AirCheck G3 vs Wireshark comparison

NetAlly and Wireshark are both solutions in the Network Troubleshooting category. NetAlly is ranked #7, while Wireshark is ranked #3 with an average rating of 8.9. NetAlly holds a 7.6% mindshare in NT, compared to Wireshark’s 13.2% mindshare. Additionally, 100% of NetAlly users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 98% of Wireshark users who would recommend it.

AirCheck G3

Read 13 AirCheck G3 reviews

812 Views
269 Comparison Views

100% willing to recommend

Wireshark

Read 63 Wireshark reviews

711 Views
433 Comparison Views

98% willing to recommend

AirCheck G3

Wireshark

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Download the report

Executive SummaryUpdated on Jul 11, 2024

Wireshark and AirCheck G3 are leading network analysis tools with distinct user benefits. Despite Wireshark’s strong user reviews regarding its advanced capabilities and cost-effectiveness, AirCheck G3 stands out for its specialized hardware features and ease of use.

Features: Wireshark users value its comprehensive packet analysis, protocol decoding, and extensive filter capabilities. AirCheck G3 is appreciated for its hardware portability, network discovery features, and real-time troubleshooting.

Room for Improvement: Wireshark reviews suggest a need for more intuitive setup processes and improved graphical analysis tools. Users of AirCheck G3 point to its limited software-based network testing options and higher cost.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: Wireshark users note a straightforward deployment but highlight a steep learning curve and community-based support. AirCheck G3 users find the device quick to deploy with strong technical support from the vendor.

Pricing and ROI: Wireshark is praised for its free usage model and high ROI by minimizing network downtimes through its detailed analysis. AirCheck G3’s higher initial setup cost is balanced by its portability and effective troubleshooting.

To learn more, read our detailed AirCheck G3 vs. Wireshark Report (Updated: April 2025).

Buyer's Guide

AirCheck G3 vs. Wireshark

April 2025

Download the complete report

Helped 849,190 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

AirCheck G3

Ranking in Network Troubleshooting

7th

Average Rating

8.6

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

Wireshark

Ranking in Network Troubleshooting

3rd

Average Rating

9.0

Reviews Sentiment

7.7

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

Mindshare comparison

As of April 2025, in the Network Troubleshooting category, the mindshare of AirCheck G3 is 7.6%, down from 8.3% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Wireshark is 13.2%, up from 12.2% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Network Troubleshooting

Featured Reviews

David-Prusynski

Senior Network Engineer at a healthcare company with 5,001-10,000 employees

A portable, rugged device that reduces resolution time and saves thousands of dollars

It would be nice if I could import an AP list with a MAC address. When it looks at access points, it should tell me the AP name instead of the MAC address. When you get a MAC address, you can eventually find out where you want to go. However, a lot of times, if I just have an AP name, I know that's in this area or that's over there. I would like that function because AirMagnet, which is the precursor of this, had that ability where you could basically import a list of APs and MAC addresses, and then it could display those instead of just a MAC address. That'd be a nice function. We should be able to put an AP to MAC address in Excel and export it as a CSV file and then import it. That'd be nice to have because I have that information for all my hospitals. The one I'm doing this weekend has got 550 access points. It is much easier for me to look at an AP name than to get a MAC address. Currently, I have to go to a different spreadsheet and try to find that MAC address. If I had the AP name, it would be like, "Okay. Yep. See it. Done." They are doing spectrum analysis in G3, which I would love to have in G2. That's a nice tool to have, and from what I heard, that's the same price. I'd like to have that. The other function I would love to see is the ability to test fiber. I know the $10,000 version has the ability to test fiber, but I would love this lower-cost device to be able to test fiber.

Read full review

Vijay Duggal

Network Specialist at Squarepoint Capital

Provides detailed traffic analysis and helps troubleshoot issues

There is a disadvantage when it comes to sampling intervals. While the solution supports sampling as fine as one millisecond, it requires a copy at that interval. My Python script allows me to achieve a granularity of up to ten microseconds, but I can't go beyond that. When dealing with provisioning on both issues, it would be beneficial if I could go down to the microsecond level, if not the nanosecond. Additionally, I've heard from a colleague that Wireshark might be less effective in the voice domain.

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

"AirCheck made a lot of children and caregivers quite happy. While I might not have resolved everything, I have reduced the problems that we had every night. During the day, they would do visible checks and not always rely on the monitors, but every night, they had at least three or four of those alarms. I was able to reduce it to once or twice a week since those appliances are still limited in their wireless capability."

