Windows cmd scan wifi

Never used Command Prompt before? Don’t worry. Using it is as simple as typing out the commands you’ll see below.

If you’re ready to continue, here are some of the most useful networking commands to know for managing and troubleshooting your home network.

1. Ping

«Ping» is one of the most basic yet useful network commands to utilize in the command prompt application. It tells you whether your computer can reach some destination IP address or domain name, and if it can, how long it takes data to travel there and back again.

Sample usage and output:

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The command works by sending out multiple data packets and seeing how many of them return. If some of them don’t return, it’ll tell you («lost»).

Packet loss leads to poor performance in games and streaming, and this is a nifty way to test. So if you’re running into a performance drop, you can use much of the same strategies for how to fix packet loss on Discord for Windows.

By default, it sends 4 packets, each one waiting 4 seconds before timing out. You can increase the number of packets like this:

        ping www.google.com -n 10
    

And you can increase the timeout duration like this (value is in milliseconds):

        ping www.google.com -w 6000
    

2. Tracert

«Tracert» stands for Trace Route. And much like «ping,» it sends out a data packet as a way to troubleshoot any network issues you might have, but it instead tracks the route of the packet as it hops from server to server. Sample usage:

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The command outputs a line-by-line summary of each hop, including the latency between you and that particular hop and the IP address of that hop (plus domain name if available).

Why do you see three latency readings per-hop? The tracert network command sends out three packets per hop to cover packet loss or slowdowns. Just remember that it doesn’t represent your true latency. It’s best practice to average the three.

3. Pathping

«Pathping» is similar to «tracert,» except it’s more informative and takes a lot longer to execute. After sending out packets from you to a given destination, it analyzes the route taken and computes packet loss on a per-hop basis.

Sample usage and output:

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4. Ipconfig

«Ipconfig» often comes up as the most-used networking command on Windows. Not only is it useful for the information it provides, but you can combine it with a couple of switches to execute certain tasks.

Sample usage and output:

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The default output shows every network adapter on your system and how they resolve. The IPv4 Address and Default Gateway details under the Wireless LAN Adapter and Ethernet Adapter sections are the most important to know.

Use this switch to flush your DNS cache:

        ipconfig /flushdns
    

Flushing the DNS cache can help when your internet is working, but a specific website or server is unreachable for some reason (e.g. a website times out and won’t load). If flushing the DNS cache doesn’t solve your connectivity issues, check for the stability of your internet connection on Windows.

5. Getmac

Every device that’s compliant with IEEE 802 standards has a unique MAC address (Media Access Control). The manufacturer assigns MAC addresses and stores them in the device’s hardware. Some people use MAC addresses to limit which devices can connect to the network.

Sample usage and output:

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You may see more than one MAC address depending on how many network-related adapters are on your system. For example, Wi-Fi and Ethernet connections would have separate MAC addresses. If you would like to know more, check out these differences between an IP and MAC address.

6. Nslookup

«Nslookup» stands for Name Server Lookup. It packs a lot of power, but most users won’t need that power. For regular folks like you and me, its main use is finding out the IP address behind a certain domain name.

Sample usage and output:

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Note that certain domain names aren’t tied to a dedicated IP address, which means that you may get different IP addresses every time you run the command. This is normal for bigger websites because they spread their workload across many different machines.

If you want to convert an IP address into a domain name, just type it into your browser and see where it leads. Not all IP addresses lead to domain names though, and many IP addresses aren’t reachable over the web.

7. Netstat

«Netstat» is a tool for network statistics, diagnostics, and analysis. It’s powerful and complex but can be simple enough if you ignore the advanced aspects that you don’t need to know about (assuming you aren’t managing a massive business or campus network, for example).

Sample usage and output:

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By default, the command shows all «active connections» on your system whether those connections are on LAN or across the internet. An active connection doesn’t mean data moving occurs — it could just mean a port that’s open and ready to accept a connection.

Indeed, «netstat» is useful to regular users for its ability to show port information, and that can come in handy when you need to forward ports.

