Network activity monitor with PRTG
Have the clarity you need to identify network issues before they escalate
- Get real-time insights into every corner of your network
- Identify, troubleshoot, and fix bottlenecks before users notice
- Automate alerts and reclaim your downtime
PRTG network activity monitor: What you’ll find on this page
PRTG makes network activity monitoring as easy as it gets
Custom alerts and data visualization let you quickly identify and prevent security and performance issues.
Solve network invisibility with PRTG’s network activity monitoring
Network invisibility. It’s the #1 frustration of sysadmins everywhere. Why is your bandwidth so spotty? How do you ensure uptime across remote network devices and locations? Paessler PRTG is your all-in-one network monitoring solution, giving you immediate observability into every aspect of your network.
Stop losing sleep over traffic blind spots
Identify hidden traffic patterns, rogue devices, or silent bandwidth hogs before they become major problems. PRTG eliminates the guesswork by giving you a clear view of every router, switch, firewall, and other endpoint on your network.
Bandwidth usage, databases, applications, VPNs – even physical server rooms – are all made visible with PRTG. Stop the nightmares and rest easy knowing PRTG is keeping your network in check.
Take network monitoring to the next level
Your IT team needs an easy way to identify trends, manage network connections, and optimize bandwidth allocation. Whether troubleshooting TCP issues, digging into a misbehaving server, or analyzing real-time network data, PRTG ensures you’re always ahead of potential disruptions.
With support for NetFlow, sFlow, packet sniffing, SNMP, WMI, and more, PRTG provides deep insights into network traffic patterns and performance.
Stay informed of network processes
Never miss another network issue. A program is hogging bandwidth, network latency spikes at certain times, or a printer has gone offline – PRTG makes sure you know what’s happening and when.
Dive into your network’s data at any time to confirm its health or to enjoy the satisfaction of seeing that error-free report. Whether looking for a root cause or just keeping your finger on the pulse of network traffic, PRTG has you covered.
Monitor every environment with ease
Modern networks extend beyond the office, often spanning remote locations, cloud services, and hybrid setups.
PRTG’s network monitoring tools ensure comprehensive visibility across these environments, tracking network connections, device health, and traffic patterns no matter where your infrastructure resides. Keep remote teams and systems running smoothly with a single, unified view.
Detect and prevent security threats
Network invisibility can leave you vulnerable to attacks and unauthorized access. PRTG actively monitors traffic flow, firewall activity, and unusual network access, alerting the appropriate team for potential security threats.
PRTG also helps monitor and identify suspicious changes in IP addresses to catch unauthorized devices before they become a problem. Strengthen your defenses and minimize downtime with PRTG – proactively.
What network activity monitoring looks like in PRTG
Diagnose network issues by continuously tracking network activity across your entire IT infrastructure. Show network speed, hardware health parameters, network traffic data, bandwidth usage, and other key metrics in real time. Visualize monitoring data in clear graphs and dashboards to identify problems more easily. Gain the overview you need to troubleshoot security and performance issues in your network.
Start monitoring network activity with PRTG and see how it can make your network more reliable and your job easier.
3 reasons to choose PRTG as your network activity monitor
Get vendor-agnostic network monitoring
PRTG offers robust compatibility across platforms and providers, letting you monitor network devices, servers, operating systems, and applications without worrying about compatibility.
Cisco, Dell, HPE, NetApp. Microsoft Windows, Linux, or Mac operating systems. Wireless networks or LAN, WiFi or Ethernet. PRTG has your back.
Start monitoring in hours, not days
Getting started with PRTG is fast and hassle-free. An intuitive setup process, preconfigured sensors, and a user-friendly interface mean you can begin monitoring your network usage within hours.
Whether you're managing a small office, a few remote locations, or a global infrastructure, PRTG minimizes the learning curve and lets you focus on what matters – keeping your network running smoothly. No PhD in rocket science required.
Customize your entire monitoring setup
Customization is a paramount feature for network monitoring tools. Out-of-the-box functionality is all well and good, but you also need the ability to tweak settings for your unique IT environment.
Take control of your network with customizable dashboards, notifications, and monitoring templates. Define thresholds for critical network events, visualize trends with detailed graphs, and ensure your team stays focused on what matters most.
Your network performance monitor at a glance – even on the go
Set up PRTG in minutes and use it on almost any mobile device.
Find the root cause of the problem with our PRTG network activity monitoring solution
Real-time notifications mean faster troubleshooting so that you can act before more serious issues occur.
PRTG is compatible with all major vendors, products, and systems
Explore our preconfigured PRTG sensors for network activity monitoring
PRTG comes with more than 250 native sensor types for monitoring your entire on-premises, cloud, and hybrid cloud environment out of the box. Check out some examples below!
