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Wireshark

Wireshark

Overview

What is Wireshark?

Wireshark is a free and open source network troubleshooting tool.

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Recent Reviews

TrustRadius Insights

Wireshark, a widely utilized network traffic analysis tool, has proven to be invaluable for various user experiences and use cases. Cyber …
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TrustRadius Insights
TrustRadius Insights

Indispensable tool

9 out of 10
October 31, 2022
Incentivized
Its port scans help you find the problem quickly. Recently I had to analyze a company because there was so much traffic on the network.
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To Wireshark or not

9 out of 10
October 31, 2022
We use Wireshark in a multitude of ways. First, we troubleshoot connectivity issues with it, second, we use it for Firewall ruleset tests …
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Awards

Products that are considered exceptional by their customers based on a variety of criteria win TrustRadius awards. Learn more about the types of TrustRadius awards to make the best purchase decision. More about TrustRadius Awards

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Pricing

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Wireshark

Free

On Premise

Entry-level set up fee?

  • No setup fee

Offerings

  • Free Trial
  • Free/Freemium Version
  • Premium Consulting/Integration Services
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Product Demos

Local and Remote Sniffing with Wireshark

YouTube

Wireshark demo (simple http)

YouTube

Saving Files From Wireshark

YouTube

Brim Demo

YouTube

How to Use Wireshark's Follow TCP Stream Feature

YouTube

Wireshark SIP Capture

YouTube
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Product Details

What is Wireshark?

Wireshark is a free and open source network troubleshooting tool.

Wireshark Technical Details

Deployment TypesOn-premise
Operating SystemsWindows, Linux, Mac
Mobile ApplicationNo

Frequently Asked Questions

Wireshark is a free and open source network troubleshooting tool.

Wireshark starts at $0.

Reviewers rate Support Rating highest, with a score of 10.

The most common users of Wireshark are from Mid-sized Companies (51-1,000 employees).
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Comparisons

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Reviews and Ratings

(135)

Community Insights

TrustRadius Insights are summaries of user sentiment data from TrustRadius reviews and, when necessary, 3rd-party data sources. Have feedback on this content? Let us know!

Wireshark, a widely utilized network traffic analysis tool, has proven to be invaluable for various user experiences and use cases. Cyber security professionals rely on Wireshark for research and investigation, allowing them to check network traffic from applications and ensure there are no abnormalities. The software's versatility is demonstrated by its utilization in setting up Capture the Flag challenges, making it an engaging tool for recruiting purposes. Additionally, Wireshark is essential for monitoring network traffic and troubleshooting network-related issues, saving time and effort in problem-solving. It enables system administrators and network administrators to dissect network packets in detail, extract relevant network information, and quickly identify and resolve network problems. The software's free and open-source nature provides cost savings without compromising functionality, making it a preferred choice for users. Its graphical interface makes network packet analysis less cumbersome compared to command-line alternatives. Moreover, Wireshark aids in in-depth analysis of TCAP messages, debugging of network data exchange issues, investigating network issues and locating lost IPs on the network, troubleshooting site-to-site VPN tunnels, identifying unusual activity in network traffic, tracking specific users' data for detection of client/server connectivity issues, aiding in networking and security education with real-time lab environments, capturing and analyzing network traffic for automation purposes, verifying protocol usage, troubleshooting firewall ruleset tests, monitoring traffic patterns, locating desired information within the network using powerful filters, identifying handshake issue algorithm compatibility problems with database servers and clients, diagnosing issues with VOIP phone systems causing dropped calls due to packet loss, capturing network traffic for system information management purposes, addressing ping scan DOS attacks on external locations and severe broadcast storms caused by corrupted NIC drivers on the main network. The versatility of Wireshark extends to various organizations where it is used for network design, testing, operation as well as helping technicians analyze network traffic effectively during troubleshooting at client sites.

Affordable Price: Many users appreciate the low cost of Wireshark, as it provides powerful network analysis capabilities without the need for expensive software. Several reviewers have stated that Wireshark offers a good value for its price.

Packet Analysis Capabilities: The ability to capture, log, and analyze packet data is highly valued by users. Many reviewers have mentioned that this feature allows for detailed troubleshooting and monitoring of network traffic in their feedback on Wireshark.

Real-time Network Visibility: Users find the real-time network data visibility provided by Wireshark to be invaluable. Several customers have mentioned that this feature enables them to monitor network activity promptly and identify any issues or anomalies with ease.

Confusing User Interface: Some users have found the user interface of Wireshark to be confusing, suggesting that it can be improved to make it more user-friendly and intuitive.

