Draw Your Network Map

LANsurveyor's map allows you to see a visual representation of your network setup including the devices attached to your network. Follow these steps to create your first network map.

Step 1 of 5: Launch LANsurveyor

If you are in an Active Directory environment, log into your computer using an account in either the "Domains Admins" or "Enterprise Admins" group. Launch LANsurveyor by double-clicking on the LANsurveyor icon. If you have purchased LANsurveyor and this is your first launch, LANsurveyor prompts you for registration information and then asks you if you would like to supply authentication information.

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Click Yes and LANsurveyor opens the Network Options dialog box with the Authentication tab selected.

If this is not your first launch of LANsurveyor, go to the Tools menu and select Options to bring up the Options dialog box.

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Step 2 of 5: Store Access Information

The Network pane of the Options dialog box should now be displayed. LANsurveyor uses the information you store here to access the optional Neon Responder clients and SNMP-based devices when drawing maps and creating reports. The SNMP Community String provides LANsurveyor with access information stored on your SNMP-enabled devices, such as routers, switches, printers, servers, NAS devices, and more.

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Enter your Community Strings (up to ten) separated by spaces or commas and the password you would like to use for your Neon Responders if you install that option. If you do not know your SNMP Community String, try "public" and "private", the default for many devices.

Step 3 of 5: Enter Map Parameters

After you enter your security information, LANsurveyor displays the Create New Network Map dialog box. LANsurveyor uses your computer's IP address and subnet mask to determine the default search range. Use this IP address range or enter another range: LANsurveyor can map and manage both local and remote networks.

Create New Map

LANsurveyor can also show connectivity between different networks (i.e., network segments separated by routers or "hops"). Enter the number of hops LANsurveyor should scan.

LANsurveyor identifies network-connected devices a number of different ways. Check the boxes for the various TCP/IP services you would like to use to draw your map.

Note: Routers only disclose their connectivity to LANsurveyor through SNMP information. Step 2 in this tutorial describes how to store SNMP Community Strings in LANsurveyor.

Step 4 of 5: Draw Your Map

Once you have entered all your information in the Create New Network Map dialog box, click the OK button. LANsurveyor displays a progress dialog as it maps your network. You can draw another map while this map is being generated if you'd like.

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When LANsurveyor is finished generating your map, you may see additional dialogs with more information about your map. If you're in a directory services environment (i.e., Active Directory), you will have an opportunity to install Neon Responders on client computers. See the Neon Responder tutorial for more information.

Congratulations! You have just drawn your first network map with LANsurveyor.

LANsurveyor should automatically find all directly connected network segments if you have managed routers and LANsurveyor had access to the SNMP information.

If you followed this tutorial, LANsurveyor drew your map with icons that represent your computers and SNMP-based devices. If all you see are generic "IP" computer icons, you may not have SNMP-enabled devices or you might have saved incorrect Community String information in the Network Options dialog box (outlined above in Step 2). Also, consider including more autodiscovery options in the Create New Map dialog box, adding Neon Responder clients, and checking to make sure you have the correct SIP UDP port specified in the Network Options dialog box.

Switch and hub port information should be displayed on your network map if you have managed switches and hubs. Get more information on switch and hub port connectivity.

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Step 5 of 5: Add to Map

To add another network segment to the same diagram, select Add To Map from the Tools menu. Then follow steps 3 and 4 in this section to include additional network segments.

Note: If you would like to diagram multiple, non-contiguous network segments in a single pass, you can create a map file. Refer to the LANsurveyor help for specific instructions on creating a ".lsd" file.