Packet Sniffer
The Packet Sniffer sensor monitors the headers of data packets that pass a local network card using a built-in packet sniffer. You can choose from predefined channels. It can show the following and more:
- Traffic from Citrix applications
- Traffic from file transfer (FTP/P2P) and various other protocols (UDP, TCP)
- Traffic from network services (DHCP, DNS, Ident, ICMP, SNMP)
- Internet mail traffic (IMAP, POP3, SMTP)
- Traffic from remote control applications (RDP, SSH, Telnet, Virtual Network Computing (VNC))
SNMP Traffic v2
The SNMP Traffic v2 sensor monitors bandwidth and traffic on a device. It can show the following:
- Number of incoming and outgoing broadcast, multicast, unicast, and non-unicast packets
- Number of incoming and outgoing discards and errors
- Total, incoming, and outgoing traffic
- Number of incoming, unknown protocols
Create innovative solutions with Paessler’s partners
Partnering with innovative vendors, Paessler unleashes synergies to create
new and additional benefits for joined customers.
“Excellent tool for detailed monitoring. Alarms and notifications work greatly. Equipment addition is straight forward and server initial setup is very easy. ...feel safe to purchase it if you intend to monitor a large networking landscape.”
Infrastructure and Operations Engineer in the Communications Industry, firm size 10B - 30B USD
PRTG makes network activity monitoring as easy as it gets
Custom alerts and data visualization let you quickly identify and prevent security and performance issues..
Network activity monitor: FAQ
What is a network activity monitor?
A network activity monitor is a tool that tracks and analyzes all activity within a network. PRTG’s network activity monitor collects data using protocols like SNMP, WMI, SSH, NetFlow, sFlow, and packet sniffing. With visibility into bandwidth utilization, traffic patterns, data usage, device health, and performance metrics, IT teams can maintain network efficiency and security more effectively.
Why do I need a network activity monitor?
Without a network activity monitor, you risk downtime, bottlenecks, and security threats caused by blind spots in your infrastructure. A network activity monitor identifies those bottlenecks, tracks bandwidth hogs, analyzes traffic patterns, and monitors the health of devices, database metrics, and applications. It proactively sends alerts when issues arise, so your team can quickly resolve problems. PRTG ensures full visibility, enabling you to optimize bandwidth, troubleshoot efficiently, and maintain uptime.
How easy is it to set up PRTG, really?
PRTG is designed for simplicity and speed. Its intuitive interface, preconfigured sensors, and automated network discovery mean you can start monitoring within hours – not days – without needing extensive training or resources.
Can PRTG monitor multiple locations and highly complex networks?
Yes! PRTG supports multi-location monitoring with remote probes and is built to handle complex networks. Whether you’re managing cloud environments, hybrid setups, or global infrastructure, PRTG scales to meet your needs.
How does PRTG send notifications?
PRTG sends real-time notifications via email, SMS, push notification, and other methods, based on thresholds you set. You can also trigger command-line actions or integrate notifications into third-party systems for custom workflows.
What is a sensor in PRTG?
In PRTG, “sensors” are the basic monitoring elements. One sensor usually monitors one measured value in your network, for example the traffic of a switch port, the CPU load of a server, or the free space on a disk drive.
On average, you need about 5-10 sensors per device or one sensor per switch port.
PRTG: The multi-tool for sysadmins
Adapt PRTG individually and dynamically to your needs and rely on a strong API:- HTTP API: Access monitoring data and manipulate monitoring objects via HTTP requests
- Custom sensors: Create your own PRTG sensors for customized monitoring
- Custom notifications: Create your own notifications and send action triggers to external systems
- REST Custom sensor: Monitor almost everything that provides data in XML or JSON format
Paessler conducted trials in over 600 IT departments worldwide to tune its network monitoring software closer to the needs of sysadmins. We asked: would you recommend PRTG?
Over 95% of our customers say yes!
The result of the survey: over 95% of the participants would recommend PRTG – or already have.
Paessler PRTG is used by companies of all sizes. Sysadmins love PRTG because it makes their job a whole lot easier. Bandwidth, servers, virtual environments, websites, VoIP services – PRTG keeps an eye on your entire network. Everyone has different monitoring needs. That’s why we let you try PRTG for free.Still not convinced?
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Start monitoring network activity with PRTG and see how it can make your network more reliable and your job easier.
PRTG |
Network Monitoring Software - Version 25.1.102.1373 (January 9th, 2025) |
Hosting |
Download for Windows and cloud-based version PRTG Hosted Monitor available |
Languages |
English, German, Spanish, French, Portuguese, Dutch, Russian, Japanese, and Simplified Chinese |
Pricing |
Up to 100 sensors for free (Price List) |
Unified Monitoring |
Network devices, bandwidth, servers, applications, virtual environments, remote systems, IoT, and more |
Supported Vendors & Applications |
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