NetworkScannerWin

NetworkScannerWin is a native Windows desktop network scanner built with WPF and .NET 10. It is designed for fast local visibility, practical device details, and simple day-to-day use in home labs, smart home environments, and small local networks.

What It Is For

The goal is to answer the questions that matter during everyday network work:

• Which devices are currently online?
• Which ports and services are exposed?
• What kind of device is this likely to be?
• Are there any useful hints for troubleshooting, hardening, or operations?

The application runs locally as a desktop app, without browser setup or cloud dependencies.

Current State

As of April 12, 2026, the core workflow is already usable:

• Device discovery, hostname lookup, MAC resolution, and vendor lookup are working
• Port scanning and banner-based service hints are active
• The UI includes search, sorting, column selection, a detail panel, and device actions
• German and English localization are available
• Scan results and UI preferences are stored locally and restored on startup

The detailed project snapshot is documented in docs/PROJECT_STATUS.md.

Feature Highlights

• Fast subnet scan based on a ping sweep
• DNS and hostname resolution with multiple fallbacks
• MAC resolution with local interface fallback
• Vendor detection via OUI, heuristics, and cached online lookup
• Port scanning with basic banner detection
• Device-type heuristics for common local-network devices
• Hint detection for services and platforms such as ESPHome, Tasmota, Proxmox, Synology, and FRITZ!Box TR-064
• Modern DataGrid-based UI with filtering, sorting, column visibility, and persistence
• Detail panel with copy-friendly fields, open-port overview, and per-device notes
• Action buttons for browser, SSH, RDP, ping, Wake-on-LAN, and external tools
• Last-scan cache restored on startup

Technology

• .NET 10
• WPF
• C#

Solution Layout

• NetworkScannerWin.Ui: WPF views, view models, converters, theme and localization resources
• NetworkScannerWin.Network: scanning, discovery, detection, and heuristics
• NetworkScannerWin.Core: shared models and supporting types
• NetworkScannerWin.Tests: automated tests
• NetworkScannerWin.Data: placeholder for a possible future data layer

Requirements

• Windows 10 or Windows 11
• .NET SDK 10.x
• Access to the local subnet you want to scan

Local Development

Build:

dotnet build .\NetworkScannerWin.Ui\NetworkScannerWin.Ui.csproj

Run:

dotnet run --project .\NetworkScannerWin.Ui\NetworkScannerWin.Ui.csproj

Run tests:

dotnet test

Local Data Storage

The application stores local state in %APPDATA%\NetworkScannerWin, including:

• ui-settings.json
• device-profiles.json
• last-scan.json
• vendor-cache.json

These files are intentionally local so the application remains self-contained.

Repository Setup

The project currently uses two Git remotes:

• origin: private source repository
  • https://github.com/wib100/NetworkScannerWin.git
• release: public release repository for curated artifacts and public-facing docs
  • https://github.com/wib100/NetworkScannerWin-Release.git

Check the configured remotes:

git remote -v

Release Approach

Recommended workflow:

1. Develop and review changes in the private repository
2. Publish only curated binaries and public documentation to the public release repository
3. Keep internal notes, experiments, and sensitive details out of the public release history

The public release process is described in docs/PUBLIC_RELEASE_WORKFLOW.md.

License

Not decided yet.

Security Notice

Use this tool only on networks you are authorized to scan. In some environments, network scanning may be considered security-sensitive activity.