Wireless network connections have become popular in past years, thanks to an increasing number of devices that utilize wireless connections. But there is a problem associated with it, or more precisely with the securing of wireless routers and devices to block unauthorized access: The device needs to use proper encryption to block third parties from accessing it. Many users do not know the differences between WEP or WPA encryption, or which of the encryption schemes they should select for best security.
That could leave their wireless routers open for unauthorized access, especially if no encryption or weak encryption is configured.
The best option here is to use the strongest encryption possible. That however may not be always possible, if devices that need to connect to the wi-fi router do not support that.
Wireless Network Watcher is a free software program that scans a wireless network for connected computer systems. It displays all computers that are currently connected to the network in its interface, making it dead easy to identify unauthorized access to the network.
Each connected device or computer is represented with an IP address, device name, MAC address, company that created the network adapter and device information. These information can be exported and saved to various formats including html, xml and text files.
The program is fully compatible with 32-bit and 64-bit editions of the Windows operating system. It supports all Windows versions from Windows 2000 to Windows 7, including Windows Server versions.
The program can only scan the wireless network the computer it is running on is connected to. Users who want to scan a network that they are not connected to need to connect to it first before scanning it.
It can happen that the wrong wireless network adapter is identified by the program. It is possible to select the right one under Advanced Options (F9).
Wireless Network Watcher is a portable program that will start the scan automatically right after it has been started. It can take a few seconds before the list is populated.
Windows users can download the program from the official website over at Nirsoft.
© Martin Brinkmann for gHacks Technology News | Latest Tech News, Software And Tutorials, 2011. | Permalink |
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Post tags: nirsoft, portable software, wi-fi, windows software, wireless network watcher, wireless-network
