Principal Solutions Architect at a comms service provider with 201-500 employees
Real User
Nov 6, 2019
SolarWinds consists of several modules from NetFlow/IPFix to config management. Typically the NetFlow piece is used in comparison with NetScout nGenius/Infinistream ASI.
NetScout Infinistream and nGenius is a closed Packet stream to disk solution that provides deep insight into how client-server applications
work over the LAN WAN. I believe NS still has the ability to ingest NetFlow, SFlow, JFlow, and IPFix.
The question you pose is quite complex for those not familiar, the only similarity is that both solutions allow IT staff the ability to obtain
information from the network. NetFlow is a sampled view often collected only from WAN routers. That has been historically used for Capacity Planning and Security workflows. NetScout depends on streaming packets to disk acquiring packets from a packet broker, tap, port mirror/span session.
So they are actually night and day. Netflow is a sample and does not provide the insight that a packet capture provides for those who understand
them.
Product Line Management and Business Development Director at a comms service provider with 201-500 employees
Real User
Nov 6, 2019
SolarWinds NPM and nGenius One are very different in nature and capabilities.
SolarWinds NPM has a wide range of capabilities to monitor the availability of network devices and services, track network paths (by active testing).
nGenius One is more of a traffic visibility solution that captures traffic and shows the characteristics of the conversations going through the network (including the network and end-user performance).
If you are looking at the second, you certainly want to look at Accedian's Skylight which offers a massive advantage when it comes to performance visibility!
IT Infrastructure Manager at a healthcare company with 1,001-5,000 employees
User
Nov 6, 2019
Although both products can overlap in what information they provide, nGenius One primarily uses packets from the network to monitor application performance and excels at deep packet analysis. SolarWinds primarily gathers data from SNMP, WMI, Netflow and other metrics to monitor the status of equipment (up, down, temperature, interface data, etc) as well as providing application performance statistics.
Common aspects of Solarwinds NPM and NetScout - Provide information pertaining to the network - latency, response time, the path taken, traffic info
Key differences - Use of different techniques - SNMP vs Packet capture
SNMP may give you added information like node status, hardware health, performance statistics, device-level information Packet capture may give you added information like TCP retransmissions, packet loss.
Solarwinds will rely on SNMP configuration on a device to send status, statistics and discovery using Polling as well as send Traps on specific incidents NetScout will rely on various port mirror taps into the network where the traffic needs to be analyzed in detail.
Skills required for Solarwinds are fairly minimum (maybe just understanding how SNMP works - polling & traps while NetScout skills will need you to master TCP/IP communication with details of the packet fields - source IP, dest IP, source port, dest port, various flags, etc.
IT strategist at Convergent Wireless Communications
Real User
Nov 6, 2019
From my experience, I would suggest PRTG Network Monitor over both instead of getting into details as to which one of NETSCOUT and Solarwinds is better. Both Solarwinds and NETSCOUT are expensive. NETSCOUNT is into loggerheads with Gartner report. Gartner rate Solarwinds well and PRTG Network Monitor is as good or even better than Solarwinds but far less expensive. I would recommend evaluating PRTG Network Monitor also to assess its suitability to meet your requirements.
Find out what your peers are saying about NETSCOUT Network & Application Observability vs. SolarWinds NPM and other solutions. Updated: September 2026.
SolarWinds NPM and NETSCOUT nGeniusONE compete in the network monitoring category. NETSCOUT nGeniusONE appears to have the upper hand due to its advanced packet analysis capabilities, which are crucial for enterprises requiring detailed diagnostics. Features: SolarWinds NPM offers NetPath and PerfStack for extensive network performance monitoring, real-time data insights across devices, and strong reporting tools. NETSCOUT nGeniusONE specializes in traffic analysis, providing insights into...
SolarWinds consists of several modules from NetFlow/IPFix to config management. Typically the NetFlow piece is used in comparison with NetScout nGenius/Infinistream ASI.
NetScout Infinistream and nGenius is a closed Packet stream to disk solution that provides deep insight into how client-server applications
work over the LAN WAN. I believe NS still has the ability to ingest NetFlow, SFlow, JFlow, and IPFix.
The question you pose is quite complex for those not familiar, the only similarity is that both solutions allow IT staff the ability to obtain
information from the network. NetFlow is a sampled view often collected only from WAN routers. That has been historically used for Capacity Planning and Security workflows. NetScout depends on streaming packets to disk acquiring packets from a packet broker, tap, port mirror/span session.
So they are actually night and day. Netflow is a sample and does not provide the insight that a packet capture provides for those who understand
them.
SolarWinds NPM and nGenius One are very different in nature and capabilities.
SolarWinds NPM has a wide range of capabilities to monitor the availability of network devices and services, track network paths (by active testing).
nGenius One is more of a traffic visibility solution that captures traffic and shows the characteristics of the conversations going through the network (including the network and end-user performance).
If you are looking at the second, you certainly want to look at Accedian's Skylight which offers a massive advantage when it comes to performance visibility!
Although both products can overlap in what information they provide, nGenius One primarily uses packets from the network to monitor application performance and excels at deep packet analysis. SolarWinds primarily gathers data from SNMP, WMI, Netflow and other metrics to monitor the status of equipment (up, down, temperature, interface data, etc) as well as providing application performance statistics.
Common aspects of Solarwinds NPM and NetScout - Provide information pertaining to the network - latency, response time, the path taken, traffic info
Key differences - Use of different techniques - SNMP vs Packet capture
SNMP may give you added information like node status, hardware health, performance statistics, device-level information Packet capture may give you added information like TCP retransmissions, packet loss.
Solarwinds will rely on SNMP configuration on a device to send status, statistics and discovery using Polling as well as send Traps on specific incidents NetScout will rely on various port mirror taps into the network where the traffic needs to be analyzed in detail.
Skills required for Solarwinds are fairly minimum (maybe just understanding how SNMP works - polling & traps while NetScout skills will need you to master TCP/IP communication with details of the packet fields - source IP, dest IP, source port, dest port, various flags, etc.
From my experience, I would suggest PRTG Network Monitor over both instead of getting into details as to which one of NETSCOUT and Solarwinds is better. Both Solarwinds and NETSCOUT are expensive. NETSCOUNT is into loggerheads with Gartner report. Gartner rate Solarwinds well and PRTG Network Monitor is as good or even better than Solarwinds but far less expensive. I would recommend evaluating PRTG Network Monitor also to assess its suitability to meet your requirements.