Network Tools (45)

Network Tools is the second-largest category on the site, with 45 utilities spanning everything from a single IP address lookup to a full subnet scan. Networking problems have a particular kind of frustration to them — the failure is invisible, it can be happening at any one of six or seven different layers, and the built-in Windows tools for diagnosing it (ipconfig, netsh, the Network and Sharing Center) were designed for a much simpler internet than the one most of us actually use today. This category exists to put a clean, single-purpose window in front of each of those layers.

Addressing and identity tools sit at the foundation: Local IP Viewer and Public IP Viewer answer the two different meanings of "what's my IP" (your private LAN address versus what the internet actually sees), MAC Address Viewer lists the physical hardware address burned into every adapter, and Gateway Information Viewer confirms which router each adapter is actually using. IPv4/IPv6 Checker, Network Adapter Information and Network Interface Counter break interfaces down by capability, link speed and type, while DHCP Status Viewer and DHCP Lease Viewer show whether an address was hand-configured or leased, and for how long.

DNS gets particularly thorough coverage, because DNS problems are simultaneously among the most common network issues and the hardest to see directly. DNS Cache Flusher, DNS Cache Viewer and DNS Information Viewer handle the local resolver cache; DNS Tester and DNSDataView both query live records — A, AAAA, MX, NS, TXT, CNAME and SOA — for any domain, one built around a quick multi-type sweep and the other around a clean tabular single-query view; DNS Changer switches an adapter between popular public DNS presets (Google, Cloudflare, Quad9) or a custom pair with one click. Hosts File Editor rounds this cluster out with a dedicated editor for the one plain-text file that overrides DNS entirely for testing and blocking purposes.

Connectivity testing is where this category earns its keep day-to-day. Ping Utility, MyPing and NetworkLatencyView cover the ICMP basics at three different scales — a classic four-ping test, a continuous single-host stream, and a live rolling-average monitor across several hosts at once. Traceroute Utility maps the hop-by-hop path to any destination; PortQueryUI checks whether a specific TCP or UDP port is open, closed or filtered; Internet Connection Monitor continuously verifies reachability in the background. DownTester measures real sustained download throughput, which is often a more honest number than a browser-based speed test skewed by CDN proximity.

Discovery and administration tools close out the category. Wireless Key View and WiFi Information Viewer both read live Wi-Fi state and saved network credentials; MAC Address Scanner sweeps an entire subnet and cross-references the ARP table to map every responding IP to its hardware address; ARP Table Viewer, Routing Table Viewer, Active Connections Viewer and Listening Ports Viewer expose the same tables arp -a, route print and netstat show at the command line, but in a sortable window instead of scrolling text. Network Adapter Switcher and Network Profile Viewer handle day-to-day adapter administration — enabling, disabling, and checking whether Windows has classified a network as Public, Private or Domain, which quietly controls how much of the firewall's protection is actually active.