IxNetwork VE vs NetAlly EtherScope nXG comparison

Keysight Technologies and NetAlly are both solutions in the Network Diagnostics category. Keysight Technologies is ranked #1, while NetAlly is ranked #2 with an average rating of 8.5. Keysight Technologies holds a 17.0% mindshare in ND, compared to NetAlly’s 5.8% mindshare. Additionally, 100% of NetAlly users are willing to recommend the solution.

IxNetwork VE

Read 1 IxNetwork VE review

441 Views
437 Comparison Views

0% willing to recommend

NetAlly EtherScope nXG

Read 23 NetAlly EtherScope nXG reviews

1,376 Views
206 Comparison Views

100% willing to recommend

IxNetwork VE

NetAlly EtherScope nXG

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Download the report

Executive Summary

We performed a comparison between IxNetwork VE and NetAlly EtherScope nXG based on real PeerSpot user reviews.

Find out what your peers are saying about Keysight Technologies, NetAlly, Riverbed and others in Network Diagnostics.

To learn more, read our detailed Network Diagnostics Report (Updated: February 2026).

Buyer's Guide

Network Diagnostics

February 2026

Download the complete report

Helped 882,103 peers since 2012

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

IxNetwork VE

Ranking in Network Diagnostics

1st

Average Rating

0.0

Reviews Sentiment

8.4

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

NetAlly EtherScope nXG

Ranking in Network Diagnostics

2nd

Average Rating

8.8

Reviews Sentiment

7.7

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

Network Troubleshooting (3rd)

Mindshare comparison

As of February 2026, in the Network Diagnostics category, the mindshare of IxNetwork VE is 17.0%, down from 31.7% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of NetAlly EtherScope nXG is 5.8%, down from 8.1% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Network Diagnostics Market Share Distribution
Product	Market Share (%)
IxNetwork VE	17.0%
NetAlly EtherScope nXG	5.8%
Other	77.2%

Network Diagnostics

Featured Reviews

WilsonAitan

Deputy Country Manager at PT Securite Asia Indonesia (ABP Securite)

Reduces probe solution costs with advanced deduplication and metadata capabilities

The use case for this tool is generally for enterprise customers who have more than two monitoring tools. These customers obtain information from switches that have a limitation of up to two-point mirroring or span ports. Therefore, if I have more than two monitoring tools, I need a network packet…

Read full review

Doug Dickerson

Manager at Northwestern

Handheld form factor, intuitive interface that is easy to use, helps us quickly troubleshoot network problems

It would be helpful if this product interfaced with AirWave. The battery life should be improved. The real negative to the product is the horrible battery life. We had hoped for it to be able to deliver configurations to our network switches, and I think they're developing something for that. However, it doesn't do that now. We were hoping that we would, as we replace or refresh network components, be able to use this tool to push a config file to the switch. For example, the Aruba switches that we're deploying come with a Bluetooth function where we can push configs from our phones. It would be much more convenient to use this device, rather than using our personal cell phones to do it. I think that the capability is there, but it just hasn't been figured out yet.

Read full review

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"The most valuable features for me include deduplication, metadata processing, and the ability to perform media services."

"I would recommend IxNetwork VE to others."

"The most valuable feature is the ability to identify the switchboards, when you plug the EtherScope into the network drop, and all other details about the switch. This is very useful because when you are not in that IDF or network closet but far away from that switch, you can identify the board and then configure the board for your needs, remotely."

"Another good thing I really liked was that it would not only tell me the IP address, but it would tell me more info. It would grab the CDP off of the CDP profile and read all the info it could get, so I knew what I was looking at."

"Among those features that are important are the AutoTest to create a profile and then see that the network connection is in line with that profile. Also, the LANBERT test to have an idea about the quality of the cable. It is often the case that you have no reports on the cable infrastructure, so this test is also very valuable for us."

"The most valuable part is absolutely being able to assess existing WiFi networks quickly. You get very powerful details of networks, details that you couldn't see unless you had multiple pieces of software and hardware. This does it all in one thing."

