How to Identify Devices on a Network - IT Glossary | SolarWinds (2024)

Network device identification, also known as device discovery, is the process of finding network equipment and gathering detailed information about them, such as device status, response time, and IP address. It’s typically the first activity IT teams perform while mapping and monitoring their network infrastructure for better visibility on connected nodes or devices.

A simple way to identify an "unknown device on a network" is through the command-line interface (CLI) of your computer system. Operating systems such as Windows, Linux, and macOS have their own set of networking commands such as "ipconfig" and “ping” for basic scanning and troubleshooting. Mapping network devices also requires an understanding of IP address allocation. To communicate with other nodes or machines in a network, a device requires a unique IP address. The address is either dynamically assigned by a DHCP server or static and manually.

Outlined below are steps to help you identify network devices, including unknown equipment:

• Open the Command prompt or Terminal in your Windows, Linux, or macOS system.
• Search all the network settings, such as default gateway and IP address, through the command prompt.
• For Windows:Type "ipconfig" and hit enter. It will display the subnet mask, the default gateway, and the IPv4 address of your computer.
• For Linux and macOS:Enter the "ifconfig" command to view all the network settings.
• Type the command "arp -a" to view the list of all IP addresses connected to your network. This will also display the MAC address and the allocation type (static and dynamic) of all your network devices.
• Type "nslookup" followed by any IP address obtained through the "arp" command in the previous step. This will show the hostname of entered IP address or any unknown device on network.

Manual identification of devices and their associated IP addresses in large, hybrid, or multi-vendor networks is often time-consuming for IT teams.

Network device discovery softwareautomatically scans and monitors network devices and maintains an updated asset inventory, making it an effective solution for companies with burning questions such as how to quickly identify devices on the network. You can quickly track the IP and MAC address, connection speed, and port details of all connected devices with such software. Network discovery tools use various discovery protocols such as SNMP, LLDP and CDP to gather detailed device information. In addition, such tools use ping sweeps to detect the active status of network equipment. Devices or hosts that don’t respond to ICMP echo requests made by discovery tools are termed inactive.

Modern network discovery tools can also help you visually analyze your devices' logical and physical connections using dynamicnetwork maps. These maps can detect unknown devices and changes to the network topology. For example, you can discover all the unauthorized links made by a compromised or rogue device using network mapping and subsequently block them. With packet-level analysis of network traffic, scanning tools allow you to drill down to the root causes of network slowdown, detect unusual traffic, and help prevent security issues.

Manually logging in to the router's web interface is one method to identify network devices in wireless networks. However, this doesn’t provide granular information about your network devices, such as data transmission rate andpacket loss. Typically, every device in a wireless network has a unique local IP and MAC address assigned by routers using dynamic host configuration (DHCP) protocol to track them.

Outlined below are the steps to identify network devices via the router web portal:

• Open the web browser and enter the router's internal IP address in the URL bar. Figure out the IP address using the following steps:
• For Windows:Go to the taskbar, search Command prompt utility, and open it. Type "ipconfig" in the command prompt and hit enter. It will display your router's IP address in the Default Gateway.
• For macOS:In the menu bar, click on the Wi-Fi icon and select Open Network Preferences. Select the Advanced Settings option in the bottom right corner. In the next window, navigate to the TCP/IP option to find the router IP address.
• In the browser tab, enter the login credentials to access your router's administrative panel. Find the login details on the back of your router or the usage guide that comes along with it. Reset the router if you've forgotten the existing password.
• After login, your router's default home page will appear. It will contain the list of all devices accessing your wireless network under the Status, Wireless Client, or similar section.

To more easily identify network devices on Wi-Fi, anetwork scanning toolis designed to provide detailed information from wireless access points, including SSID, device type, signal strength, and connected devices. These tools can be handy for device discovery and troubleshooting network security and performance issues in enterprise wireless networks.

For example, attackers often exploit vulnerabilities in enterprise wireless access points or routers for network infiltration and control. They use techniques such as packet sniffing, password theft, and man-in-the-middle attacks to steal sensitive information.

Modern network scanning software can help prevent unauthorized access attempts with regular monitoring and analysis of wireless devices for security issues.

Performing device discovery using network scanning tools is designed to make monitoring networks easier with the following built-in features:

• Generating Wi-Fi heatmaps:Modern scanning tools can help create dynamic Wi-Fi heatmaps to examine the strength and coverage of a particular access point. You can also track all connected and lost mobile devices through polling on Wi-Fi access points.
• Port scanning:Scanning tools enable network admins to identify and block inactive WLAN ports to prevent unauthorized access by a malicious device or user.\
• Unified dashboard:Scanning tools can provide a holistic view of the entire Wi-Fi infrastructure. Network admins can view performance metrics such as device downtime, track wireless coverage, map network paths, andtroubleshoot network issuesfrom a single, customizable dashboard using automation tools.
• Real-time alerts:Wireless monitors can alert network admins about issues like poor signal strength and RF interference that can lead to outages. Active monitoring of potential problems can help mitigate network downtime and improve efficiency.