Is there a way to get a hostname from an IP address without depending on a DNS inquiry?

Question

I'm trying to write a script that depends on knowing the names of the computers on a network segment, but all the scripts I've found depend on a DNS inquiry which only replys with the names of a few of the machines. For example:

[System.Net.Dns]::GetHostbyAddress($IPAddress) 

I've also tried using

Ping -a $ipaddress

but this often fails to return the machine name as well. Is there a way to ask the host what it's name is directly and what level of permissions might be required in AD to get a response?
Thanks in advance.

Answer 1

[System.Net.DNS]::GetHostByAddress() (now [System.Net.DNS]::GetHostEntry()) doesn't only rely on DNS, despite it's name. It will also check the local C:\Windows\System32\Drivers\etc\hosts file for locally configured entries.

straight dns via nslookup can't find the name:

PS C:\Users\Tim> nslookup 192.168.1.50
Server:  dns03
Address:  192.168.2.103

*** rpi03 can't find 192.168.1.50: Non-existent domain

yet, gethostentry() still finds the name:

PS C:\Users\Tim> [system.net.dns]::gethostentry('192.168.1.50')

HostName  Aliases AddressList
--------  ------- -----------
localentry {}      {192.168.1.50}