Standing ticket · monthly
The monthly device inventory
One scan tells you what is on the network. One scan a month tells you what changed — and change is the only signal a home network ever gives. This is the recurring ticket that makes the other three worth their place on the board.
The routine
- Pick one scanner and one range, and never change either without a note.
- On the first quiet weekend of the month, run the sweep.
- Export to CSV with the date in the filename.
- Diff against last month's file — any spreadsheet does this.
- Write one line per difference: what appeared, what left, why.
How the diff reads
| Change | Usual explanation | Escalate when |
|---|---|---|
| New device | A gadget somebody got as a gift | No owner admits to it after asking around |
| Device gone | Battery died, gadget binned | It was the router's own address |
| Name changed | Reinstall, rename, DHCP shuffle | The old name was on the printer everyone shares |
| Address shifted | Lease expired, reboot | Shifts every month for the same device |
Why the notes matter more than the scans
The exports pile up on their own; the one-line notes are the part that turns a folder of CSVs into an inventory. Six months in, you can answer “when did the console first show up?” in seconds, and “is that light on the switch new?” stops being a feeling.
Tools for the routine: Angry IP Scanner for the sweep, Network Scanner when the Windows shares need the same treatment, Engineer's Toolset once switch ports enter the picture.