Steep Learning Curve: The software has a steep learning curve, with new users finding it overwhelming to see all the columns and colors. This can make it challenging for them to navigate and understand the software.

Lack of User-Friendliness: While acknowledging that Wireshark is not primarily designed for those who are not comfortable with this type of software, some users still mention the lack of a more user-friendly interface. They suggest enhancing the UI/UX to make it more intuitive and easier to use.

Users of Wireshark have made several recommendations based on their experience with the software. The most common recommendations include utilizing the free version, seeking help and documentation online, and exploring all features and capabilities.

Many users recommend using the free version of Wireshark as it is considered a great tool for networking systems and packet analysis. Users appreciate its stability and open-source nature.

To effectively use Wireshark, users advise seeking help and documentation online. They suggest following tutorials and reading the new user guide to understand how to navigate the software's features.

Users also recommend spending time exploring all the features and capabilities of Wireshark, although it may seem overwhelming at first. By doing so, users can fully utilize this powerful network sniffing tool, particularly on Linux systems.

Overall, users consider Wireshark an excellent network packet analyzer that caters to the needs of both network engineers and beginners in network engineering. However, some users caution obtaining security approval before using the software. While they acknowledge that Wireshark may provide more information than expected, they still regard it as a valuable tool for their networking needs.

Attribute Ratings

Reviews

(1-25 of 29)
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November 02, 2022

Must have tool to work in or with Networks!

Kaveen Eashwarage | TrustRadius Reviewer
Kaveen Eashwarage
Manager - Special Projects
Central Finance Co PLC (Financial Services, 1001-5000 employees)
Score 10 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
Likelihood to Recommend
We found a bug in the network of our organization due to an intermittent issue thanks to Wireshark analysis. This tool has never let me down all these 02 years. Packet capturing and analyzing the traffic flow are the best usage I take out of Wireshark and I have been able to rely on this always.
October 31, 2022

The king of software for capturing and analyzing network traffic

Verified User
Analyst in Information Technology
Law Practice Company, 51-200 employees
Score 10 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
Likelihood to Recommend
Wireshark is made up of advanced features for capturing packets and analyzing network protocols and can be used to capture different network cards and technologies such as wifi and BlueTooth. We recommend the use of this tool by all IT professionals as it is fundamental for the security of the network and identifies everything that is traveling on the network by protocol, ports, and IPs and then analyzes it to solve problems and security flaws with the internet.
October 31, 2022

Great open-source tool with a powerful toolset

Swapnil Madiwale | TrustRadius Reviewer
Swapnil Madiwale
Technology Lead
V ARCHITECTURE PTY LTD (Architecture & Planning, 11-50 employees)
Score 10 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
Likelihood to Recommend
If someone needs to deep dive into the network to check for causes of latency and slow speed cropping up when people get working, they definitely need Wireshark. I have used it in an office of 25 users, with each having a computer on the wired network and a mobile phone on the WiFi. I use Wireshark to check the network status and Meraki & Umbrella to implement policies.
October 31, 2022

Indispensable tool

Verified User
Director in Other
Computer & Network Security Company, 1-10 employees
Score 9 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
Likelihood to Recommend
It allows us to follow the trace of the TCP stream packets, we can see everything related to said packet, the before and after, being able to apply custom filters to them without losing the flow.
October 31, 2022

Wireshark is a great and super affordable network troubleshooting tool

Vrej Anbarsoun | TrustRadius Reviewer
Vrej Anbarsoun
Sr. Systems Engineer
Irwin Naturals (Information Technology & Services, 51-200 employees)
Score 9 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
Likelihood to Recommend
Wireshark is well suited for network troubleshooting scenarios, such as when setting up a VPN site to site tunnel and having issues connecting, whether the connection is failing at the outset, or if the failure is occurring several steps in, e.g. at the second IKE proposal etc. It provides excellent insight into issues like this. Another example is when VPN users fail to connect via VPN client, so the troubleshooting steps would be similar.
October 29, 2022

WireShark

JO
Jorge Ortega
IT
Lea County Electric (Information Technology & Services, 51-200 employees)
Score 9 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
Likelihood to Recommend
On different occasions we have had issues with our Microwave router Gui, where it can ping the ip but can't access the web interface. We used Wireshark to see the type of traffic that is being sent and received that allows us to eliminate certain problems and narrow down to the solution.
October 29, 2022

Exactly what we need for our business

MH
Matt Huiatt
Senior Information Technology Audit Manager
SS (Information Technology & Services, 1-10 employees)
Score 10 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
Likelihood to Recommend
We had an issue where a user could not connect to an external system. The vendor was blaming our network however it was working fine for everyone else. Turns out there was an issue on the vendors side where it was refusing connection due to some strange settings they had on their end. Wireshark helped prove this wasn't on our end.
October 29, 2022

Wireshark is the industry standard tool - search no alternative.

