PingPlotter vs. Wireshark

It is well suited for performing monitoring and testing from a single device. It is less appropriate if you have to monitor from multiple different endpoints. That type of deployment would be more of an enterprise application. If you are looking for an end user monitoring solution then PingPlotter is the one for you.

Incentivized

Wireshark is great for enterprise networks with large amounts of data traversing the network that need a way to filter and inspect specific traffic by specific parameters (i.e. destination / source IP address, host, or type). There are use-cases for smaller environments, but the amount of time needed to learn how to effectively use the tool may not be beneficial for home / small office users.

Incentivized

• Monitor traffic in network
• Measure stops when contacting network locations such as websites
• Measures the lag and latency it takes to contact network locations
• Gives you both induvidual measurements as well as good oversight
• identifies when network lag or disconnect occurs

• Capture Network Traffic - This really is the essential functionality of Wireshark as without consistent data capture there is nothing to analyze
• Filtering - We need to often filter for specific data that we are looking for.
• Live Capture as well as offline analysis - This gives us the flexibility to do what we need to do when we need to do it.

Incentivized

• Its a little confusing to see which targets are currently running pings and which ones are displayed in the plots.
• Starting and stopping pings requires a right click and that would be better with a play/pause button I think.
• Ability to drag and drop the graphs to reorder them.
• more columns to show which targets are running and which are displayed. Currently this is done with symbols so you cant sort by just the running targets for example I've found.

Incentivized

• It is beginner-friendly as far as installation, but it could use a tutorial.
• Perhaps there is a way to do this already, but I haven't yet seen it. It would be nice if it could be integrated with a network package that could detect network anomalies, fire up an automated packet analysis, and send a report to an administrator.

Incentivized

I installed it and it just started working. I realized I could then tweak it to show what I needed but didn't have to spend a long time configuring it before use, editing YAML files etc. Maybe that's fine for a network professional, but I only need this software if something goes wrong, and then need it to work quickly out of the box.

Incentivized

It's very simple and easy to use, although individuals not used to managing and administering networks would take some time to get familiar with it. Once they have mastered use of the application, it's easy to stay knowledgeable about it, iteration after iteration. It is well supported online through an open-source community network of professionals who are helpful in imparting knowledge and in providing assistance.

Incentivized

I have not had much contact with the PingPlotter support, only one time have I went to them and it was a positive experience. The questions I had were answered quickly and professionally. I have no issue with the experience I had with the Support team. This was from before and after the purchase of the product.

Incentivized

I don't believe Wireshark has "true" support as the software is open source. However, there is an active & friendly community around Wireshark that are more than happy to help answer questions. From a comprehensive Wiki and FAQ section on the site to the Ask a Question forum and bug tracker section, there's plenty of support options to make sure your questions and issues are addressed.

Incentivized

Simple and easy setup.

Incentivized

I used Ping.app and UptimeLog.app on the Mac. These both provided different aspects. These two had a menubar to show me green or red for multiple connections. UptimeLog showed me very clearly when my connectivity was on or off and for exactly how long

[Wireshark] is just the go-to application. It's the tool that is taught with in school and at trade conferences. We have not had a need to even look at other tools. It's free, it had a ton of functionality, and it just works without complaint.

Incentivized

• Great ROI, troubleshooting time has been reduced by 90%
• Network Discoveries used to take 2 to 3 hours and were inconsistent - now it is a matter of minutes
• lacks integration into our MSP toolkit, and we now use it as a stand alone product

Incentivized

• If your systems are not working, then of course it is one of the biggest impact on the business
• Imagine you are not able to send an email because of a network issue. This will definitely become a huge hindrance in your business
• Wireshark helps you with these types of problems and lets your business run smoothly