Polenta PortListener

Description

Polenta PortListener is a lightweight Windows desktop tool that turns your PC into a TCP diagnostic listener. Point it at a port range or a custom list of ports and see immediately which sockets are listening and which are already in use—before any device traffic arrives.

When a connection lands, every byte is logged with a classic hex and ASCII dump of the raw payload. No protocol assumptions, no guesswork: medical devices, industrial controllers, and proprietary equipment are all visible exactly as they arrive.

Platform: Windows 10/11 (x64)
License: Freeware
Version: 1.0

Features

• Port range or list
  Listen on a continuous range (e.g. 8080–8090) or on specific ports such as 443, 8080, 9000.
• Instant port status
  Each port reports listening or in use as soon as listeners start.
• Raw hex + ASCII log
  Every connection and payload chunk is shown in a compact terminal-style log.
• Filter without losing data
  Filter the view by remote IP or content while the full log keeps recording in the background.
• Copy or clear
  Copy the filtered log to the clipboard for tickets and vendor emails.
• Portable or installed
  Zip portable build or Windows installer—your choice.

Use cases

• Verify whether traffic reaches the PC at all, and on which port
• Debug firewall rules, wrong ports, and silent connection failures
• Capture proprietary binary protocols without a full packet sniffer

Data storage

Settings are stored as JSON on your PC. Where they live depends on how you run the app:

• Portable download: next to the executable. The zip includes PolentaPortListener.deploy.json with portable mode.
• Installer: under %LOCALAPPDATA%\Polenta Connection\PolentaPortListener. The installer sets installed mode automatically.

Your settings stay on your computer.