14 DAY TRIAL // Are IP addresses simple numbers designed to trace computers? No, they are associated with computers and, as one of my colleagues said in a previous review to a different software, they are similar to telephone numbers. To every Internet connected computer is assigned a public IP by the ISP (Internet Service Provider). This public IP can be the gate to an entire network of computers that connect to the Web. These are in a LAN (Local Area Network) and are assigned virtual IPs in order to be identified inside the network.
But enough with the network terms. If you are interested in this software, then you probably know all this and I am blabbering around for nothing. Arm Whois is a network tool, to be more specific it is a traceroute tool. This means that it can track an IP address as long as it is public.
The developer is ArmCode and the price they ask for this little tool is $29.95. The only limitation I could find for the software is just the nag screen at the application launch. Other than this, everything works just fine.
The interface the code is dressed with looks fine and everything is looking simple. Arm Whois is designed for every type of user and there is no way you can get lost in its intricacies as there aren't any. Also, there is nothing you can do to damage your machine in any way or reduce the Internet connection speed. At every launch of the program, you will be displayed in the right side the company's home page.
The search bar in the left top corner gives you the possibility to type in the domain or IP you want information about. In the right window, you will be provided with the results and the source data. These include information about the server and the domain. Of course, if personal data is made public, like email addresses, net name, description, the way the domain was registered, country, physical address, telephone number, contact person, route, origin or source.
The information provided by this tool can be very large and all you need to do is type in the address of a public IP or a domain name. In Tools menu, you will find an IP calculator that can calculate the decimal, hex and binary of either the IP or of the given IP range.
In the Options menu under View menu, you will find a configuration window for the entire software. Trace/Ping tab lets you set the maximum jump of the ping, the packet size, number of attempts and response time in milliseconds. You can also set the UDP port and the maximum host retry.
Traceroute is also a very useful tool as it can give you the ISP provider. All the results can be saved into a TXT log file. The log file can be saved as HTML only for IP info.
Local info tool displays information about the computer the software is installed on. You will get your MAC address, the IP address (either virtual or public one, depending if you are connected through a gateway or not).
You should be careful with using this tool as it is designed solely for the purpose of retrieving information about or related to a domain name registration record, as it is stated in the results window by the application itself.
If you are a newbie and do not know how to use the application, then you'd better stay out of it. And if you know something about computers and IP addresses and still find it difficult to use, then you'd better start your search on the Internet for information as the application will give you nothing in the Help file.
The Good
Only a nag screen as limitation. That can be ignored. Arm Whois provides you with an IP calculator. Tracing the route of a host is a piece of cake as the software will give you the desired information about the host extremely fast.
The Bad
If the only limitation is the nag screen, then there is absolutely no baddie. If there are other limitations included (although I could not find any), then the price may become an issue.
The Truth
Extremely useful application, without it, it's like having no screwdriver in the house. Of course, if you do not know what to do with a screwdriver, then there is no need to keep it. The same is with Arm Whois: if you do not know what to do with it, there is no point in downloading it.
Here are some snapshots of the application in action:
