Observer GigaStor vs Wireshark comparison

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98% willing to recommend

Observer GigaStor

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Jul 11, 2024

Wireshark and Observer GigaStor are leading network analysis tools. Wireshark is favored for its pricing and ease of deployment, while Observer GigaStor stands out for its advanced features, making it worth the investment for many users.

Features: Wireshark is praised for its comprehensive packet analysis capabilities, ease of use, and strong community support. Observer GigaStor offers extensive storage, sophisticated network monitoring features, and the ability to handle larger datasets.

Room for Improvement: Users suggest Wireshark could benefit from enhanced packet filtering, improved reporting mechanisms, and better integration with third-party tools. For Observer GigaStor, feedback indicates a need for better integration with third-party tools, a more streamlined configuration process, and enhanced user documentation.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: Wireshark is known for its straightforward deployment and community support. Observer GigaStor's deployment is more complex, but users report responsive customer service.

Pricing and ROI: Wireshark is often chosen for its cost-effectiveness, especially in smaller environments. Observer GigaStor is more expensive but justifies the cost with feature-rich offerings and better long-term ROI for larger networks.

To learn more, read our detailed Observer GigaStor vs. Wireshark Report (Updated: March 2025).

Observer GigaStor vs. Wireshark

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Helped 845,040 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

Observer GigaStor

Ranking in Network Troubleshooting

15th

Average Rating

9.0

Reviews Sentiment

8.1

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

Network Monitoring Software (92nd), Network Packet Broker (NPB) (9th)

Wireshark

Ranking in Network Troubleshooting

3rd

Average Rating

9.0

Reviews Sentiment

7.7

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

Mindshare comparison

As of April 2025, in the Network Troubleshooting category, the mindshare of Observer GigaStor is 1.5%, down from 2.0% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Wireshark is 13.2%, up from 12.2% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Network Troubleshooting

Featured Reviews

Jeroen-Dubbelman

Director at Bitrate

Aids significantly in the threat-hunting process and provides a score-based evaluation of user experience

There are many valuable features, but understanding end-user response times stands out. It provides a score-based evaluation of user experience, helping customers quickly pinpoint whether issues originate from the network, server, client, or application. Additionally, it facilitates in-depth analysis of application dependencies. The retrospective network analysis capability of Observer GigaStor has been beneficial. It's a pivotal feature for network performance solutions. However, I prefer to consider the entire solution suite - GigaStor, along with GigaFlow and Apex - for comprehensive network visibility and monitoring. So, I prefer to integrate all three solutions to provide the best visibility. They complement each other well, with Apex aggregating and correlating data from both GigaStor and GigaFlow to enhance environmental understanding and troubleshooting efficiency.

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DonniUgalde

Senior I.T. Systems Engineer at Pro Techs MSP

Provides visibility into the network, and the GUI is easy to use

I wish the filters were a little bit more prepopulated. It would have been easy to hit a drop-down and select a filter. If I only wanted to look at DCP, UDP, or IP, it would be easy to filter it out. Advanced network knowledge is required to get a lot out of the tool. However, it's very easy to install and deploy. It would be nice if there were some handheld Android devices with a Wireshark-specialized application that would allow us to mirror a Cisco port. Then, we can just plug into the port and click the green start button, and it will start ingesting the packet capture. Then, we won’t be using a laptop. The only downside is that we must have a laptop and connect a network cable. Some new laptops don't have network ports, so we have to get another adapter. Having an all-in-one device, like NetAlly or Fluke, and some of their network devices would be cool.

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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

"This solution allows us to see exactly what is going on in the network and we can very quickly solve issues with users."

"There are many valuable features, but understanding end-user response times stands out. It provides a score-based evaluation of user experience, helping customers quickly pinpoint whether issues originate from the network, server, client, or application. Additionally, it facilitates in-depth analysis of application dependencies."

"I also have the ability to see an application's performance, to see what's going on, why a network is slow, why this program for this user is experiencing a delay or some network issue"

"It's able to capture packets and, after a long time, you can come and use that information; to check, to analyze - everything you would want to do. So it's very good and helpful if you want to protect your data. It is stored in a certain place where you can access it every time you want to analyze it."

"It can help to write your rules, organize firewalls, your block, and also your protocols and IP address to come in or out of your network."

"The ability to capture packets. It is not only for monitoring. That is very important for a company that wants to keep an eye on the packets, the transactions, the flows..."

"Wireshark is very user-friendly; even someone with basic IT knowledge can use it."

