Top 10 Network Packet Analyzer Tools for Sysadmin & Security Analysts 2022

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As a business owner, you must never forget that network is the backbone of the business operation and Packet Analyzer Tools help to monitor the network for network and security analysts. So you need to make sure that everything you do is very deep. Now you might be wondering what is Network packet Analyzer is? Well, it is chatting, gaming, video streaming, surfing, buying stuff, and much more. This does the exchange of data packets between two computer networks.

This packet has a small unit of information that flows between the networks. This is a well-defined method that constructs and verifies the network packets.

Every packet is connected with a link chain. It is correctly transmitted and validated with the destination. If any single pack becomes out of order, then the complete process will become suspended till the pack comes in the correct order.

In this article, you will get all types of information about Network Packets Analyzer and the top 10 Packet Analyzer Tools to manage the network and analyze the packets. You need a little more surface-level knowledge so that you will understand what goes inside the network. Here you will get the list of top ten tools, to use on your network and understand their requirements.

Wireshark

If you are looking for some Packet Analyzer Tools that go deep into the network, then Wireshark is best and this is a very old project that started in 1998. It is purely a volunteer-run organization, and it is backed by some generous sponsors.

This is the open-source software that can support hundreds of network protocols. It can come with any types of file formats like Catapult DCT2000, Microsoft Network Monitor, Cisco Secure IDS iplog, etc.

It runs virtually with all the platforms like Linux, Solaris, Windows, macOS, FreeBSD, etc. It has different coloring rules for faster visual scanning with on-the-fly gzip decompression.

SolarWinds Network Performance Monitor

This tool offers a wide range of features compared to other free Packet Analyzer Tools. This monitor tool is one of the best packet sniffers and also a multi-layered tool that provides a comprehensive view of the network.

Any network issue user can detect, diagnose and resolve very quickly. It also avoids downtime with minimal bandwidth. It helps DPI capture the packet-level data to manage the windows devices by drawing on installed sensors.

The User needs to use a step-by-step wizard to deploy the sensors and choose the custom application for monitoring. It has bandwidth analyzer features which include NetFlow, sFlow, NetStream, JFlow, and IPFIX.

NetworkMiner

If you want to promote yourself as a Forensic Network Analysis Tool also we can it as one of the most used Packet Analyzer Tools, then NetworkMiner only does the best job for you. This is an open-source tool that analyse the network passively and comes with an impressive GUI interface. Through this tool, you can easily see the individual images and other files which have transferred.

It also has other excellent features like IPv6 support, Pcap-over-IP, OS fingerprinting, Geo IP localization, Support for command-line scripting, etc. This can work with different types of traffic like HTTP, SMB2, POP3, TFTP, FIP, SMB, and much more. Please note that few features are available only with the commercial version.

Tcpdump

If the user is studying in school, then tcpdump is for you. This is another iconic Linux utility that does everything relevant, and like other, it has to build “fancier” Packet Analyzer Tools.

This is nothing in a graphical environment, but tools have to make this up. Installing is always can be a pain whenever this tool comes with a bundle of modern Linux distribution.

If you cannot do it, then you will end up having to build from the source. These tool commands are straightforward and short which the aim is to solve a particular problem. For different problems, there is a different command. If you need simple things, you need to run for a quick scan.

ManageEngine NetFlow Analyzer

This packet sniffer can be installed on Windows and Linux. It is a complete traffic analysis software that uses flow technology and provides in-depth knowledge to your team to deliver bandwidth performance with the best traffic pattern.

This software uses DPI, where the network application lies directly on the issues. NetFlow Analyzer allows users to pull the affected user list so that you can inform them of the solution to rectify it.

It provides the regulation capabilities through traffic shaping to follow bandwidth management techniques and delay the flow. It also ensures network performance with higher-priority applications.

Kismet

This is one of the other notable open-source Packet Analyzer Tools as well as one of the best packet-sniffing tools. It has many features, but mainly, it does Wi-Fi troubleshooting. This can be the best tool if you are searching network within your organization.

If you are searching any physical device and not finding it, you can identify that through kismet and block it from all network infrastructure. This is a multi-OS tool that run through Windows and Linux. It has a lack graphical functionality, which many users mostly prefer.

This tool is very lightweight and runs fast with the passive mode. It does not leave any digital traces to intercepting packets. Kismet is always unique, and it can only run the standalone application. It is a multi-client tool that captures the data packets and does the main server installation for future analysis.

Colasoft Capsa

If you are wondering about the Windows platform, then Colasoft Capsa comes under serious contender. It has three versions like free, standard, and enterprise. For different requirements, you can use different versions, and they all are with different capabilities.

There are many free versions that support more than 300 protocols with interesting features and are also triggered with few conditions. This standard offers the notch above, which supports 1000+ protocols. It also allows you to analyze the conversations where you can reconstruct the packet streams.

EtherApe

If you are looking for powerful visualization and open-source Packet Analyzer Tools, then EtherApe is a the best option. It has prebuilt binaries, which is available only with Linux distros.

You need to build it on your own where multi-node and color-coded monitoring included. It read the data in “live off” mode from the tcpdump file. It also supports standard name resolution.

If you see in the latest version, GUI has moved to GTK3 which resulted in a more pleasant experience.

Fiddler

Fiddler is passive network sniffer which sits between the outside world and your device. For making the operation correct, you need Fiddler. It is customized free tool with a long and distinguished history.

If your main goal is to sniff, HTTP and HTTPS will work like a boss where Fiddler has to search for the way to go. As a user, there are many things to do like session manipulation, security testing, and performance testing.

In session manipulation, Fiddler uses HTTP headers where it can modify the session data however they want. It also allows doing security testing where it decrypts all the HTTPS traffic. In performance testing, it analyses the page load and sees from which part response is coming.

Wifi Explorer

It is very beautifully designed and featured with a rich tool that works like the heart of the network. Wifi Explorer can be a macOS exclusive network Packet Analyzer Tools where it can become an add-on benefit to get immediate control on the traffic correctly and things go for the long run.

Final Thoughts – Packet Analyzer Tools

Right Packet Analyzer Tools always does the right job. As a user, you always need to select the best one as per your requirement. You will also get many free versions of its which will help you give a trial before you purchase.