Today’s review is for the all the technicians and geeks in the audience. You’re iPhone is convenient because it’s always with you, and iNet Pro will make it even more convenient, by bringing dozens of technical tidbits to your fingertips in only a few taps.

As you’ll see in this review, iNet Pro not only offers a wide set of networking features; it also provides excellent flexibility and many options. Read on to see why iNet Pro should be in any geek’s toolbox!

When you open iNet Pro, you’ll see the list of actions you can perform. Let’s go through each one of them.

Scan Network

At the top of the list, you’ll see “Scan Network.” By default, you won’t see anything here; tap the refresh logo in the lower right corner to scan the local network. Once iNet Pro is finished scanning, you’ll get a list of all the devices currently connected to your LAN.

To find out more about one of the devices, tap on it. You’ll see relevant information such as its IP address and MAC address, as well as what Bonjour services it’s running. You can also scan for open ports. If one of your computers is running a web or file server, you can connect to it via the “. . .” menu in the top right corner.

Scanning for a Network

Back at the full scan view there’s a “. . .” menu as well; here, you can email the results of the scan, save the scan for future reference (you’ll be asked to name it), or open an existing scan. iNet Pro automatically saves a few of previous scans for you to choose from, besides the ones that you manually save.

The final option is the scan settings; from here, you can choose what IP address range to scan and whether or not to use a fast scan. You can also set the timeout and whether or not to use the computers’ names instead of their IP addresses.

Viewing a Network Device

Ping

Ping is a utility that lets you test whether a certain host is available. Tap in the text field and enter the address of the host you want to ping. You’ll also be presented with a few options: how many pings? should this be continuous? and when should we timeout?

When you’re ready, tap “Go.” You’ll see the replies coming in from each ping. If you’d like to re-ping the host with the same settings, tap “ping” at the bottom. If you’d like to send a broadcast ping for your local subnet, tap the megaphone icon beside the “ping” button.

You can also store hosts as favourites: tap the open book icon in the top right corner and tap edit to add or remove hosts. When you want to ping a favourite host, come back to this menu and tap the appropriate name.

Running a Ping

Bonjour Browser

Bonjour is Apple’s “zero-configuration networking” solution, which “enables automatic discovery of computers, devices, and services on IP networks.” Bonjour allows you to easily connect to devices like network printers and services like iTunes Home Sharing.

While you can’t connect to these devices/services from your iPhone, you can use iNet Pro’s Bonjour Browsers to view all the Bonjour services on your local network. Tap on the service type in the list, choose the specific service you want to inspect, and browse through all the bits of info. If you’re of the technical networking type, you’ll find plenty to interest you!

Bonjour Browser

Portscan

If you ever find yourself wanting to know quickly what ports are open on a certain computer, iNet Pro has your back. Tap “Portscan” on the main menu and enter the IP address or domain name of the computer into the text field.

While you’re doing that, you can also choose what port range to scan; there are a few common preset ranges you can bring choose from by tapping “Choose Presets.” Of course, you can set the timeout as well. Just like in Ping, you can access the favourites menu from the open-book icon in the upper right corner.

Running a Portscan

Wake on LAN

Wake on LAN is one of the neatest functions of iNet Pro. This allows you to wake up properly configured computers with a single tap. Once you’ve set up the computer, you’ll have to add it to the “Wake on LAN” list. To do this, tap the plus sign in the upper right corner. Although you can add items manually, it’s easiest to choose “Search network for devices.” Then, tap the desired devices to choose them and tap “Add selected” at the bottom.

Wake on LAN

If the computer you want to wake up isn’t on your local network, you’ll need to add it manually, via “Add new favourite.” Give it a name, tap “via internet” and enter the correct values for the host and ports. When you’re done that, tap “back.” By default, “Wake on LAN” is turned on; you’ll need to enter the MAC address of the computer.

If you want to be able to sleep or shutdown your computer, you’ll have to turn that on and give it your username and password. This feature is only available if you’re using Mac OS X. When you’re done, save the computer with the “save” button in the top right corner.

Wake on LAN Setup

Back at the list, you can simply tap on the desired computer to wake it up. If it’s configured to do more, you’ll have the option to wake it, put it to sleep, or turn it off. If the computer you’re working with isn’t on the local network, you’ll need to switch to Internet mode, via the options at the bottom of the wake list screen.

Device Info

While there’s not much you can do here, the Device Info panel will give you some interesting tidbits about your iPhone: it’s name, OS version, device interfaces, and more.

Device Info

Settings

All of the settings on the Settings panel relate to the Network Scan. It should be obvious what each option does, so I won’t bore you with that. At the bottom of the settings panel, you can email support or request new features.

Conclusion

If you’re a network administrator or just a geek, you’ll find iNet Pro to offer a solid set of features and be exactly what you need. You can get iNet Pro for $4.99. However, if you only want parts of this app, you can get iNet Network Scan for only $0.99 and iNet Wake on LAN and iNet Portscan for $1.99.