But the command also has about a dozen switches that change what kind of information is displayed, such as the

        -r
    

switch which shows a routing table instead.

8. Netsh

«Netsh» stands for Network Shell. It’s a cmd command for networking that lets you view and configure pretty much every network adapter on your system in more detail and granularity than any of the preceding commands.

Running the netsh command on its own will shift the Command Prompt into network shell mode. There are several different «contexts» within this shell, including one for routing-related commands, one for DHCP-related commands, and one for diagnostics, among others. But you can use it to run individual commands, too.

To see all network shell contexts:

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And to see all commands within a context:

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You can drill down one more layer to find all of the subcommands within those commands:

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So for example, you can run this netsh wlan command to view all the wireless network drivers on your system and their properties:

        netsh wlan show drivers
    

Network Shell’s complex enough to deserve an entire article of its own. Just know that if you want to get real technical with your network configuration, you’ll probably need to use this command-line utility and explore netsh commands for Wi-Fi.

If Network Shell left you wanting to explore more than cmd network commands for your system, try these basic cmd commands every user should know.

Network Commands and Other Networking Solutions

For anyone new to Windows networking commands, a cheat sheet comes in handy. With some reference, you can use a variety of cmd commands for gleaning information on your network, Wi-Fi, and the Internet. With a bit of practice, you’ll be using Windows’ command line network tools naturally.

Still, using cmd commands for your networking isn’t always necessary for the specific problem you’re having. You don’t always need a cmd fix for your internet connection before checking your physical network connections. But if you do need to dig deeper into commands, be sure to try out Windows Terminal for a better experience.

How to connect, delete and manage WiFi networks using command prompt (cmd) in your Windows PC/laptop using netsh wlan commands

Nowadays internet connectivity is everything. For the Internet, we have Wi-Fi connections that we manage and use through the network settings on Windows 7/8.1/10 computers.

You can also connect, manage, and delete your WiFi networks using the command prompt.

In fact, the command prompt offers many more features than the standard network connection settings in Windows 10.

Also Read- A-Z Windows CMD Commands List

To do this we only require a CMD(Command Prompt) with Administrator privileges and will have to use netsh wlan commands.

How to connect to wifi using cmd with netsh wlan commands-

Before we dive into the guide. You’ll need to open the Command Prompt with administrator rights to perform most of the commands. To do this, use the Windows key + X keyboard shortcut, and select Command Prompt (Admin).

Or search cmd and right click run as administrator

1# View various wireless network profiles saved on your PC

Command > Netsh WLAN show profiles

Every time you connect to a wireless access point, the operating system creates a “wireless network profile”, and it’s stored on your computer, you can view all these profiles using the following command line on the Command Prompt Netsh WLAN show profiles.

Alternatively, you can use the “interface” parameter to show the list of profiles for a particular wireless adapter:

Netsh WLAN show profiles interface=”your WiFi interface name”

2# View WiFi adapter driver information

Command > Netsh WLAN show drivers

When you need to get driver information about your computer’s wireless adapter, you can use the the above command. The result will show the exact drivers being used, the WiFi radios on your PC/laptop alongwith driver version number.

You can further use this command to check your WiFi capabilities. Type in the following command

C:\Netsh WLAN show wirelesscapabilities

The results will show you exactly what your WiFi connection is capable of including WiFi Direct service capabilities.

3# View wireless adapter settings

Command > Netsh WLAN show interfaces

You can see the details of your WiFi interfaces using above command. The results will show you description of the interface, SSID, BSSID, Cipher, authentication type, channel, average receive and transmit rate and radio type.

If you have multiple WiFi connections saved on your PC, the “Show interfaces” command will display the information for all the wireless adapters on your computer. If you only need to see the information for one adapter, you can use the following command:

Netsh WLAN show interface name=”your wifi connection name”

4# Recover your WiFi password from any of the WiFi connection profiles saved on your PC

Command > Netsh WLAN show profile name=”your WiFi connection name” key=clear

If you lost and cannot remember your network security key to connect another device to a particular Wi-Fi access point, you can use the above command to view your WiFi password. You can also use this command to see the data limits if you have set them.

