IxChariot vs LinkRunner comparison

Keysight Technologies and NetAlly are both solutions in the Network Troubleshooting category. Keysight Technologies is ranked #11, while NetAlly is ranked #1 with an average rating of 8.0. Keysight Technologies holds a 4.5% mindshare in NT, compared to NetAlly’s 20.4% mindshare. Additionally, 100% of Keysight Technologies users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 90% of NetAlly users who would recommend it.

IxChariot

Read 2 IxChariot reviews

288 Views
125 Comparison Views

100% willing to recommend

LinkRunner

Read 20 LinkRunner reviews

2,522 Views
733 Comparison Views

90% willing to recommend

IxChariot

LinkRunner

Comparison Buyer's Guide

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Jul 11, 2024

LinkRunner and IxChariot are competing network testing tools. User reviews indicate that IxChariot generally offers superior features, making it preferable despite higher costs.

Features: LinkRunner is praised for its ease of use, quick testing capabilities, and reliability in network diagnostics. IxChariot is recognized for its advanced testing features, comprehensive performance analytics, and flexible scripting options.

Room for Improvement: LinkRunner users seek more advanced diagnostic features and better integration with other tools. IxChariot users suggest improvements in its interface and enhanced ease of use for less advanced users.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: LinkRunner is noted for its straightforward, quick deployment and responsive customer support. IxChariot’s setup is more complex, reflecting its advanced capabilities, but users report satisfactory customer service.

Pricing and ROI: LinkRunner offers competitive pricing and a quicker ROI due to its simplicity and efficiency. IxChariot justifies its higher setup costs with advanced features and longer-term ROI through enhanced network performance insights.

To learn more, read our detailed IxChariot vs. LinkRunner Report (Updated: March 2025).

Buyer's Guide

IxChariot vs. LinkRunner

March 2025

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Helped 842,296 peers since 2012

Review summaries and opinions

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:

Categories and Ranking

IxChariot

Ranking in Network Troubleshooting

11th

Average Rating

8.0

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

LinkRunner

Ranking in Network Troubleshooting

1st

Average Rating

8.6

Reviews Sentiment

8.2

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

Mindshare comparison

As of March 2025, in the Network Troubleshooting category, the mindshare of IxChariot is 4.5%, up from 2.7% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of LinkRunner is 20.4%, down from 22.3% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Network Troubleshooting

Featured Reviews

Venkat Lkmula

Tech spesialist at INT tech services

A vast solution with user-friendly features and reasonable pricing

It is very scalable. You can easily increase the payers in the license activation. If you have any issues, the IxChariot host system can be rebooted. We currently have about 100 setups in our lab. Out of those 100 setups, around 90 are being used. So overall, 90% of the setups use a minimum of 10 paces where we test the range versus rate. In addition, we are building up several test bits, which will increase the usage. No maintenance is required for this solution unless the host system has a problem. Once IxChariot is installed, it automatically updates if you set it to auto-update.

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Jesse_B

Manager of networks and infrastructure at a government with 5,001-10,000 employees

Impressive ease of use, gives comprehensive results in seconds, and saves a lot of time and resources

I've found the VLAN test feature to be most valuable. That's because not many devices do VLAN tests. Normally, I have to send a center technician to check a line and see if it's alive. If it's working, then I have to send a network technician out to log into a switch and see which port it's on and on which VLAN that port is. That's two persons and two separate visits. This device does all of this in a matter of seconds, and that has saved me a lot of time, troubleshooting, and resources. Its ease of use is very impressive. LinkRunner allows me to have my technicians run tests that are normally too complex and require a network specialist. AutoTest works with just one click. AutoTest does a lot of testing that would normally require a network specialist to log in to a switch and check out VLAN based on a port. My technicians don't have to log in to the switch anymore. They can just do AutoTest and information is provided online. So, I no longer have to send a specialist. I can have my technician run these very complex tests. It saves me on resources, time, and site visits. When it comes to troubleshooting, based on my experience, it has given very useful and very helpful information, especially for my field technicians. It has reduced my visits and the amount of presence because it gives a very comprehensive report on your network tests. It tests multiple variables and multiple parameters and gives a very informative report that makes it easy to pinpoint what is the root cause. There are many tools in this one solution. It's basically a bunch of toolkits or tool sets in one device, which makes it very powerful testing equipment.

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Quotes from Members

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:

Pros

"Implementing IxChariot is very easy and user-friendly."

"I like the fact that I can tell the equipment to stop at a certain point during the test of a cable, to see whether or not there is basic connectivity. I can stop it before it starts pinging the outside world, such as Google or, perhaps, our core network switch. Those basic results—do I have a basic connection and power—finish up fast and I can move on."

"The solution's ability to simplify network validation and configuration of copper and fiber Ethernet networks is very useful to me. Otherwise, I’m guessing. Having a tool that I can trust doesn't solve all problems, but for the problems it solves, I can trust that it has told me “yes” or “no.” I would rate it highly for that."

"The auto-test feature is vital and does 90 percent of what I need on its own. It's fast and I can get there in just a few clicks. It does a good job and tells me everything I need to know. LinkRunner works pretty quickly and always seems to be accurate."

"The LLDP decoding is better than on some of the other devices that we've used. Specifically, it goes beyond the minimum of the LLDP data to decode, and it shows the LLDP port descriptions. That makes it vastly simpler to identify which port you're connecting to on a switch that's patched back to some other building, rather than having to figure out an SNMP index or something else."

