Glimpse Media

Glimpse for Ubuntu and GNOME

Glimpse Network Scanner

Glimpse Network Scanner finds every device on your network, including ones that ignore pings, and tells you what each one is, who made it, what it is called and what it offers. It also finds CCTV cameras and shows their live picture, opens devices' web pages in its own browser and lists the Wi-Fi networks around you.

Install itSee what it does
FreeNo advertsUbuntu 24.04 and newerGPL v3Private networks only
The Map: every address in the range at a glance, with the chosen device's details beside it

What it does

What it tells you

  • Type: router, computer, server, phone, tablet, printer, TV, speaker, camera, network storage, game console and more, with its reasons
  • System: Windows, Linux, macOS, iOS, Android, Android TV, webOS and so on, from how it replies
  • Model and maker, hardware address and who made the network card, and names from DNS, Bonjour and Windows
  • Open ports and the program behind each, web page titles, certificates and their dates, and Bonjour services such as AirPlay and Google Cast
  • Reply time, and whether a device is hiding: answering the network's address check but nothing else

Three ways to look

  • The Map shows every address at a glance: blue for devices, orange for hiding ones, green for the router
  • The Devices list sorts and filters by anything
  • The Graph puts your computer in the middle, with each device as far away as its reply time

Cameras and recorders

  • Finds ONVIF cameras and video recorders, also across a router or behind a firewall
  • Live picture (H.264 or H.265) from the main or sub stream, with pan, tilt, zoom and presets on PTZ cameras
  • Snapshots, clock check, health, and events as they happen: motion, tampering, a line crossed
  • Logins are sent as an ONVIF digest and can be kept in your keyring

Built-in browser

  • Every address with a web page is a link, opened in the scanner's own browser with a tab per device
  • Keeps its logins apart from your usual browser, and can trust a camera's or router's own certificate after showing whose it is
  • Wake a device with Wake-on-LAN from its right-click menu

Wi-Fi and tools

  • Lists the Wi-Fi networks around you with a channel chart
  • A terminal, as administrator, with nmap and other network tools, your own scripts and a list of everyday commands
From version 2.1 the scanner is an Ubuntu package only. Only private networks can be scanned.

A closer look

The Devices list: every device with its address, name, type, system and maker
The Devices list: every device with its address, name, type, system and maker
The Graph: this computer in the centre, with each device as far away as its reply time
The Graph: this computer in the centre, with each device as far away as its reply time
The Terminal under the views, with Scripts and Commands menus for everyday network tools
The Terminal under the views, with Scripts and Commands menus for everyday network tools

Install it

For Ubuntu 24.04 LTS and newer. Open a Terminal (Ctrl+Alt+T), paste these lines one at a time and press Enter. The first two add the Glimpse software source; the last installs the app. apt fetches everything it needs from Ubuntu itself, and updates come with your normal Ubuntu updates.

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:turone/glimpse
sudo apt update
sudo apt install glimpse-network-scanner

To remove it: sudo apt remove glimpse-network-scanner. The software source is the Glimpse PPA on Launchpad, which has the Glimpse apps.

The code is open: launchpad.net/glimpse-network-scanner. Problems and ideas go there too, or to support@glimpse-media.com.

Designed by Salvatore Turone and written with the help of Claude Code, Anthropic's AI coding tool: the ideas, design and testing are his; Claude wrote most of the code.

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Glimpse Media apps are free, with no adverts. If one has helped you, you can say thanks:

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