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 4.9% mindshare in NT, compared to NetAlly’s 17.8% 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

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128 Comparison Views

100% willing to recommend

LinkRunner

Read 20 LinkRunner reviews

2,425 Views
689 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: April 2025).

Buyer's Guide

IxChariot vs. LinkRunner

April 2025

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Helped 850,671 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 May 2025, in the Network Troubleshooting category, the mindshare of IxChariot is 4.9%, up from 2.7% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of LinkRunner is 17.8%, down from 23.3% 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."

"It provides a way to test 10Gig connectivity. Previously, we had to hook up a switch. That was our only way. Now, with LinkRunner, we can test on the fly if an SFP is bad or if the switch has the right configuration on it."

"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."

"I like that LinkRunner is an all-in-one device with a touchscreen interface. You don't have to pair it with a phone or anything else to get the full functionality. The built-in tests are one of the most significant advantages. It will pull an IP, ping the gateway, ping out to the intra, and report everything on the screen. It will tell you when a test completes or fails and why."

"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."

"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."

"Performance testing is the most valuable feature. It gives a brief summary of the information we're looking at, such as latency, jitter, and the available throughput."

"In terms of documenting ad hoc additions and other changes to wired ethernet connections, this product is very good. It keeps the information in the cloud and I have the ability to name it. This makes it very nice and easy to see."

"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."

Cons

"The graphical user interface needs to be improved."

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

"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."

"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."

"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."

"Being really nitpicky about the LinkRunner G2, I wish the form factor was a little bit smaller. However, I'm sure that the size of the unit is compromised by the fact that the battery is large. If that were to mean having less battery life, I would not change it."

"One of the things I'd like to see in future versions of LinkRunner is a wireless dongle embedded into the product so that I don't need to have a separate wireless dongle. It should be built into that."

"It is a great tool, but in the long-term, they can make its processor more powerful to do more functions. They can upgrade the hardware to make it run faster and more efficiently from the process point of view. That'll be beneficial because the technology is evolving and the network traffic is going higher and higher. We have to leverage better spec products to handle the traffic load."

"It is very stable. That being said, there is one feature that is not quite as stable as the rest of the product. You can leave it plugged into a location where you're doing some work and connect to it remotely by a program called VNC... sometimes that function breaks down, if you've been running for a couple of days... if you're remotely controlling it, you're probably not right next to it. That can be modestly annoying."

Pricing and Cost Advice

Information not available

"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."

"I didn't have to buy it, but if I was going to have my choice, I wouldn't buy it just because of the price point. It works pretty well to do one thing. For the cost, it is definitely not worth it. There are other products out there that can do the same thing for probably 70% less. I am not aware of any additional costs."

"The area where the product could be improved is by having a lower cost so that I could have more than one. The price is competitive, but everybody would always like to see the price go down. I'd buy another one if it were cheaper."

"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."

"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."

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Manufacturing Company

14%

University

13%

Healthcare Company

Government

University

10%

Government

Manufacturing Company

Healthcare Company

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

No data available

Comparisons

No data available

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Compared 28% of the time

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Compared 26% of the time

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Compared 12% of the time

OneTouch AT Network Assistant vs LinkRunner

Compared 9% of the time

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

Network Troubleshooting

April 2025

Download IxChariot product report

Buyer's Guide

LinkRunner

April 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

April 2025

Free Report: IxChariot vs. LinkRunner

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