5# Connecting to a WiFi network using command prompt

Command > netsh wlan set hostednetwork mode=allow ssid=”your WiFi connection name” key=”your WiFi connection password”

You can use the above command to sign into your WiFi network. The above command is particularly useful if your WiFi settings in Windows 10 is not visible/cannot be connected due to some reasons. The additional commands are C:\netsh wlan start hostednet and C:\netsh wlan stop hostednetwork These two commands will start and stop your WiFi hotspot connection.

6# Stop your PC connecting automatically to a wireless network out of range

Command > Netsh WLAN set profileparameter name=”your WiFi connection name” connectionmode=manual

Normally, you would have configured your Windows 10 PC to connect to different WiFi networks automatically. While this is the best way to connect, sometimes notice that your laptop connects automatically to a WiFi connection that has zero or poor connectivity instead of an available full network WiFi connection. In such a case you can use the above command to prevent your computer from connecting to different networks automatically. If you want to move again to the automatic mode use the following command C:\Netsh WLAN set profileparameter name=” your WiFi connection name” connectionmode=auto

7# Delete wireless network profile stored on your PC

Command > Netsh WLAN delete profile name=”the WiFi connection you want to delete”

When you no longer need to connect to a particular wireless network, the access point is no longer available, or you need to reset the network profile settings, you can also use Netsh WLAN to delete any profile stored on your computer using the above command. If you can’t remember the name of the network profile, you can use the C:\Netsh WLAN show profiles command to list all the available profiles and select the one you want to delete.

8# Export and import wireless network profiles

Command > Netsh WLAN export profile key=clear folder=”the folder you want to save this report”

Sometimes you need to export and import wireless profiles. The above command exports all your wireless network profiles available on your PC. If you want to export a specific WiFi connection profile to a specific location, use this command > C:\Netsh WLAN export profile name=”your WiFi connection name” key=clear folder=”the folder you want to save this report”

9# Generate a complete report of the wireless adapters on your PC/laptop

Command > Netsh WLAN show WLANreport

Trouble shooting WiFi connection problems is very difficult as Internet has lots of conflicting tutorials and troubleshooting guide. Also you should know the exact problem you are facing while connecting to WiFi.

Using the above command will generate a full detailed WiFi networks report to the following location > C:\ProgramData\Microsoft\Windows\WLANReport\WLAN-report-latest.html. 

Once the WLAN report has been created, copy and paste the path into your web browser’s address bar to open the report.

You can use this report to troubleshoot the problems, ask help on tech forums. The WLAN reports contain a graph with details of the connectivity status, including information, such as when the connection started, when it got disconnected, errors, and more.

The report also summarizes network adapters information configured on your system, session success/failures, disconnect reasons, and a lot more. It’s a very detailed report that can help you to ping point many Wi-Fi connectivity issues.

ALSO READ:

• How to Hack WiFi Password Using New WPA/WPA2 flaw
• How To Find WiFi Password When Forgot It

CONCLUSION:

So this was how to connect to wifi using cmd (command prompt) with netsh wlan commands

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Netsh is a command-line utility for configuring and monitoring the status of various network communication server roles and components on Windows Server computers. It helps users interact with the networking stack in Windows and control various network aspects, including Wi-Fi.

This article will demonstrate the usage of netsh commands for managing wireless networks in Windows 11. While some basic settings and functionalities can be managed using the Windows Network or the Control Panel, some tasks may require alternative steps. For such situations, Windows 11 users can use the netsh CLI to manage Wi-Fi settings and configurations.

How to Manage Wi-Fi Networks in Windows 11

To manage Wi-Fi networks in Windows 11, you first need to open the command prompt.  Windows 11 provides two ways to use the netsh commands. You can either open the command prompt or netsh run command to initiate the netsh commands for wireless management.

The only difference between these two approaches is that you’ll have to use “netsh” before every command when using the command prompt.

