Oakrey.Network.Tools 2.0.4

Oakrey.Network.Tools

Network utility library for .NET 10. Provides ARP table queries, IPv4/IPv6 string validation, NetworkInterface extension methods, active interface resolution, real-time per-second traffic statistics, and a bindable NetworkDeviceInfo model with async DNS and MAC resolution.

Features

ARP (ARP)

Shells out to the OS arp command and parses the output.

This class is Windows-only. It relies on the arp -a command available on Windows.

IP validation (IpValidation)

Extension methods on string.

Network interface extensions (NetworkInterfaceExtensions)

Extension methods on System.Net.NetworkInformation.NetworkInterface.

Active interface resolution (NetworkInfo)

Static helpers using NetworkInterface.GetAllNetworkInterfaces() filtered to physical, up interfaces.

Traffic monitoring (TrafficMonitor, Traffic)

TrafficMonitor implements IObservable<Traffic> and IDisposable. It samples IPInterfaceStatistics every second using Observable.Timer and emits the delta.

public record Traffic(int TransmittedBytesPerSecond, int ReceivedBytesPerSecond);

Network device info (NetworkDeviceInfo)

Bindable model (INotifyPropertyChanged) representing a discovered network device.

Architecture

classDiagram
    class ARP {
        +List~NetworkDeviceInfo~ GetIPAddresses()$
        +string GetMacAddress(IPAddress)
        +string GetAddressType(IPAddress)
    }

    class IpValidation {
        +bool IsIpV4(string)
        +bool IsIpV6(string)
    }

    class NetworkInterfaceExtensions {
        +IEnumerable~IPAddress~ GetIPv4Addresses(NetworkInterface)
        +IEnumerable~IPAddress~ GetIPv6Addresses(NetworkInterface)
        +string GetMacAddress(NetworkInterface)
        +IEnumerable~IPAddress~ GetDnsAddresses(NetworkInterface)
        +bool IsPhysical(NetworkInterface)
        +bool IsUp(NetworkInterface)
    }

    class NetworkInfo {
        +NetworkInterface GetActiveNetworkInterface()$
        +List~NetworkInterface~ GetActiveNetworkInterfaces()$
        +IPAddress GetActiveNetworkInterfaceIpAddress()$
    }

    class Traffic {
        +int TransmittedBytesPerSecond
        +int ReceivedBytesPerSecond
    }

    class TrafficMonitor {
        +IDisposable Subscribe(IObserver~Traffic~)
        +Dispose()
    }

    class NetworkDeviceInfo {
        +IPAddress IpAddress
        +PingReply? PingReply
        +string MacAddress
        +string Name
        +string Type
        +ResolveMacAddressAndType()
        +Task ResolveName(CancellationToken)
    }

    TrafficMonitor --> Traffic : emits
    ARP --> NetworkDeviceInfo : creates
    NetworkInfo --> NetworkInterfaceExtensions : uses
    TrafficMonitor --> NetworkInterfaceExtensions : uses

Requirements

• .NET 10 or higher
• System.Reactive 6.1.0 (direct dependency, included transitively)
• ARP class requires Windows (arp command must be available on PATH)

Installation

.NET CLI

dotnet add package Oakrey.Network.Tools

Package Manager Console

Install-Package Oakrey.Network.Tools

NuGet Package Manager

1. Open Visual Studio.
2. Go to Tools > NuGet Package Manager > Manage NuGet Packages for Solution.
3. Search for Oakrey.Network.Tools and click Install.

Example usage

Query the ARP table

List<NetworkDeviceInfo> devices = ARP.GetIPAddresses();
foreach (NetworkDeviceInfo device in devices)
{
    Console.WriteLine($"{device.IpAddress}  {device.MacAddress}  {device.Type}");
}

Validate IP strings

bool v4 = "192.168.1.1".IsIpV4();   // true
bool v6 = "::1".IsIpV6();           // true
bool bad = "999.x.1.1".IsIpV4();    // false

Resolve a single device from its IP address

IPAddress target = IPAddress.Parse("192.168.1.1");
NetworkDeviceInfo device = new(target);

device.ResolveMacAddressAndType();
await device.ResolveName(CancellationToken.None);

Console.WriteLine($"Name: {device.Name}  MAC: {device.MacAddress}  Type: {device.Type}");

Get the active network interface and its addresses

NetworkInterface adapter = NetworkInfo.GetActiveNetworkInterface();
IEnumerable<IPAddress> ipv4 = adapter.GetIPv4Addresses();
string mac = adapter.GetMacAddress();

Monitor live traffic

NetworkInterface adapter = NetworkInfo.GetActiveNetworkInterface();
using TrafficMonitor monitor = new(adapter);

using IDisposable subscription = monitor.Subscribe(traffic =>
{
    Console.WriteLine($"TX: {traffic.TransmittedBytesPerSecond} B/s  RX: {traffic.ReceivedBytesPerSecond} B/s");
});

await Task.Delay(TimeSpan.FromSeconds(10));

Development notes

• ARP shells out to the OS arp command. It is Windows-only and has no equivalent for Linux or macOS. Cross-platform callers should guard with RuntimeInformation.IsOSPlatform(OSPlatform.Windows).
• TrafficMonitor starts sampling immediately on construction. Always dispose it to stop the background Observable.Timer subscription and release the BehaviorSubject.
• NetworkDeviceInfo implements INotifyPropertyChanged. MacAddress, Name, and Type notify on change, making the class safe to bind directly in a WPF DataGrid or similar.
• MacAddress, Name, and Type all default to "Unresolved". Resolution is opt-in via ResolveMacAddressAndType() and ResolveName(CancellationToken) to avoid blocking the scan path.
• NetworkInfo.GetActiveNetworkInterface() throws InvalidOperationException if zero or more than one physical up interface is found. Use GetActiveNetworkInterfaces() directly when running on machines with multiple NICs.

License

MIT - Copyright (c) Oakrey 2016-present

• Repository: Azure DevOps
• NuGet: Oakrey.Network.Tools