NETSCOUT Network &amp; Application Observability vs Wireshark comparison

NETSCOUT Network & Applicat...

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Executive Summary

We performed a comparison between NETSCOUT Network & Application Observability and Wireshark based on real PeerSpot user reviews.

Find out what your peers are saying about Auvik, Wireshark, NetAlly and others in Network Troubleshooting.

To learn more, read our detailed Network Troubleshooting Report (Updated: September 2026).

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Review summaries and opinions

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:

Categories and Ranking

NETSCOUT Network & Applicat...

Average Rating

8.2

Reviews Sentiment

6.8

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

Network Monitoring Software (10th)

Wireshark

Average Rating

9.0

Reviews Sentiment

6.4

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

Network Troubleshooting (2nd)

Featured Reviews

Hasan Toffaha

Newwork And Collaboration Supervisor at Nafeza

Monitoring has improved bandwidth insights and application diagnosis but setup and costs still need work

They need room for improvement about the spare parts. There are shortages in Egypt in their stock. We tried to make RMA for specific parts, and it took a long time. Comparing this to a vendor like Cisco, who provides any component next business day, NETSCOUT nGeniusONE took a long time. This needs more improvement. I believe it is expensive. They need to reduce its budget a little bit. Comparing to other solutions, it is very expensive.

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reviewer2837244

It System Engineer at a manufacturing company with 5,001-10,000 employees

Packet analysis has improved real-time troubleshooting and simplifies mapping complex data flows

The best features that Wireshark offers are everything. Every time I look into Wireshark, I find something new. The ability to capture real-time packets and understand how the packet is working and moving through how many hops and to how many points it reaches makes it a wonderful tool. The specific feature I use most is capturing packets of real-time communication and seeing how the packet is working. I rely on all the filters it has to check the protocols and see the communication between one end and another end and what the hops in between are, and if there is a proxy, how it behaves. Everything helps us check out the issue and troubleshoot it. I do not have anything additional to add about the features; everything looks really fine. The graphics are also good, and you can change its graphical features, making it a pretty nice tool. You can also use it with the PCAP file, which is really nice. Wireshark has positively impacted my organization by giving us the ability to capture packets and see into the network how it is working and what we can clarify about the network, specifically how we can remove many hops in the communication channels. A specific example of a measurable outcome is that we have a few switches in our network that, when we use Wireshark analysis, we find should not be needed or can be replaced with automatic switches instead of manual switches, such as switches which do not have any active features and only passive switches. That has saved us a lot of time.

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Quotes from Members

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:

Pros

"We build application dashboards and performance indexes for locations."

"With NETSCOUT, it's very easy to check where the problem is located, and you can uncover if it is in the network or the application or the server."

"The support is good."

"This solution has saved us more than $50,000 a month and freed up 30 percent of our bandwidth."

"NETSCOUT nGeniusPULSE has an easier dashboard to manipulate compared to SolarWinds."

"It helps us get to root cause quickly. With utilization and consumption of bandwidth, we can usually see what application is taking as much as they should (or shouldn't), then account for it accordingly."

"It allows us to get quicker resolutions. We can see exactly what is using up the bandwidth, so we can assist end users."

"The installation process is straightforward."

More NETSCOUT Network & Application Observability pros

"The best thing about Wireshark is the community/ecosystem."

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

"This is a tool that gives you a clear-cut idea about where the issue is, and where the packs are dropping."

"The transmission and reception issues are valuable."

"Wireshark is a network analytic tool which provides such intelligent information in a network."

"The most valuable feature of Wireshark is the ability to choose a destination of flow that has not been working as expected."

"Wireshark's best feature is that it's adaptive, which means it's the go-to tool for network-related developers, as when the new protocol comes up, it's rapidly applied to the system, so I can just look into the packet."

"It is free, easy to use, getting better with every release."

More Wireshark pros

Cons

"The pricing could benefit from being somewhat lower for broader adoption."

"I would like to see an improved level of stitching between IPs."

"This is a typical thing, but every time they do a major code upgrade, we get hit with some nasty bugs. Some of them literally stop the whole platform from collecting traffic data. They should really do more Q&A on the software stability before release."

