectivity testing

Do you have a spare switch you can use to swap out the one the CAD PC plugs into just to rule it out

nmap 192.168.0.* -v -v

No need for a gui

 

[ukracer]

When you say hub, do you actually mean hub or a switch? If it's actually a hub then you might wanna upgrade to switches, they are far superior and typically quite cheap nowadays. Not saying this is likely to solve your problem just not heard anyone actually using a hub for a long time.

What's the difference between a hub and a switch?
Also for that matter the difference between a switch and a managed switch?

 

[brewdexta]

A hub is just a means of connecting devices to a common network segment it just copies all data to all other ports. A switch is like a multiport bridge in that it tracks MAC addresses and can send data to just which ports need it.

A managed switch allows you to administer it via telnet, web, SNMP etc. So you can change port speeds or duplex and put ports into different VLANs etc. A dumb switch has no config or monitoring ability and relies on protocols like 802.1u for speed/duplex autonegotiation.