Verified User
Employee in Information Technology
Financial Services Company, 10,001+ employees
Score 10 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
Likelihood to Recommend
1. IPS / IDS Packet analysis
2. Network troubleshooting by reviewing the packets to determine the issue
3. Monitoring interfaces to identify missing / extra packets
4. Analyzing packet structure of required protocol
October 29, 2022

Quick to deploy and powerfull for deep dive on network

Verified User
Technician in Information Technology
Information Technology & Services Company, 51-200 employees
Score 8 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
Likelihood to Recommend
When you need to get to the bottom of a specific issue, usually used as a last resort when the usuall diagnosics have failed. You do required physical access to switches / devices to conduct tests. Needing to configure mirror ports is not allways obtainable with hardware that you have deployed.
October 29, 2022

The best packet analyzer to monitor the application traffic.

Verified User
Team Lead in Professional Services
Computer Software Company, 1001-5000 employees
Score 10 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
Likelihood to Recommend
Any network traffic can be dissected and analyzed. This will help greatly in in finding the problem with the application traffic. I have worked on database upgrade and we had connection drop while loading the database data in batch from application server. With Wireshark was able to identify the handshake algorithm used in communications and was able to find the comparability over the windows versions.
October 28, 2022

Wireshark...a must-have for an IT toolbox

Verified User
Director in Information Technology
Education Management Company, 51-200 employees
Score 10 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
Likelihood to Recommend
Wireshark is a must-have tool for an IT manager, engineer, support specialist, etc. If you manage a network, you will, at some point, run into an issue where you need to see what is actually happening inside those packets. Wireshark gives you that opportunity and will be amazingly helpful at reaching a solution.
July 27, 2021

Simple Easy Open Source Packet Analyzer

Arnab Mukherjee | TrustRadius Reviewer
Arnab Mukherjee
ITSM and Project Management Consultant
Kyra Solutions, Inc. (Transportation/Trucking/Railroad, 201-500 employees)
Score 9 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
Likelihood to Recommend
Analyze Traffic across the Network. You can create your own filters with specific color codes to track the traffic of interest. The packet capture provides you all the details including the source, destination, protocol, ports and helps troubleshoot Network and Security related issues. This tool can also be used for Network and Security audits and Network Scans to monitor any rogue traffic.
July 27, 2021

Wireshark Is A Must Have for Network Admins

Mauro Biefeni | TrustRadius Reviewer
Mauro Biefeni
Head of Information Technology
Mondetta Clothing (Apparel & Fashion, 51-200 employees)
Score 10 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
Likelihood to Recommend
Wireshark is great for forensic analysis of network traffic. If users are having issues, or if we are seeing connectivity issues for VPN users, or if there is suspicion of unexpected or unwanted traffic on the network, Wireshark can help to find the source of any/all of these. With filtering by key values, protocols, or IPs, this can be a very powerful tool.
July 27, 2021

Great Open Source Software to Resolve Network Issues via Packet Sniffing

AC
Albert Chen
Web Developer
Baynami (Consumer Goods, 1-10 employees)
Score 7 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
Likelihood to Recommend
Wireshark is excellent for analyzing traffic across your computer or network. When there are communication issues between software, scripts, router, and switches, Wireshark will help troubleshoot the issue at hand. Wireshark is great at analyzing a wide variety of protocols and packets that are transferred. However, there is a really steep learning curve bunched up with an interface that could be modernized.
July 27, 2021

Must have in any security professional's toolbox

Chase Palmer, CISSP | TrustRadius Reviewer
Chase Palmer, CISSP
Senior Security Analyst
Lucid (Computer Software, 501-1000 employees)
Score 10 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
Likelihood to Recommend
I don't know of any other tool that works as well as Wireshark for packet capture an inspection. It's extremely easy to get up and running, and even with little to no knowledge of how to use the tool, you can be looking at all the traffic coming off a network interface.
July 27, 2021

Wireshark, a network engineer's secret weapon

Verified User
Executive in Information Technology
Information Technology & Services Company, 1-10 employees
Score 10 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
Likelihood to Recommend
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.
July 21, 2021

