Advanced IP Sniffer Freeware
Check Bandwidth Utilization Using PRTG's IP Sniffer Functionality
PRTG Network Monitor is a powerful combination of bandwidth and network monitoring tools. Thanks to SNMP, packet sniffing, and NetFlow support, PRTG is an advanced IP sniffer freeware, which lets you calculate bandwidth usage by port, application, or IP address. But apart from being a LAN traffic monitor, the IP sniffer is also a comprehensive network management software. Using SNMP and WMI, PRTG monitors parameters such as CPU temperature, disk usage, CPU load, etc. Furthermore, the SNMP software checks the availability of network devices, speed of network connections, and enables you to check uptime and loading time of your website. It all works as an IP SLA monitor.
Bandwidth Monitoring Using the IP Sniffer Functionality
Even the freeware version of the LAN network monitor includes packet sniffing capabilities. The built-in IP sniffer freeware lets you analyze all data packets in your network. The packet sniffer sensors generally use the host machine's network card, but can also be configured to use monitoring ports found on some networking devices using port mirroring / forwarding in order to monitor the overall network bandwidth usage.
Alternative Bandwidth Monitoring Technologies
In addition to the IP Sniffer Freeware functionality, the network traffic monitor offers two other possibilities of bandwidth data acquisition: SNMP and NetFlow. While SNMP support is included in the freeware edition of PRTG, NetFlow monitoring can only be used with the commercial licenses. SNMP is supported by most routers and switches, which makes PRTG a great router monitor, too (Linksys, D-Link, Cisco, Nortel, Foundry, etc.).
Download the IP Sniffer Freeware Now
PRTG is available in two editions. For basic, free performance testing and troubleshooting functionality, the Freeware Edition with 10 sensors may be downloaded and used for personal and commercial use completely free of charge. For more advanced needs, licenses for the Commercial Editions start at $400 / €300.