How to Enable the Windows Vista Network Map

As Gabe mentioned in his blog post titled “Xbox 360 Fall Update Includes LLTD,” the Xbox 360 now includes the Link Layer Topology Discovery (LLTD) protocol.  At a basic function level, LLTD gives users a graphical representation of their home network topology.  In addition to the network map, LLTD offers network device manufacturers a standard way of ensuring that their devices are easily viewed and accessible to their users.  Windows Vista enables the Network Map by default when a user is in a location designated as “Home.”   However, LLTD and, therefore, the Network Map are both disabled by default in “Work” and “Public” locations.  Check out this Cable Guy article for more information on Network Location Types in Windows Vista.

You will receive a message inside the Network Map (Control Panel -> Network and Sharing Center -> Network Map) if the map is disabled.  As long as your network policy (group policy) does not prohibit it, enabling the Network Map on a local machine is simply a matter of enabling the right setting in the local computer policy. 

“Network mapping is disabled by default on domain networks.  Your network administrator can use Group Policy to enable mapping.”

 

The first step in locally enabling the network map is to run the Group Policy Object Editor (gpedit.msc) as an administrator on the local machine.  With User Account Control (UAC) enabled, just right-click “Command Prompt” (Start Menu->All Programs->Accessories) and select “Run as administrator” to open an elevated command prompt.  From the elevated command prompt, run the command “gpedit.msc” (no quotes).  This will start the group policy editor for the local machine.

Inside of the Group Policy Object Editor, navigate the tree to Local Computer Policy -> Computer Configuration -> Administrative Templates -> Network -> Link-Layer Topology Discovery.

Once you are in the Link-Layer Topology Discovery section of the editor, simply Right-click and open properties for “Turn on Mapper I/O (LLTDIO) driver” and enable the “Allow operation while in domain” option.

You should now be able to see your network mapped out in all of its graphical glory!  If you would also like to use the network map on a public network, you can enable the “Allow operation while in public network” option.  Network domain administrators who want to enable the Network Map across a group of machines should follow these same instructions and, additionally, link the policy to the desired Active Directory container.

I would be remiss if I did not touch on the “Turn on Responder (RSPNDR) driver” option that sits just below the LLTDIO option in the UI.  The LLTD Responder driver allows PCs and network devices, like the Xbox 360, to present device details to the network such as the device’s manufacturer, model #, configuration URL, etc. 

 

Beyond offering users the convenience of having a visual representation and providing right-click access to information about the devices, the LLTD Responder also plays an important role in responding to, and taking part in, network diagnostics.  LLTD helps to make distributed and coordinated network diagnostics possible, and if you are creating home network devices, you should strongly consider implementing an LLTD responder.  I use the word implement loosely here, because, very soon we will make an LLTD porting kit generally available that gives you everything that you need to incorporate LLTD into your devices.   More information on LLTD, including the LLTD QoS Extensions, is available on the Windows Rally site. We will announce the general availability of the LLTD porting kit here on our blog.

-Billy Anders

Comments

• Anonymous
  November 24, 2006
  Is it supposed that this technology will discover all switches correctly? I have used 2 computers with Vista and 5 with Windows XP with KB922120-v5 responder installed, all connected to one switch. The display is absolutely random - 4 computers connected to one switch, two to another, or 2 computers on one switch and 4 computers on separate 4 switches, just every refresh (F5 pressed) different result is displayed. Is this expected behavior?

• Anonymous
  November 29, 2006
  Hi Petr; the heuristics are supposed to discover all switches correctly. It's strange that you have problems here. What switches are you using so I can pass the info on to the LLTD developers (make/model)? -- Gabe

• Anonymous
  December 18, 2006
  Is there a way to deploy the update for Windows XP through Group Policy? Or through WSUS? I'd like to get it on a whole lot of domain computers.

• Anonymous
  December 18, 2007
  I need Vista to display the 'network neighborhood' like in Windows XP - I've followed the directions in this article but network sharing center only finds 35 computers and devices - there should be a whole boatload more.  How can I get it to discover my whole domain and any subnets in domain (I work for a school district)

• Anonymous
  January 16, 2008
  Hey, Does anyone know how to set up a domain / a good web article to look at? Thanks

• Anonymous
  October 21, 2008
  Hi. I have a D-Link router which causes the Network map to malfunction (An error happened during the mapping process). If I turn the router off, the network map appears correctly, if it is on the map fails. I have not found a way to disable the router so that the map works while it is active. Is there a way to have the LLTD mapper ignore the MAC address of the router during the discovery process? Thanks.

• Anonymous
  March 04, 2010
  that was excellent!  many thanks

• Anonymous
  March 21, 2010
  In Windows 7 be sure to also enable RSPNDR and check Domain if you want your map to work.