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A staple in the network troubleshooting toolbelt
September 05, 2019

A staple in the network troubleshooting toolbelt

Anonymous | TrustRadius Reviewer
Score 10 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User

Overall Satisfaction with Wireshark

We use Wireshark whenever there is a need for deep-dive packet captures. We usually turn to Wireshark after we have done all other steps in general troubleshooting. Wireshark is being used by both the campus network teams, data center network teams, corporate systems team, and production systems team. It is a great tool not only for network engineers.
  • EXTENSIVE detail
  • Easy to run, even for non-networking individuals. Makes it so they can run a packet capture on their machine and send to the network team for analysis.
  • Lowcost
  • Packet capture files get extremely large, extremely quickly.
  • Sifting through packet capture can be arduous at times.
  • Sometimes it feels almost "too in-depth" and can be overwhelming to look at. Hard to know where to start looking.
  • Packet Capture files can take lots of effort to sift through. Sometimes running multiple packet captures are required in order to catch the troubling behavior.
  • Packet Captures are extremely in-depth and can be used in troubleshooting as well as teaching.
  • Wireshark is a great way for network engineers to show the problem is elsewhere when the network is being blamed.
  • SolarWinds Netflow Traffic Analyzer
Wireshark is MUCH more in-depth and easy to use. Even though the files can get large and be a bit overwhelming, there are plenty of how-to articles and forums that can help you find the desired syntax for what you are looking for. Netflow Traffic Analyzer seems like a bit of an afterthought and doesn't hold a candle to the value Wireshark delivers.
I have never engaged Wireshark support directly. Whenever I would run into a question or needed to learn about a certain feature, I was able to find the information I was looking for on tech blogs and forum posts by other network engineers. The Wireshark community has been more than enough whenever I had issues.

Do you think Wireshark delivers good value for the price?

Yes

Are you happy with Wireshark's feature set?

Yes

Did Wireshark live up to sales and marketing promises?

I wasn't involved with the selection/purchase process

Did implementation of Wireshark go as expected?

I wasn't involved with the implementation phase

Would you buy Wireshark again?

Yes

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.