"Between the host analysis and session analysis, there is a limitation of one hour. This can hinder us if a situation occurred ten hours ago."

"When we would like to use a feature, we have to remove another one. For me it's a bit of a drawback; I'm a bit frustrated with it."

"The initial setup was complex. It was hard to know what to tap and how to tap."

"A lot of tools highlight what's going on but they don't actually pinpoint the user experience. It would be good if there were a small message or something highlighting what the user experience is like and any degradation that's actually occurring."

"We see it overload once in a while. It doesn't have built-in protection. Therefore, once it gets too much data, it tends to crash. Then, we have to recover it."

More NETSCOUT Network & Application Observability cons

"Big trace files (more than 1,000,000 packets) can be slow, but then you can use "TraceWrangler" (also free) to help with slicing and dicing the data."

"I would like better control of bandwidth from the service provider."

"Wireshark is restricted when any sort of encryption is involved, such as XSL encryption or DLX."

"DNS could be improved."

"Great scalability, but they are beginning to sacrifice ease of use for complexity."

"I would like to see Wireshark improve the ease of application of the command. The command is very powerful, but not easy to apply."

"Wireshark could make the filtering rules easier to apply and offer a drag-and-drop option as opposed to type and text."

"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."

More Wireshark cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"We have a premium customized contract for the solution."

"If you are able and you are willing to use everything that Netscout provides to you, it's probably a relatively fair price. The problem is that it's such a large and such a complex tool that I'm not sure that many companies would be able to use it entirely, the way it's expected to be used."

"It can be scalable. It just costs too much. With a company as big as ours, it gets too expensive to accommodate every single site."

"Cost is probably the biggest drawback. Compared to some of the newer vendors that have popped up in the space, it's definitely more on the expensive side... [But] it's been able to keep its value, even in the face of the cheaper competition."

"Like any company, we always want better pricing. The pricing is okay, but it's not a cheap solution. When you want to deploy it across an enterprise as large as ours, you go into seven figures. It's not a cheap solution to get out there."

"Licensing is flexible, it's not tied to anything else. We can easily switch up the licensing piece... Obviously, NETSCOUT is a little bit in the higher range, but it gives you value for money. You get what you pay for."

"The tool's price is okay. On a scale of one to ten, I rate it as a five, where one means it is not expensive, and ten means it is the most expensive."

"It was pretty modest because you could get it in different ways. I think the six licenses, at that time, were about $1,000 each. But then again, I work for a school and educators tend to get discounts on things. So maybe it cost us about five or six hundred a copy."

More NETSCOUT Network & Application Observability pricing and cost advice

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

"We are using a freeware version of this solution, so there are no licence costs involved."

"It is free."

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

"It is an open-source solution."

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

"Wireshark is free of charge, and there's no license involved."

"It is free to download and install. It runs on multiple platforms, so how can you go wrong?"

More Wireshark pricing and cost advice

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Outsourcing Company

11%

Financial Services Firm

11%

Construction Company

10%

Manufacturing Company

University

11%

Manufacturing Company

10%

Construction Company

Financial Services Firm

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	19
Midsize Enterprise	7
Large Enterprise	52

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	31
Midsize Enterprise	11
Large Enterprise	29

Questions from the Community

Which is the best DDoS protection solution for a big ISP for monitoring and mitigating?

I would say if it’s an ISP that will build a scrubbing center, Netscout/Arbor is a good solution. In all other solutions, Imperva is a great choice.

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for NETSCOUT nGeniusONE?

Regarding its high price, I give NETSCOUT nGeniusONE a seven.

What needs improvement with NETSCOUT nGeniusONE?

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Wireshark?

Wireshark is priced at a medium range, not too high, not too low. The pricing could be more flexible, and they might make it more expensive. That said, compared to other products, it is competitive.

What needs improvement with Wireshark?

Wireshark can be improved if it provides the accessibility of capturing packets from one device that is installed in the network without needing the port-mirrored facility. They could provide somet...

What is your primary use case for Wireshark?

Wireshark's main use case is capturing packets and reviewing the data flow over the network. Regarding my main use case for Wireshark, it is a great tool and would be one of the best tools availabl...