"Having the results sent directly, via email, from the LinkRunner itself makes it really great for logging different things that you're trying to document within your organization. You can have a paper trail of what your organization has as far as infrastructure goes."

"It is fast in providing results. It is pretty accurate."

"The AutoTest feature makes it easy for you on both ends. It's an excellent feature, especially if you're by yourself. You plug one end in and you hit AutoTest. It sits and waits for you to plug in the other end and it starts testing."

"I've found the VLAN test feature to be most valuable. That's because not many devices do VLAN tests. Normally, I have to send a center technician to check a line and see if it's alive. If it's working, then I have to send a network technician out to log into a switch and see which port it's on and on which VLAN that port is. That's two persons and two separate visits. This device does all of this in a matter of seconds, and that has saved me a lot of time, troubleshooting, and resources."

Cons

"The graphical user interface needs to be improved."

"A feature that I would like to see is the ability to send a tone down the cable. That would be great. I have to use a separate tool for that. If I'm trying to troubleshoot a cable that is not plugged into a network switch, I need the ability to tone."

"It runs tests quickly, but it takes a while to boot up. It's somewhat disappointing that LinkRunner takes some time to turn on. When I arrive in the space, I usually spend the first two minutes waiting."

"It's a bit bulky. It would be nicer if it were a little bit smaller and packed with all its features. I would also like it if the screen were a bit bigger."

"It does take a little while to boot up if it's turned off."

"I wish they had software that could create continuous streams of traffic. I'm not sure if that's possible with LinkRunner, but it would be very helpful in some of the test case scenarios that clients are looking for, in regards to quality of service"

"Unlike using an application like Wireshark, this device gives us no way to see network packets specifically to look at what's going on. It doesn't have the capability."

"One area where LinkRunner could be improved is the battery life. Depending on which tests are run, it gets a decent six to eight hours. However, sometimes we need to do back-to-back shifts to meet a deadline, and we need access to an outlet to keep it plugged in and charging. It takes about an hour or two to charge."

"It doesn't turn off automatically, but the toning function goes to sleep. It seems to stop toning after five or six minutes if you don't find the cable. It could be up to ten minutes, but if you don't find the cable that you're trying to tone quick enough, you'll have to go back and restart the tone. So, it doesn't turn itself off, but while toning, it turns itself off."

Pricing and Cost Advice

Information not available

"I would buy another one if I had a chance but they're too expensive. If they made it a bit cheaper, I think a lot of network engineers and network administrators would immediately jump onto it."

"We... decided to go with NetAlly for the price and the bang for the buck."

"It's an expensive device. Don't expect it to be cheap. But the pricing is good. It certainly seemed in line with anything else I was looking at at the time."

"It was difficult to sell this to my management because the price is really high compared to other testing tools. However, we've seen a pretty good return on investment considering our outcomes and the time we have saved. The first year has been great."

"They offer one price. I do like paying for support because I get software updates that way."

"Compared to another company's product, LinkRunner is cheaper, but it's still about $1,000 too expensive, considering that the operating system is a free operating system. The OS has just been tweaked to give you a graphical interface. I don't think it's priced right."

"The 10Gig ones are quite expensive, and we have only two of them, but I know that this option was cheaper than the other 10Gig option we looked at, and we're very happy with it."

"Its pricing is all right. Of course, from the business point of view, the cheaper it is, the better it is, but I prefer to spend a bit more money to get a quick response, which is helpful especially when we are onsite or in a very critical situation. We are not only paying for the product. We are paying for the people behind the product in terms of developers and technical support. When you need some help, they will be behind it, and they'll support you. There are no additional costs other than the standard licensing fee."

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Manufacturing Company

15%

University

14%

Healthcare Company

Government

University

11%

Manufacturing Company

10%

Healthcare Company

10%

Government

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

No data available

Comparisons

No data available

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Compared 27% of the time

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Compared 12% of the time

OneTouch AT Network Assistant vs LinkRunner

Compared 10% of the time

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

Network Troubleshooting

March 2025

Download IxChariot product report

Buyer's Guide

LinkRunner

March 2025

Download LinkRunner product report

Overview

IxChariot instantly assesses and troubleshoots networks and applications before and after deployment. This powerful assessment tool uses software agents called Performance Endpoints to simulate application traffic and deliver key performance metrics to a central console for easy management

Validate your devices and networks with proven software-based solution you can rely on
Instantly assess network performance, including wireless performance and geo-location
Manage your tests from modern and intuitive web-based user interface
Leverage distributed and portable performance endpoints deployed on mobile, PC, Mac or in any hypervisor or cloud provider
Validate Wi-Fi clients and access points (APsP based on Wi-Fi Alliance certification tool

Keysight Technologies

LinkRunner AT 3000 & 4000. Next Generation Copper and Fiber Ethernet AutoTester. Fast and comprehensive validation of network links and powerful copper and fiber network connectivity troubleshooting. Tests from 10Mbps to 10Gbps, PoE, VLAN, switch port, path analysis, packet capture, topology mapping and so much more!

NetAlly

Sample Customers

Information Not Available

Philips Healthcare, HCA Healthcare, University of South Dakota, Memorial Hermann, Baltimore County Public Schools, Aaramrak.

Buyer's Guide

IxChariot vs. LinkRunner

March 2025

Free Report: IxChariot vs. LinkRunner

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