Follow these steps to open the netsh run command.

1. Click the search icon in the taskbar and enter “netsh” (without quotation marks) in the search box.
2. Select Run as administrator, and the netsh command prompt will open.

To start managing Wi-Fi settings, you’ll want to get a clear view of the wireless profiles in Windows.

To do this, run the following netsh command to show the wireless network profiles.

wlan show profiles

If you’re using the command prompt, run the following command:

netsh wlan show profiles

Now that you know how to view saved network profiles using the netsh command, let’s explore other commands to manage wireless networks in Windows 11.

Connect to the Wireless Network

To connect to the wireless network in Windows 11, run the following command:

wlan connect ssid=YOUR-WIFI-SSID name=PROFILE-NAME

Find the Security Key of the Network

If you want to retrieve the security key of your network, run this command:

wlan show profiles name=profile name key=clear

Check Network Interface Status

Here’s the command to check the network interface status of your wireless network:

interface show interface

Check All Available Wireless Connections

Run the following command to check all the available Wi-Fi connections:

wlan show networks

Disconnect from the Connected Wireless Device

Run the following command to disconnected from the wireless device:

wlan disconnect

Delete Wi-Fi Network Profiles

To delete a network profile, you can run the following command:

wlan delete profile name=profile name

Analyze the Wireless Network Report

To analyze the wireless network report, you’ll need to run this command from the command prompt with administrator privileges:

Netsh wlan show wlanreport

Import and Export Wi-Fi Network Files

You can’t modify network profiles in Windows directly. However, the wireless settings allow you to export a profile, make changes to its XML file, and then import it back to modify the profile settings without directly modifying the profile itself.

Export Wireless Network Files

Here’s the command to export wireless network files:

wlan export profile name=profile name

Import Wireless Network Files

You can then import them back in with this command:

wlan add profile filename=path_and_filename.xml interface=interface-name

Stop Automatically Connecting to a Wi-Fi Network

Here’s the command to stop a device from automatically connecting to a network:

wlan set profileparameter name=profile name connectionmode=manual

Change the Priority of Wi-Fi Networks

This command can rearrange connection priorities:

wlan set profileorder name=profile name interface=interface_name priority=1

How to Create an Ad Hoc Wi-Fi Connection in Windows 11

A wireless ad hoc network (WANET) is a local area network (LAN) that can be established without traditional network infrastructure equipment such as a wireless access point or a router. It allows multiple wireless devices connecting each other instantly.

Windows 7, 8, 10, and 11 enable you to create WANETs. They are usually created temporarily to share files, presentations, or an internet connection among multiple devices. However, saving an ad hoc network profile for frequent use is also possible.

For this, your computer or laptop should have a wireless network adapter installed to create or join a WANET. Also, WANETs are wireless only, and devices connected to the network must be within 30 feet of range.

There are different ways to set up an ad hoc network in Windows 11. You can either create an ad hoc network through the Windows control panel or use the command prompt to run netsh commands.

Here, we will use the command prompt to create an ad hoc network on Windows 11.

Set the Ad Hoc Connection

Open the command prompt with administrator privilege and type the following command to configure your ad hoc network:

netsh wlan set hostednetwork mode=allow ssid=network_name key=password

Replace network_name with your desired ad hoc network and password with a secure password.

Start the Network

Once the network is created, run the following command to start the network:

netsh wlan start hostednetwork

Stop the Network

To stop the ad hoc network, run the following command:

netsh wlan stop hostednetwork

Retrieve the Network

You can get the details of your ad hoc network by running the following command:

netsh wlan show hostednetwork

Modify the Network Details

To change the network details of the hosted wireless network, you can run this command:

netsh wlan set hostednetwork parameter parameter_name value

Modify the Hosted Wireless Network’s Password

Run the following command to change the password of your wireless hosted network:

netsh wlan set hostednetwork key=new_password

If you want to check the new password, use this command for retrieving the wireless-hosted network mentioned above.

netsh wlan show profile name="Wi-Fi-Profile" key=clear

To enable internet access for users on this network via the Wireless Hosted Network, activate Internet Connection Sharing (ICS) first.

