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DX Spectrum vs LinkSprinter comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Jul 11, 2024

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

DX Spectrum
Ranking in Network Troubleshooting
7th
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
6.7
Number of Reviews
117
Ranking in other categories
Network Management Applications (7th), Network Monitoring Software (21st), IT Infrastructure Monitoring (20th), DX NetOps (1st)
LinkSprinter
Ranking in Network Troubleshooting
5th
Average Rating
9.0
Reviews Sentiment
7.5
Number of Reviews
3
Ranking in other categories
Network Diagnostics (3rd)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of January 2026, in the Network Troubleshooting category, the mindshare of DX Spectrum is 4.9%, up from 3.0% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of LinkSprinter is 6.1%, down from 8.6% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Network Troubleshooting Market Share Distribution
ProductMarket Share (%)
LinkSprinter6.1%
DX Spectrum4.9%
Other89.0%
Network Troubleshooting
 

Featured Reviews

Balabrahmam_Chakka - PeerSpot reviewer
Senior Program Manager at Tata Consultancy Services
Comprehensive device monitoring enhances operational efficiency
DX Spectrum should have an automatic ticketing mechanism with ServiceNow. I need to use other tools for event management. It has a dashboarding mechanism and monitors devices and network switches through SNMP without an agent, which is good, but it should also have event management. Its LDAP authentication is fine. However, event management is not available, which is a concern. Not much else. If they can add event management, it would help. The event management should have more deduplication and alert correlation and check the bidirectional communication with ServiceNow. If a previous ticket is open and the same alert is generated, there's no need to create another ticket; updating the work notes would suffice. It should help reduce noise in alerting.
JamesStout - PeerSpot reviewer
IT Director at JVS Consulting
A small, convenient tool that is very stable, but needs to have a longer battery life
They could make it easier to set up originally, because the initial setup can be quite hit and miss. It is also quite battery intensive, so it might last a bit longer if it had a lithium battery. You're always having to replace the batteries, so it would be good if it could be USB-charged or something like that.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"The Global Collections are what I found to be most valuable. With the Global Collections, you're able to organize and categorize devices into "folders," or functional groups and categories, so that it doesn't matter which SpectroSERVER those devices are on."
"The Spectrum tool improved our network assurance levels for our business units."
"Allows us to have a single console/notification point, with the alarms of all the tools that we use for monitoring."
"The solution's most valuable features are its integration with Broadcom tools and scalability."
"The most valuable feature is the event correlation mechanism."
"I have found the cross analysis feature to be the most valuable."
"We were able to standardize the internal processes across all internal departments, resulting in almost an elimination of non-standard process flows through our organization."
"It has a high-quality graphical interface."
"The tool fits in your pocket, so it's easy to carry and you don't have to have a big bag of tools."
"The solution provides switch port and VLAN information."
 

Cons

"There's a little bit of complexity to the initial install because you're dealing with operating systems. You have to make sure all the prerequisites are done, anti-virus exceptions, etc. Then there's the bringing it up and then there's discovery of the network and setting that up. It takes time."
"It takes some time to learn how to use this solution."
"Make it easier to certify devices."
"I would like to see CA move Spectrum, Performance Manager, and some of their other tools moved to a SaaS based model. You see a lot of other manufacturers which are moving toward SaaS based models."
"It's not a great performance management tool. Its reporting capabilities are not very good at all."
"The solution's stability needs improvement."
"It doesn’t give you performance metrics: You need CA eHealth for this."
"It needs better integration with other CA products."
"The solution should improve cable testing."
"They could make it easier to set up originally, because the initial setup can be quite hit and miss."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"It is expensive compared to other tools in the market."
"Since the acquisition by Broadcom, we have not had such a good experience with licensing and pricing. Since they were bought by Broadcom, every sales contract is getting complicated. It's very complicated, and it's much more expensive than before. It's not a good pricing strategy from Broadcom."
"The solution's pricing could be better."
"The product, support, and maintenance are all expensive, which is another reason that we are switching to another solution."
"Currently, a perpetual license but some services are moving to a subscription"
"The cost of some of these products are a little cost prohibitive, which is unfortunate. We have to find lower cost solutions for some of the things that we have to pull in. For the most part, CA has capabilities in pretty much everything that you would need. You just have to figure out where are you going to spend the most money for what you have to actually get done. You can do all these things but, which ones do you have to do? And that's hard to choose sometimes because you want to do them all."
"Spectrum is expensive."
"It’s a great tool, but an expensive one. Learn how to use it properly."
"The product is a little bit overpriced."
"You pay for the device, but you don't have to pay for the app."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
17%
Manufacturing Company
8%
Comms Service Provider
7%
Energy/Utilities Company
5%
Healthcare Company
16%
University
11%
Financial Services Firm
8%
Hospitality Company
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business25
Midsize Enterprise19
Large Enterprise89
No data available
 

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about DX Spectrum?
The solution's most valuable features are its integration with Broadcom tools and scalability.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for DX Spectrum?
The price of DX Spectrum is not competitive when compared to other solutions, such as SolarWinds. The high price has caused us to lose many deals.
What needs improvement with DX Spectrum?
I would like to see improvements in making the interface more user-friendly. Many people find it not simple to use. One of the common customer complaints is about the alarm notifications. Currently...
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Comparisons

 

Also Known As

CA Spectrum
No data available
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

National Informatics Centre India, Banese, Olympus, AlphaServe Technologies, Sicredi
Cisco, Marriott, Sands Expo, Valparaiso University, Memorial Hermann Health Care System, Mount Sinai, Cox Enterprises, George Washington University, University of Iowa.
Find out what your peers are saying about DX Spectrum vs. LinkSprinter and other solutions. Updated: December 2025.
881,082 professionals have used our research since 2012.