Use these to manage your LAN.
Running your home network can be as simple as a router and a few wireless clients or as complex as a multi-node configuration with VLANs, switches, access points, and a custom router and firewall. Regardless of how you manage your local area network (LAN), it’s important to consider some free tools that can transform how you interact with everything connected to the router. From IoT gadgets to home servers, growing your network can introduce unwanted complexity that makes such tools almost a necessity.
Home networks have grown over the decades from a simple modem and desktop PC to consist of wireless devices such as a washing machine, smartphones, TVs, consoles, network-attached storage (NAS), and various sensors. I use a bunch of tools regularly to better understand my network, detect issues before they become actual problems, improve network-wide security, optimize performance to get the most out of all devices, and further develop my skillset.
OS-based network tools
Ping, Traceroute, and IPConfig
The best free tools are those that ship with your system’s OS. Linux, macOS, and Windows all support basic networking tools such as Ping for checking connectivity and latency, Traceroute to trace packets, and IPConfig to showcase currently assigned or configured IP settings. Ping can prove invaluable, even if at first it seems slightly too basic to really do anything. Ping can show issues with connectivity or performance on the network.
Traceroute takes things up a notch by providing the means to diagnose routing issues and see whether performance degradation is due to the LAN itself or something outside of your control. This can be especially useful if you’re rocking a network-wide virtual private network (VPN) like me. Finally, IPConfig will become your new best friend to confirm assigned IP addresses, DNS servers, and more.