3 Top Tools for Network Configuration Management in Windows

Network configuration involves managing network settings, policies, and controls for devices connected to the network, as well as installing software and sharing internet connectivity.

In addition, network configuration management involves keeping track of any changes made to the configuration that may pose a security risk, system failure, or operational disruption. Network administrators use specialized software for network configuration management to mitigate these risks and to make bulk changes efficiently while minimizing the likelihood of errors.

Here are three of the top tools for network configuration management in Windows.

1. SolarWinds Network Configuration Manager

Best for customizability

SolarWinds Network Configuration Manager (NCM) is a very useful network configuration management tool for network administrators that enhances network reliability and security while saving time. The software manages changes, configurations, and compliance for various network devices from industry-leading manufacturers such as Cisco, HP, Dell, F5, Rukus, and others.

It’s an industry-leading solution for bulk configurations in mid-to-large businesses. It automates configuration backup and restores points, has multi-vendor capabilities, and has an automated alert system.

Pricing

Subscription-based pricing for SolarWinds NCM starts at $1,894, with a perpetual license starting at $3,671. You can get a quote for your particular use case. Subscription and perpetual licensing are available with a 30-day free trial option.

Pros

●     Decreased troubleshooting time

●     Software and hardware inventory tracking

●     Easy-to-use dashboard

●     Availability of audit module highlighting security compliance

Cons

●     Administrators may face a learning curve

●     High cost compared to other tools

2. ManageEngine NCM

Best for ease of use

ManageEngine NCM provides a comprehensive set of basic and advanced features that cater to organizations’ NCM needs. This tool facilitates efficient management of network devices and configurations while offering capabilities such as automated configuration backup, compliance management, and enhanced network security.

With its robust reporting capabilities, the tool helps companies generate insightful reports on changes, compliances, and inventory. Moreover, the monitoring and assessment capabilities of this tool allow businesses to track current changes, predict future changes, and prevent unexpected changes in the future.

Pricing

There is a free personal-use edition for two devices, a professional edition starting at $595 for 10 devices, and an enterprise edition starting at $8,395 for 250 devices. Custom-designed quoting options are available with a 30-day free trial period.

Pros

●     Automated configuration backup is available

●     Automatic scanning to detect unauthorized changes made

●     Scalable platform

●     Enhanced network stability

Cons

●     The free version is limited to two devices only

3. Kiwi CatTools

Best for small businesses

SolarWinds Kiwi CatTools is a cost-effective yet robust network automation and configuration management tool designed to cater to the needs of small businesses. This tool provides a range of features that simplify device management, including a built-in Trivial File Transfer Protocol (TFTP) server for scheduling backups, automated configuration change alerts and reports for analysis, and bulk configuration change capabilities that can be easily performed or reversed. Kiwi CatTools also offers the convenience of automated settings for a hassle-free experience.

In addition to these key features, Kiwi CatTools generates comprehensive HTML and text-based reports on basic configuration changes related to port, MAC, ARP, and other critical network parameters. These reports can be directly emailed to key stakeholders, facilitating streamlined communication and decision-making processes.

Pricing

A perpetual license costs $947 for unlimited devices after a 14-day trial.

Pros

●     Reduced network downtime

●     Execute bulk configuration reports

●     Automated network backup

●     Enhanced security

Cons

●     Limited scripting capability

●     Very basic UI

Bottom Line: Using Netsh Commands for Wi-Fi Management in Windows 11

Effective wireless network management is crucial for ensuring seamless connectivity and optimal performance of devices. With netsh commands, Windows 11 users can easily troubleshoot and manage their wireless network connections.

For IT departments needing greater depth and granularity, NCM tools like ManageEngine NCM and SolarWinds NCM provide powerful features that simplify device management, automate configuration changes, and generate detailed reports for analysis.

Take a deep dive into configuration management with our complete guide.