"AirCheck G2 gives me an overview of which channels are used by the access points or who delivers the Wi-Fi, which gives me a clear picture of what's going on."

"I also like the remote session and the ability to log in to the device remotely. You can log in to the tester with your computer and can see the screen and operate the tester remotely. This is a very cool function, but it's very advanced."

"AirCheck has a feature that lets you play a tone so you can track down a rogue AP based on the RF signal. That's a cool feature. It can also help you identify interference like microwave ovens or Bluetooth devices. I also like the ability to link it to your online account. It sends a report via email and saves it on the cloud."

"The airCheck is the real-time spectrum analyzer to see clients that could be connecting to our network, not just rogue networks out there, but rogue clients and other interference in that particular spectrum."

"The auto-test, channel scanner, packet capture, and Link-Live integration are all crucial features we use regularly. The wired cable tester is also indispensable. We frequently run into problems during cable testing that are hard to pin down. When tracking down a cable problem, you usually need to plug something into the cable and ensure the cable plant is reliable."

"I like the cloud functionality. That's very useful because somebody can go onsite, someone who is not really skilled, and I can see the test results from the office."

"The solution saves us a factor of 10 in time. If a typical WiFI ticket would cost me two hours with AirCheck, then it would cost me 20 hours without it. At 20 hours, you start to refuse to do tickets because it is just too expensive."

More AirCheck G3 pros

"It's easy to troubleshoot issues because there's a large online community."

"It helps in analyzing if something looks suspicious, such as a brute force attack or scanning from somewhere."

"Wireshark has a lot of features. It's a powerful tool if you're familiar with it. You can see everything on the network with it."

"I use the filters very often, to determine what type of traffic I am looking for. The use of filter allows traffic to be segmented so that a value can be looked at individually apart from the other traffic."

"I can save the traffic and analysis when I want to. Also, it's especially helpful to follow the stream (TCP, UDP, etc.)."

"The strongest feature of this solution, is the ability it gives us to carry out deep-packet inspections on our network, particularly when a function isn't performing as it should."

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

"The filter option provided by Wireshark is its most valuable feature...Scalability-wise, I rate the solution a ten out of ten."

More Wireshark pros

Cons

"I would like them to modify the interface. The button to change profiles is fairly small. When you have interventions, it is not always possible to have a ballpoint pen or perfect precision touch with it, since sometimes you need to touch it quite a lot when your hands are very dirty. I would like a special pen that is compatible with that responsive screen. That would make it easier."

"If it was capable of downloading MIBs onto the device, then we could identify the manufacturer. Sometimes, when I am troubleshooting, there is a Mac address. For example, there is a rogue device and it just gives us a Mac address, which is fine. It gives us something, which is better than nothing. It would be nice if it was able to download a MIB where we could associate it with that Mac address and the manufacturer."

"It was hard to determine which AP was which because it only shows the MAC address. It'll also display the MAC address of the BSSID, so it looked like I had 12 APs in my house. If I have three access points and each is a dual-band with an SSID or BSSID for each radio, it comes out to about 12 APs. That's one of the bugs fixed in the latest firmware update, but it's only available if you have a NetAlly support contract."

"I would love to have a button that pretends that you're an iPhone 5 or an Android Samsung, then tell me what you think the experience is. This is a very difficult thing to do because each of these things has different radios in them and behaves differently. Now, I can go into the user's office, and say, "The tool says everything's green. The WiFI infrastructure is fine, but their iPhone experience sucks." Is it a problem with their particular iPhone or is it a problem with any iPhone model? If I could have this solution emulate an iPhone model so I can walk into that room, and say, "My tools pretending to be your iPhone and it works fine. It must be your particular iPhone that we have a problem with." I found mobile phones in general have lousy radios and the coverage isn't strong enough, but it would be a nice feature."

"The biggest improvement would be an easier upload over wireless to Link-Live. Currently, the device has to be patched into the Ethernet. The wireless upload has been giving us some issues."

"The only thing that would be an improvement would be the ability to do MPO/MPT testing, which is another mode of fiber, along with more options on the SFP to do that testing."

"The solution doesn't have much functional information online."

"We use .1x authentication, so I need to download the certificate onto the device. It would be nice to have this functionality through the cloud as well. Right now, you need to do it through the software by connecting your laptop physically to the AirCheck. This is one thing that is a bit slow."

More AirCheck G3 cons

"The initial setup depends upon the basics. You need to have a clear understanding of the basics."

"A room for improvement in Wireshark is its ease of use for beginners. It could be better. Another room for improvement in the tool is for it to provide more details about the traffic load. At the moment, Wireshark is adequate for me, so there isn't anything I'd like added to it in its next version."