"I love the AutoTest feature... AutoTest allows us to find out what port it is on the switch and to trace it back to a particular patch panel. We can then document it, if necessary, or use that information for connecting a device or for re-VLANing a switch to the appropriate VLAN."

"When it comes to that remote troubleshooting perspective of being able to survey an area to see if there are problems, make adjustments, and then have that same individual resurvey that same area, I don't have to send people to a week long class on how to use the device. I know I am getting consistent results, which can verify near real-time, and whether or not the changes that I have implemented solve the problem."

"One of the key measurements that we use out of the device is the channel utilization measurement, how much traffic is on the air in a given channel. That's the most valuable feature for us. The ability to make a very fast measurement of how much traffic is on the air is a key value. Otherwise we'd have to do a packet capture and do some analysis. It speeds up our testing."

"I like EtherScope's WiFi scanning, heat map, and load testing. It's an excellent tool that sets you straight, so you don't need to beat around the bush or wait for other people. It's easy to share the reports with other people."

More NetAlly EtherScope nXG pros

Cons

"The data center facet of IxNetwork Packet Broker can be improved, particularly concerning mapping from the cache."

"The only improvement I can come up with is the battery life. If they could improve the battery life, that would be great."

"The largest complaint that we get is the battery life on the unit. If you are using it heavily, you get about five hours of usage out of it. In an eight hour day, that is not perfect for us. We would like more battery usage. The battery thing is annoying."

"NetAlly EtherScope nXG's reporting and table qualification could be improved."

"If I could reset it remotely, meaning reboot the unit, that would be helpful. One time, the test would not respond; the script would lock up. I had to go and manually reboot it. If I could have sent a command to reboot and it would have automatically connected to the wireless, that would have made it perfect. That was the only thing that it did not do."

"There is room for improvement in the battery life and price."

"I would love to see port profiles. This is something I've expressed to them. The ability for a technician to plug it into a switch port, and say, "Okay, this port will be an access point or this port will be a phone and desktop PC," thus choosing a profile. It will then push a configuration to the device it's connected to and verify that the switch port is correctly configured, so I can hand this to a phone tech who doesn't have any access to a network switch to be able to make changes. They can go out and plug this into a port, then they are able to push a profile to the switch port through the device. That would be pretty fantastic as a next step for this device."

"On a hardware spec, it'd be nice to have something above 10-Gigs."

"The only issue that I have ever had is the battery life. It does drain a little bit quickly... While it's true that by the time I'm finished with my assessment it's usually dead, I have usually finished what I need to do and everything has been pushed to Link-Live. But occasionally, I might need a backup battery if I need to do something for multiple hours."

More NetAlly EtherScope nXG cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

Information not available

"It's very expensive. I wish I could buy a few more and give them to all the people who could use it, or perhaps send it to a client, given that some of its features are easy to use. But sending something worth $8,000 or $9,000 is nerve-racking. It would be nice that if it were a lot less expensive."

"If you're in the networking world, this product makes great sense very quickly, if you're going to use it more than a few times a week... If you are just looking at a handheld device unit for specific, wireless or wired testing and not much else, the cost may be a little more prohibitive than what you have in your budget."

"It's the best 10Gig network tester for the price on the market."

"Depending on the company, it could be somewhat costly. But just two of these devices can save you thousands upon thousands of dollars."

"The cost is not cheap but it totally pays for itself because it can do so much."

"The pricing is very expensive, but this tool is the best."

"The pricing can be a little bit high for a handheld tool, mostly because, potentially, people do not understand what's in the package. However, NetAlly offers great bundled deals. We got a significantly good deal by ordering a package of these devices that had a whole test kit together. So, while it's very high, the value is certainly there, and the vendor does offer value-added features to offset that cost."

"NetAlly EtherScope nXG is priced too much and needs to come down by about 15 percent of its current price."

More NetAlly EtherScope nXG pricing and cost advice

See which vendors are best for you

Use our free recommendation engine to learn which Network Diagnostics solutions are best for your needs.

