SolarWinds NetFlow Traffic Analyzer vs Wireshark comparison

"The most valuable feature is the alarm that is set up to trigger based on bandwidth utilization."

"The support is excellent."

"It provides proactive monitoring, rather than waiting for applications to go down due to heavy bandwidth or latency."

"With SolarWinds, we are now able to accurately gauge bandwidth consumption."

"It helps us know when a branch is down because it has a graphic presentation of all the locations a node represents."

"The most helpful feature of SolarWinds NetFlow Traffic Analyzer is bandwidth analysis, which lets you see who's hogging your network."

"In terms of the implementation, we've actually used SAM, the server and application monitoring tools. The network configuration tools are very useful in terms of bulk upgrading switches and infrastructure. Also, the Network Traffic Analyzer was extremely useful to track down errant users soaking up bandwidth."

"The initial setup was straightforward."

"The drill-down available for packet analysis is great. It gives a network security engineer insight into what is going on at the packet level and enables better troubleshooting."

"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."

"Wireshark's best features are that it lets us see what traffic is in the network and what data should be encrypted."

"Wireshark saves a lot of time, especially with network troubleshooting."

"The filter option provided by Wireshark is its most valuable feature...Scalability-wise, I rate the solution a ten out of ten."

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

"The initial setup is simple."

"Wireshark is a good tool to start with network analyzing and packet capturing."

"NTA's documentation for the implementation phase needs some enhancement."

"There are some areas for improvement in SolarWinds NetFlow Traffic Analyzer. There are some challenges with the solution when compared to other monitoring tools such as difficulty in operations and difficulty with backup installation. My team is currently trying out different solutions but would need to see how it goes."

"Currently, it shows only the top ten applications or ports in use, while the remaining data appears as 'remaining traffic,' causing confusion."

"I would like to see better customization capabilities."

"An area for improvement in SolarWinds NetFlow Traffic Analyzer is application visibility because some applications aren't being recognized correctly. You can see applications such as Facebook and YouTube, but SolarWinds NetFlow Traffic Analyzer needs to have more visibility into more applications. Currently, SolarWinds fails to detect more powerful applications, such as Zoom and Teams. If SolarWinds NetFlow Traffic Analyzer can recognize every application and be able to report on each in terms of bandwidth, then that would be good. This is what I'd like to see in the next release of the solution."

"The analysis can utilize algorithms like K-means clustering or associative neural networks for predictions rather than relying on generative AI, which is more suited for text."

"I would like to see more training videos and additional material for learning how to use this solution."

"Technical support could be improved with quicker response times."

"This product needs to improve the UI."

"It needs the ability to follow multiple interfaces for specific traffic from different network zones/virtual networks. It would help to understand how any packet is going through the network."

"It is not an easy program. You will need to study to use it to its full capabilities (follow a course)."

"Whenever we select one of the packets, in terms of the number of bytes, for example, there are three planes, and in the detailed plane, I have to count the number of bytes manually."

"The product has been using the same GUI for many years."

"The solution has a steep learning curve. There are so many filters and features that are frequently being updated, it takes research, experience and familiarity to be able to use them. It could be a lot more user-friendly."

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

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

"The pricing is really good."

"While the pricing is fair, it could be better."

"I don't have information on the licensing cost for SolarWinds NetFlow Traffic Analyzer because it's bundled with another SolarWinds solution. My organization has seven different models and pays for the license yearly. My organization also had to deploy additional pollers, but the cost wasn't very expensive, though I can't give the exact numbers."

"The solution's licensing is high-priced."

"For our environment, we pay approximately $25,000 USD yearly."

"We pay yearly, and we are happy with its price."

"SolarWinds' pricing structure is the primary reason why some customers opt for another solution such as ManageEngine NetFlow Analyzer. In NTA, you are charged per port, meaning that if you have a 24-port switch you will be charged for 24 individual nodes. ManageEngine NetFlow Analyzer, on the other hand, charges per switch, such that if you add a switch, the entire switch will count as one single node."

"The price of this solution is exceptional."

"It is free."

"It's free."

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

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

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

"This is an open-source product that can be used free of charge."

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

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