"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."

"The speed of the Internet could be improved, especially its performance."

"It is difficult to scale this solution."

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

"This product needs to improve the UI."

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

More Wireshark cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The overall cost of the solution, compared to the time saved—the number of man-hours devoted to other means of troubleshooting—is incomparable."

"The product has a pretty good price."

"For a few thousand dollars, you save yourself a ton of time. It's a great deal."

"It is definitely well worth the price. It is approximately $2,500. It pays for itself since it eliminates troubleshooting costs and labor due to all the money you would spend kind of troubleshooting the device if you didn't have any of these tools with you."

"The price is fairly expensive, if you are a single individual. For me, it's well worth the cost of the unit. Depending on the nature of the work that you're doing, the upfront costs can be expensive. Typically, what happens in an environment is a department might have one device as opposed to technicians having them individually."

"It costs $3,000. It would be nice if its cost was less. I could then buy more. Currently, when we buy one, we make sure that where we need it is big enough, or if it is too small, when a person has a job, they have to get a temporary one mailed to them to use, which becomes a little less convenient."

"I'd always love a lower price, but as compared to some of the other tools, it is fairly reasonable. I personally bought one. So, I must have thought the value was there because I'm spending my own hard cash on it, not just the company's. You can get support. I don't have support on my personal device. We did buy support for our company devices. It is reasonable. It is not super expensive or astronomical."

"If you find a feature you need, you have to call them and add it, but you should be able to use the product. You spend money on and invested in multiple devices and can't even use half of the features. They should negotiate with large enterprises who buy large numbers of units to provide NetAlly support for all of them at a nominal fee."

More AirCheck G3 pricing and cost advice

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

"This is an open-source product that can be used free of charge."

"Wireshark is open-source and free of charge."

"It is an open-source solution."

"It's free."

"The solution is open source so 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."

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

More Wireshark pricing and cost advice

See which vendors are best for you

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

See recommendations

849,190 professionals have used our research since 2012.

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Manufacturing Company

13%

Comms Service Provider

10%

Computer Software Company

10%

Government

University

11%

Computer Software Company

11%

Government

10%

Financial Services Firm

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

Questions from the Community

Ask a question

Earn 20 points

What do you like most about Wireshark?

The GUI is easy to use.

See all answers

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.

See all answers

What needs improvement with Wireshark?

The speed of the Internet could be improved, especially its performance. Performance can sometimes be a challenge due to numerous factors.

See all answers

Comparisons

NetAlly EtherScope nXG vs AirCheck G3

Compared 29% of the time

LinkRunner vs AirCheck G3

Compared 23% of the time

AirMagnet Survey vs AirCheck G3

Compared 22% of the time

iTrinegy NE-ONE Network Emulator vs AirCheck G3

Compared 17% of the time

Broadcom Network Flow Analysis vs AirCheck G3

Compared 9% of the time

More AirCheck G3 Competitors

Microsoft Network Monitor vs Wireshark

Compared 20% of the time

Colasoft Capsa vs Wireshark

Compared 15% of the time

SolarWinds NPM vs Wireshark

Compared 12% of the time

Zabbix vs Wireshark

Compared 10% of the time

Nagios XI vs Wireshark

Compared 7% of the time

More Wireshark Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

AirCheck G3

April 2025

Download AirCheck G3 product report

Buyer's Guide

Wireshark

March 2025

Download Wireshark product report

Also Known As

AirCheck G2, AirCheck

No data available

Overview

AirCheck G3 is the most cost-effective hardware-enabled site survey solution for Wi-Fi 6/6E networks. It provides network professionals of any skill level with complete and accurate information to survey and validate Wi-Fi deployments and changes, resolve connectivity and performance problems quickly, speed up closure of trouble tickets, and ensure your Wi-Fi network meets end users’ needs.

The new and improved battery life of 10 hours (3 - 4 hours charge) lasts you and your teams throughout the day.

AirCheck G3 Product Info

NetAlly

Wireshark is the world's foremost network protocol analyzer.

Wireshark

Sample Customers

Information Not Available

Comversion, ADP, Talbots

Buyer's Guide

AirCheck G3 vs. Wireshark

April 2025

Free Report: AirCheck G3 vs. Wireshark

Find out what your peers are saying about AirCheck G3 vs. Wireshark and other solutions. Updated: April 2025.

DOWNLOAD NOW

849,190 professionals have used our research since 2012.

See our AirCheck G3 vs. Wireshark report.

See our list of best Network Troubleshooting vendors.

We monitor all Network Troubleshooting 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.