See recommendations

882,103 professionals have used our research since 2012.

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

No data available

Manufacturing Company

11%

Government

Educational Organization

Healthcare Company

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

No data available

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	11
Midsize Enterprise	1
Large Enterprise	11

Questions from the Community

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for IxNetwork VE?

The pricing of this solution is usually quite high.

See all answers

What needs improvement with IxNetwork VE?

The data center facet of IxNetwork Packet Broker can be improved, particularly concerning mapping from the cache.

See all answers

What is your primary use case for IxNetwork VE?

See all answers

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for NetAlly EtherScope nXG?

In terms of pricing, EtherScope isn't cheap. It's a significant investment, and not a budget option.

See all answers

What needs improvement with NetAlly EtherScope nXG?

The main area for improvement that stands out is the lack of a microburst dashboard, which some other vendors offer. However, NetAlly has carved out its niche by focusing on comprehensive network a...

See all answers

What is your primary use case for NetAlly EtherScope nXG?

We mainly use NetAlly EtherScope nXG for troubleshooting. Linksprinter helps us solve problems and understand how things work. For example, SpamTitan is automatic, but beginners might not understan...

See all answers

Comparisons

Fortinet FortiTester vs IxNetwork VE

Compared 47% of the time

IBM Tivoli Network Manager vs IxNetwork VE

Compared 24% of the time

More IxNetwork VE Competitors

LinkRunner vs NetAlly EtherScope nXG

Compared 23% of the time

AirCheck G3 vs NetAlly EtherScope nXG

Compared 18% of the time

AirMagnet Survey PRO vs NetAlly EtherScope nXG

Compared 17% of the time

Wireshark vs NetAlly EtherScope nXG

Compared 13% of the time

LinkSprinter vs NetAlly EtherScope nXG

Compared 6% of the time

More NetAlly EtherScope nXG Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

Network Diagnostics

February 2026

Download IxNetwork VE product report

Buyer's Guide

NetAlly EtherScope nXG

January 2026

Download NetAlly EtherScope nXG product report

Also Known As

No data available

EtherScope nXG, EtherScope, netAlly EtherScope, OptiView XG

Overview

IxNetwork VE is designed to test the functional and performance testing of physical and virtual network infrastructure, capacity, scalability, and convergence using scaled protocol emulation and traffic. IxNetwork VE can emulate protocols for routing and switching, data center Ethernet, software-defined networking (SDN), broadband access, and industrial Ethernet.

Provides comprehensive protocol coverage for routing/switching, multiprotocol label switching (MPLS), broadband access, data center networking, and SDN
Powerful traffic generation and statistics engine including stateless L2-3 traffic and stateful L4-7 application flows
Common IxNetwork user interface across both Ixia hardware and virtual products enables end-to-end virtual and hardware based testing from a single pane of glass
VMs of the Ixia hardware components (virtual chassis, virtual load modules_ are software that is optimized for protocol emulation and traffic generation in a virtual environement
Comprehensive platform support including standalone hypervisors (VMware ESXi and KVM) and OpenStack-based private clouds

Keysight Technologies

Multi-technology, all-in-one handheld network tester that enables engineers and technicians to get more done faster, from deployment to maintenance and documentation of their ever-changing Wi-Fi and Ethernet access networks.

The Etherscope nXG is the the industry’s first handheld analyzer for Wi-Fi 6/6E surveying (with AirMapper™ Site Survey), troubleshooting, and analysis.

Find out what your peers are saying about Keysight Technologies, NetAlly, Riverbed and others in Network Diagnostics. Updated: February 2026.

DOWNLOAD NOW

882,103 professionals have used our research since 2012.

See our list of best Network Diagnostics vendors.

We monitor all Network Diagnostics reviews to prevent fraudulent reviews and keep review quality high. We do not post reviews by company employees or direct competitors. We validate each review for authenticity via cross-reference with LinkedIn, and personal follow-up with the reviewer when necessary.