Downloads for Managing Your Network

With these 10 free and low-cost utilities, you can manage, secure, and troubleshoot your network, whether it's for your small business or your home.

Do you have a network in your small office or at home? If so, you probably found setup easy, but now you could use some assistance in managing and troubleshooting the network, as well as in getting the most out of it.

We're here to help. We've rounded up ten great networking downloads--many of them completely free--that will allow you to manage your network effectively, solve wireless-networking problems, gain remote access to your network, and more.

(If you're ready to grab several of these programs, see our networking-downloads collection.)

General Network Tools

Looking to manage your network like an IT pro, even if you have no experience? With these downloads, you'll be able to troubleshoot and repair network connections, obtain the full technical details about every device on your network, measure network bandwidth, and even get remote access to your network when you're on the road.

If you want a quick, no-fuss way to view all of the devices on your network, along with their IP addresses and other information, give this small, free, simple-to-use utility a try. It performs a lightning-fast scan of all IP addresses on your network, or of all devices in an IP range you specify. After the scan, it tells you what devices are at what address, and whether each device is currently live or idle. It also provides each device's status, machine name, NetBIOS information, ping information, and MAC address.

Also included are a few other nice tools, such as the ability to shut down PCs remotely. And the Wake-on-LAN feature can wake PCs containing network cards that support the capability.

Download Advanced IP Scanner | Price: Free

With this exceptionally easy-to-use free utility, you can find out how much bandwidth any PC on your network is using. Install it on any PC, and it displays a chart that details your bandwidth use in real time, covering download bandwidth, upload bandwidth, and the total used. In addition, it keeps logs of your bandwidth use, so you can have a historical record. Customizing the software is simple, too; for instance, you can change its skin or alter the time span over which it measures bandwidth.

Note that setting up the software might be confusing, because you'll have to choose from a long list of network adapters, not all of which may be on your system. Your best bet is to click the Auto-Select button; the software will then choose the proper adapter.

Download Bandwidth Monitor 2 | Price: Free