Packet Sniffer Freeware
Detailed Bandwidth Monitoring Using the Packet Sniffer Freeware
Are you looking for a free or affordable packet sniffer, which is yet powerful and comprehensive? The popular bandwidth monitor program PRTG Network Monitor includes fully functional packet sniffer freeware, which can be used completely free of charge to analyze network traffic and bandwidth utilization broken down by port, IP address, protocol, or other parameters.
PRTG works with all Windows versions from XP onwards, and is therefore an ideal network monitor for Vista, XP and Windows 7 environments. It is also the ideal tool for monitoring Linksys networks.
PRTG on a switch's monitoring port
However, PRTG is not only a packet sniffing tool. The SNMP tool can be used to monitor the availability of network devices (including server, email and database monitoring), to conduct an Ethernet performance test, and to monitor vital system parameters such as CPU and memory load.
Moreover, several technologies can be used for bandwidth monitoring: Apart from the packet sniffer functionality, the bandwidth manager can also acquire bandwidth usage data using SNMP and NetFlow. While SNMP is also included in the freeware edition, you will need to purchase one of the commercial licenses in order to use NetFlow.