"I can save the traffic and analysis when I want to. Also, it's especially helpful to follow the stream (TCP, UDP, etc.)."

"If you're dealing with troubleshooting network, voice issues, or network operations, having a tool like Wireshark to dive into packet details is important. The initial setup is straightforward. Anyone starting out or looking to deploy it on your personal PC or machine can do it easily."

"Being able to dissect email data and figure out what is inside email messages was the most valuable feature. Such a feature is pretty helpful for an ongoing forensic investigation or when there is a potential insider threat that you are trying to investigate. It allows you to see the network activity of the users you are investigating. It also gives you more visibility into your network. It was very easy to set up. There is a lot of information out there on Google and YouTube about how to use it. There is also community support. If you have any trouble, it is pretty easy to find an answer online. You will have to do some digging only if you have a very specific use case."

"The feature to incorporate Voice over IP (VoIP) incidents into network traffic analysis is valuable. Capturing voice or SIP communication allows for examination of interactions between SIP clients and SIP servers. This helps the team investigate or analyze issues related to call center servers and operators."

"It has a good syntax to put the commands in and get information out of."

"The most valuable feature is the traffic gate, which shows which IPs are getting more bandwidth or traffic."

"The best part about Wireshark, in my opinion, is its ability to analyze packet capture files."

More Wireshark pros

Cons

"GigaStor feeds into Apex. So, the area where there could be improvement would be in artificial intelligence. For example, the incorporation of more advanced machine learning or AI capabilities could enhance its functionality."

"I would like to have more than 4TB of storage available in the portable version of this solution."

"Maybe the graphical user interface could be simplified to allow people to use it more easily. It's already good, but they can work more on it to make it even easier."

"Graphics need improvement. Because a lot of the information there you have to input first in some case to have full potential. It could be more automated."

"Sometimes I need to use tcpdump when I need to check the packets on CLI."

"You need good network connectivity to download during the setup, otherwise, it might take a while."

"Wireshark could be improved by adding more monitoring features."

"The system could be improved upon by adding a better and more powerful data processing engine."

"The speed of the Internet could be improved, especially its performance."

"We'd like to be able to extract the output into an Excel table."

"The initial setup depends upon the basics. You need to have a clear understanding of the basics."

"This product needs to improve the UI."

More Wireshark cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"It's quite expensive."

"It depends on the requirements you have. There are three types of license. There's the updates license, the work group license, and the workstation license."

"It is free."

"I've never personally had to pay for it, making it a highly valuable internet resource that's accessible for use. While they offer some paid versions, our firm has utilized the free version for the past three years."

"Wireshark is open-source and free of charge."

"We're using the free version of Wireshark."

"Wireshark is free software, so you don't have to pay any licensing fee. Individual people can use it and then donate to Wireshark."

"Wireshark is open source and gives great value and functionality to the network investigation."

"The solution is open source so is free."

"The tool is free."

More Wireshark pricing and cost advice

See which vendors are best for you

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Financial Services Firm

27%

Computer Software Company

18%

Manufacturing Company

10%

Insurance Company

University

11%

Computer Software Company

11%

Government

10%

Financial Services Firm

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about Observer GigaStor?

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Observer GigaStor?

I would rate the pricing a ten out of ten. It's quite expensive.

What needs improvement with Observer GigaStor?

GigaStor feeds into Apex. So, the area where there could be improvement would be in artificial intelligence. For example, the incorporation of more advanced machine learning or AI capabilities coul...

What do you like most about Wireshark?

The GUI is easy to use.

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Wireshark?

Wireshark is priced at a medium range, not too high, not too low. The pricing could be more flexible, and they might make it more expensive. That said, compared to other products, it is competitive.

What needs improvement with Wireshark?

The speed of the Internet could be improved, especially its performance. Performance can sometimes be a challenge due to numerous factors.

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Product Reports

Observer GigaStor

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Overview

Observer GigaStor is a network analysis tool that comes in a variety of form factors, including rack mount, portable, and virtual. Capable of storing up to a petabyte of traffic for later analysis, GigaStor helps ensure optimal network and application performance.

Viavi Solutions

Wireshark is the world's foremost network protocol analyzer.

Sample Customers

Cisco Systems, Hawaiian Telecom, Renown Health, State of Nevada, U.S. Department of Veteran Affairs, Allstate Insurance, Jack Henry & Associates, United States Airforce, US Bank, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Minnesota, Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center, Chicago Board Options Exchange

Comversion, ADP, Talbots

Observer GigaStor vs. Wireshark