There are many devices that we have connected to the network in our day to day. We have more and more, since what is known as the Internet of Things is booming. This means that sometimes it can be interesting to know at all times what we have connected, what consumption we are doing from the network, etc. It is interesting to avoid problems and to optimize the connection to the maximum. We have many tools for this and in this article we are going to talk about Network Manager , a free program for Windows.
Network Manager, a tool to manage connections
Among all the options that we have at our disposal, Network Manager is one of those that we have available for Windows in a free way. It is an open source program that allows us to monitor network adapters in a simple way, as well as carry out some configurations.
It also offers detailed information on each network interface, such as the IPv4, IPv6 protocol, MAC address, etc. In this way we can have those specific data of a network card and that may be necessary on certain occasions to carry out some configurations.
It also allows you to configure the parameters of various network interfaces, where we can include IP addresses, DNS and different metrics to organize everything in an optimal way. In the same way, it allows you to manage Windows networks in a simple way.
How to use Network Manager
The Network Manager tool is very simple. It is available for all versions of the Windows operating system, which is the most widely used on desktop computers today. A key point of this software, beyond the fact that it is free and open source, is that it does not need installation.
Therefore we simply have to download the executable file and start it. It will automatically start working, without the need for us to install it in the system. We can download it from their website , as well as view the source code on GitHub . It is available for 32 and 64 bits.
When we have it executed we will see that a first window appears as we see in the image above. There it will show us some basic information , such as the IP address of the network card we are using, as well as the public IP address. Also the download and upload speed, with a small graph.
If we click on the settings icon, which appears at the bottom left, a more complete window will open, with more data and information relevant to our connection. There we will see data such as the MAC address of the network card, IP address, the adapter, etc.
Entering the interface configuration we can create profiles. In this way, for example, we can create one to use Google’s DNS. It also has other functions such as resetting the TCP / IP values.
We also have the configuration section of the tool, which allows us to use some parameters such as that it is launched when the system starts, that it is always visible, the period of time that is going to be reflected in the graph, etc. Some points that we can configure at any time.
Above we will see a section to check updates . This is useful, since it is always convenient to have all the tools that we use updated to the latest version. In this way, we can correct possible problems that may arise and that compromise the security or proper functioning of the devices. It is something that we must apply at all times, regardless of the operating system we are using, as well as the type of program.
In short, Network Manager is a very simple tool to use in Windows if we want to use a program to manage some aspects of our network. They are data that we can see on our device, as well as configurations that we can carry out, but all in one place, in a basic application where all this is concentrated in a simple way.
Furthermore, as we have seen, it is completely free open source software. It does not need installation and in a few steps we can be using it in our Windows system, from the XP version to the latest version of Windows 10.