Network Diagnostic tools

Hey Guys

Whats some good free diagnostic tools for finding network related problems?

Already use Debugging in the router, WireShark, Ip Scanner (Angry IP), Port Scanner (Super Scan 3), tracert/route, etc.

But looking for more tools that are free to use?

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Comments

rsutton

The tools you listed can solve or diagnose most problems; I think anything else would be for a specific issue. Is there a certain type of problem you run in to that you can't solve with the above tools?

I do like WinMTR for troubleshooting latency issues.

Plantwiz

Perhaps you could shed light on what you are hoping to monitor? You have a good arsenal of tools at your fingertips already, what additional nuggets are you hoping to find? Have you had something happen recently that is causing you to dig into something more? Are you in Private sector or Public? Do you have any ability to recommend items that may be picked up next fiscal period? Frequently, what is 'free' is not free to corporate users, but each software spells out what they consider fair use or not pretty clearly, so what type of budget may you have available?

Codeman6669

thanks for the replies. I agree the tools i have listed will resolve most situations.
But i certainly run into situations that just seem to well... not make since. say I discover one router works better then the other when it comes to streaming audio on the LAN. From a packet capture, ping responses, etc. everything looks exactly the same between the two routers. Why one works better then the other is perhaps beyond my knowledge? Packet captures on the WAN and LAN dont show any retransmitted packets, or errors. But i cant explain why one is better then the other.

I guess what im looking for is a way to more accurately identify the root of a problem rather then "this one is bad". Perhaps im looking to far into this, or maybe i have a lot more schooling to attend. (which i do)

I mean surely you guys come across some nearly "unexplainable" problems that you can solve but cant explain specifically why?

Node Man

I like - IP SLA.

Plantwiz

Codeman6669 wrote: »

. But i cant explain why one is better then the other.

Well,

are the devices identical? Are the updates (firmware) current or the same version on both? What about traffic? What type of traffic is on one device link vs. the other? If one is in Sales and the other is in Accounting (as an example) the type of usage will be different. Packet for packet is not significant, but the volume of packets could be if say you are comparing 5 people in Accounting vs. 30 Sales people and where they are directing their requests (a particular server or different hops between physical areas).

My gut is betting you are not looking at true apples to apples when you are evaluating your traffic patterns. Yes, both devices should handle things similarly (and each vendor hardware will be a little different (Cisco vs. Netgear or something else..Business Class vs. consumer grade).

Additionally, you can look at how the server NICs and the device NICs are set to handle data as well as is their firmware all up to date?

Cable length, patch cable quality, wall jack quality (maybe a pin is bent) are you cables or wirelss picking up distortion from Microwaves or heaters or something? One area of a building my be better insulated from these things than another. If you have to troubleshoot that specifically, you'll need to dig into the physical stuff (from my experience). And once you do, depending on the price the performance issues may not seem to be as bothersome to those making the decisions, but bends in cable, cable length, change from cable to jack to cable etc...all contribute to some performance degradation.

So, I would ask what type of 'problem' have you seen that you cannot solve?