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Product Reports

NETSCOUT Network & Application Observability

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NETSCOUT Network & Application Observability report

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Also Known As

NETSCOUT nGenius, NETSCOUT nGeniusONE, NETSCOUT nGeniusPULSE, NETSCOUT vSTREAM, NETSCOUT InfiniStreamNG, Iris Session Analyzer, ClearSight Analyzer

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Overview

NETSCOUT Network & Application Observability enhances network operations by offering powerful packet analysis and real-time insights. It transforms raw data into intelligence and simplifies troubleshooting, ensuring effective monitoring across diverse platforms.

NETSCOUT Network & Application Observability delivers comprehensive visibility and interoperability with a single pane of glass to aid in quick troubleshooting and traffic monitoring. It provides real-time insights and metrics that enhance network evaluations, helping transform raw data into actionable intelligence for better performance monitoring across diverse environments. However, it faces challenges like complexity, non-intuitive dashboard setup, and high server requirements. Enhancements in data analysis, visualization, and security features, along with improved integration with other products and detailed alerts, are needed.

What are the key features of NETSCOUT Network & Application Observability?

Packet Analysis: Provides robust packet capture and analysis for deep insights.
Single Pane of Glass: Simplifies traffic monitoring and dependency mapping.
Real-Time Insights: Offers instant, actionable information for troubleshooting.
Application Performance Metrics: Evaluates performance across network applications.
Interoperability: Ensures seamless operation across various network environments.

What benefits do users highlight?

Actionable Intelligence: Transforms raw data for strategic decisions.
Enhanced Monitoring: Facilitates efficient network operation monitoring.
Proactive Alerting: Supports real-time issue identification and response.
Bandwidth Management: Optimizes resource usage for cost efficiency.
Application Management: Monitors application performance for better user experience.

NETSCOUT Network & Application Observability is widely implemented in industries such as telecom and banking for network troubleshooting and application performance management. It helps in monitoring infrastructure, capturing unknown traffic, and managing bandwidth. The tool supports security alerts, real-time communications analysis, and proactive monitoring of remote sites, aiding in efficient network operations and enhanced end-user experience.

NETSCOUT

Wireshark offers robust packet analysis through comprehensive filtering and color-coding features, adaptable across platforms due to its open-source nature. It supports real-time and offline packet captures, multiple protocols, and easy installation, making it a favored tool for network experts.

Renowned for its traffic decryption capabilities and detailed traffic insights, Wireshark provides deep packet inspection and a simple GUI. Ideal for network troubleshooting, it allows users to view VoIP traffic and perform advanced customizations. While Wireshark's interface can be complex and challenging for newcomers, its powerful features make it invaluable in identifying network issues, inspecting protocols, and understanding data flow across wired and wireless environments. Users seek more intuitive filters, better Windows and non-laptop support, as well as features like real-time evolution and graphical analysis tools to enhance usability. Wireshark's wide application includes security research, protocol analysis, and application performance baselining, supporting both on-premises and cloud-based operations.

What are Wireshark's standout features?

Filtering and Color-Coding: Enables detailed packet analysis.
Real-Time and Offline Captures: Supports both capture modes for comprehensive network monitoring.
Traffic Decryption: Provides detailed insights into encrypted traffic.
Deep Packet Inspection: Delivers granular network data examination.
GUI Simplicity: Ensures ease of use despite complex capabilities.

What benefits and ROI should users evaluate?

Network Troubleshooting: Streamlines identification and resolution of network issues.
Protocol Inspection: Facilitates in-depth examination of network communication protocols.
Traffic Monitoring: Ensures effective monitoring of network traffic in real time.
Security Research: Assists in uncovering malicious traffic and vulnerabilities.
Application Performance: Aids in baselining and optimizing app performance.

Wireshark is implemented across industries to manage and troubleshoot networks, analyze traffic flow, and ensure secure, efficient communication. It supports research and security operations, providing insights into protocol usage and application performance across physical and virtual environments. Its deployment spans education, telecommunications, finance, and healthcare, underpinning connectivity and data integrity.

Sample Customers

Cerner Corporation

Comversion, ADP, Talbots

Network Troubleshooting