I haven't needed to look further than Wireshark

Verified User
Professional in Information Technology
Education Management Company, 501-1000 employees
Score 10 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
Likelihood to Recommend
I'd always recommend Wireshark to colleagues if they're looking to analyze network traffic. They're a well know, trusted market leader in this space. I'd recommend that they watch a video demo on the product to get a better understanding of how to use it most effectively but if they were to commit some time to explore the product
March 20, 2020

Wireshark is a robust open source network packet capturing tool

Drew Harrison | TrustRadius Reviewer
Drew Harrison
Programmer
Kingmaker Software (Computer Software, 1-10 employees)
Score 8 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
Likelihood to Recommend
If you need to analyze packet data across your network and want the low-level details, Wireshark is perfect for the job. It records the necessary data and presents it in a way that's relatively easy to read, analyze, and understand. It's got a ton of features (more than most people will ever need). However, if you're simply interested in HTTP traffic, I believe Fiddler is a slightly better choice, as it is more explicitly geared towards the HTTP protocol.
September 13, 2019

Powerful, Easy to use, Exactly what you need!

Verified User
Technician in Information Technology
Mental Health Care Company, 201-500 employees
Score 10 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
Likelihood to Recommend
It is invaluable for capturing and analyzing network traffic and identifying issues with devices that are either malfunctioning, or possibly even set up as rogue devices on a network. Using the data from a packet analysis combined with logs and MAC tables from various network devices, it can be used to find specifically where a device might be located. It's not a "set it and forget it" application, but it is well suited for on-the-spot analysis.
September 05, 2019

A staple in the network troubleshooting toolbelt

Verified User
Administrator in Engineering
Computer Software Company, 1001-5000 employees
Score 10 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
Likelihood to Recommend
Wireshark is a great tool to use after general network troubleshooting has taken place; checking subnet mask, default gateway, route table, etc. It can help identify breaks or hiccups in network communication, and narrow down where further investigation should be focused. It is not a good tool to use for general troubleshooting, you need to have a core knowledge of networking to find the tool valuable.
July 18, 2019

Wireshark the best friend for network engineers

PF
Paul Fan
Technical Specialist
Telstra (Telecommunications, 10,001+ employees)
Score 10 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
Likelihood to Recommend
I use Wireshark nearly every day, it's the most important tool in my daily work as a network engineer to troubleshoot the real network problem in the production network. It helps me to look into the problematic protocol scenarios in the packet layer to understand where is the problem and how to fix.
July 02, 2019

Dissect your Network Packets with Wireshark!

Jaspreet Singh | TrustRadius Reviewer
Jaspreet Singh
Cyber Security Analyst
Deloitte (Management Consulting, 10,001+ employees)
Score 9 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Likelihood to Recommend
Wireshark is well suited for scenarios in which the technical difficulties are being faced. A lot of times we are not aware of how computers actually talk with each other. With Wireshark, you can learn this topic in depth and help yourself and your colleagues in case anyone is facing any sort of networking related problems. Many people just use the computer system for basic tasks and often tend to get stuck on simple things like if the system is not able to retrieve the IP from the router. After you learn these concepts you can easily solve these problems. Wireshark is a bit of a technical software program and only intended for people who have a basic understanding/ background of computers. If not, this software might end up giving you a lot of information which will be really tough for you to understand. So I would recommend if you want to use this software and are interested in the concepts as mentioned before/ above, go through a quick course on computer networking concepts and you shall be good to start exploring Wireshark.
February 11, 2019

Wireshark is Solid :-)

NAKIA EPLEY | TrustRadius Reviewer
NAKIA EPLEY
Student at Green River
Ascend Hospitality Group (Computer Networking, 51-200 employees)
Score 9 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
Likelihood to Recommend
Wireshark is nicely laid out, integrates with Snort, Splunk, etc, and overall is great software. I am moving into a Critical Informatics role, or as a security analyst after graduation, and Wireshark will be one of my most solid backbone tools in pen testing. So using it on an educational platform has set me up for success once I get into a real-time environment.
September 25, 2018

Wireshark is free for those who like to snoop without limitations

Kenneth Hess | TrustRadius Reviewer
Kenneth Hess
Senior Systems Analyst
CymSTAR, LLC (Defense & Space, 201-500 employees)
Score 10 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
Likelihood to Recommend
Wireshark is best suited to capturing and analyzing network traffic data. It is not an intrusion detection system (IDS), or a honeypot, or any real-time security tool. Offline analysis is where Wireshark shines. Take a capture using it or some other tool and load it into Wireshark for extensive analysis. Wireshark is great for forensic analysis of network traffic. You can find malformed packets, attack signatures, suspicious traffic, etc. Nothing gets by Wireshark.
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