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: January 2025).

Observer GigaStor vs. Wireshark

January 2025

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Helped 838,640 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 (90th), 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 February 2025, in the Network Troubleshooting category, the mindshare of Observer GigaStor is 1.3%, down from 2.3% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Wireshark is 13.1%, down from 13.2% 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

"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..."

"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."

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

"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"

"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 options that are required to get the details for the packet drops are good."

"Wireshark helps us to understand network traffic."

"I have found the most valuable feature you can design your sniffer the way you want to."

"Packet-capture files can be hard to use due to their size. Wireshark has a tool called tshark that can parse the files with out opening them so that you can take large captures, say 2-10GB, and return only relevant information."

"Wireshark's best feature is that it's adaptive, which means it's the go-to tool for network-related developers."

"What's best about Wireshark is that it doesn't require installation. It supports cards and monitoring permissions and is sufficient for appending and capturing activities. You won't need to install other tools to use Wireshark, so this saves you time. You can capture packets at any time from your laptop through Wireshark."

"The transmission and reception issues are valuable."

"I use the filters very often, to determine what type of traffic I am looking for. The use of filter allows traffic to be segmented so that a value can be looked at individually apart from the other traffic."

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."

"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."

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

"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."

"With Wireshark, you cannot download and utilize the packet in automation."

"The Wireshark search function shows green for a correct search and red for an incorrect search. If there were a way to provide a description about what a search - and the similar ones which are available - can do, while a person is typing it, it would make the product easier to use and simultaneously decrease the learning curve."

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

"Wireshark gets stuck when it is a larger file."

"We would like the product to be developed so that it doesn't rely on internet access for installation. We would like to see all of the components required to be integrated into the installer."

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

"Wireshark could be improved with a delay option when getting data automatically."

"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."

"I am using the free version of this solution."

"The solution is open source so is free."

"Wireshark is an open-source product, so it's free to use."

"It is free to download and install. It runs on multiple platforms, so how can you go wrong?"

"It is an open-source solution."

"It's a stand-alone tool. If there is a commercial license for it I am unaware of it."

"Wireshark is free of charge, and there's no license involved."

"Wireshark is free software, so you can download it and use it for free with no licensing fees."

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

25%

Computer Software Company

16%

University

10%

Insurance Company

Computer Software Company

11%

University

10%

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

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Observer GigaStor

February 2025

Download Wireshark product report

January 2025

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