IPeek vs. Competitors: Which Network Scanner Should You Choose?

Getting Started with IPeek — Installation and First Scan Guide—

Introduction

IPeek is a lightweight, user-friendly network scanning and monitoring tool designed for system administrators, IT technicians, and power users who need fast visibility into devices on their networks. This guide walks you through installation, initial configuration, and running your first scan so you can start discovering devices, open ports, and basic service information quickly and confidently.

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What you’ll need

• A computer running Windows ⁄₁₁, macOS (11+), or a recent Linux distribution (Ubuntu 20.04+, Fedora 34+).
• Administrative privileges for installing software and performing network scans.
• A network connection to the subnet(s) you plan to scan.
• Optional: a results storage location (local folder or network drive) if you want to keep scan logs.

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Download and verification

1. Obtain IPeek from the official distribution page or your organization’s software repository.

2. Verify the file integrity if checksums or signatures are provided (recommended for security-conscious environments). Example (on macOS/Linux):

   sha256sum ip-eek-installer.tar.gz # or if a signature is provided gpg --verify ip-eek-installer.tar.gz.sig ip-eek-installer.tar.gz 

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Installation

Windows

1. Run the installer (.msi or .exe) as Administrator.
2. Follow the setup wizard, choosing an installation directory and optional components (GUI, CLI tools, service/daemon).
3. Allow the installer to create firewall rules if prompted (or create them manually to permit IPeek scanning and remote responses).

macOS

1. Open the .dmg or .pkg and drag the app to Applications or run the package installer as an admin.
2. If the app is unsigned, allow it in System Preferences → Security & Privacy → General.
3. For CLI tools, extract the tarball and move binaries to /usr/local/bin:

   
   sudo tar -xzf ip-eek-cli.tar.gz -C /usr/local/bin sudo chmod +x /usr/local/bin/ipeek 

Linux (Debian/Ubuntu)

sudo dpkg -i ip-eek_<version>_amd64.deb sudo apt-get install -f 

Or use a tarball:

tar -xzf ip-eek-linux.tar.gz sudo mv ip-eek /usr/local/bin/ipeek sudo chmod +x /usr/local/bin/ipeek 

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Post-installation checks

• Confirm the binary is available:

  
  ipeek --version 

• Ensure the service/daemon is running (if installed):

  # systemd sudo systemctl status ip-eek # or on macOS brew services list 

• Confirm firewall rules permit outgoing/ICMP and incoming responses as necessary.

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Configuration basics

IPeek offers both GUI and CLI. Key config options to review:

• Scan depth: hosts-only, ports-only, or full (host discovery + port/service probing).
• Port ranges: default well-known ports (1–1024) vs. custom ranges (e.g., 1–65535).
• Concurrency: number of parallel probes (affects speed vs. network load).
• Timeouts and retries: adjust for high-latency networks.
• Credentials: optional for authenticated scans (SSH, SMB, SNMP) to gather richer data.
• Output formats: JSON, CSV, XML, or native database.

Example CLI config file (~/.ipeek/config.json):

{   "scan_depth": "full",   "ports": "1-1024",   "concurrency": 200,   "timeout_ms": 500,   "retries": 1,   "output": {     "format": "json",     "path": "~/ipeek-scans/scan1.json"   } } 

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Running your first scan (GUI)

1. Open IPeek.
2. Create a new scan profile: give it a name, select target range (CIDR or IP list), choose scan depth and ports.
3. Set output location and format.
4. Start the scan and watch real-time results populate.
5. Export results as needed.

Running your first scan (CLI)

Basic host discovery on a subnet:

ipeek discover 192.168.1.0/24 --output ~/ipeek-scans/discover.json 

Full scan with ports 1–1024:

ipeek scan 192.168.1.0/24 --ports 1-1024 --concurrency 200 --out ~/ipeek-scans/first-scan.json 

Scan an IP list:

ipeek scan --targets targets.txt --out scan-results.csv 

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Interpreting results

Common fields you’ll see in output:

• IP address and hostname (if resolved).
• MAC address and vendor (from ARP/neighbor discovery).
• Open ports, protocol, and detected service/version.
• Ping/latency and round-trip time.
• Scan timestamp and duration.

Tips:

• Cross-check unexpected open ports with service owners before taking action.
• Use vendor MAC prefixes to spot unauthorized devices.
• Compare consecutive scans to detect changes.

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Common issues and troubleshooting

• Missing results: verify network access, firewall rules, and correct target range.
• Slow scans: reduce concurrency or increase timeouts; check for packet loss.
• Permission errors on privileged ports (<1024): run scans with elevated privileges or use a helper service that handles raw sockets.
• False negatives for hosts blocking ICMP: enable TCP/ARP-based discovery methods.

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Security and ethical considerations

• Always have authorization before scanning networks you don’t own.
• Limit credentialed scans to accounts with least privilege.
• Store scan outputs securely; they contain sensitive infrastructure details.

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Next steps

• Schedule regular scans to track inventory and configuration drift.
• Integrate IPeek results with SIEMs or asset management via exported JSON/CSV.
• Explore advanced features: SNMP queries, authenticated SMB/SSH checks, and vulnerability plugin integrations.

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If you want, I can generate a ready-to-run config file for your environment or an example scan schedule (cron/systemd timer).