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Broadcom Network Flow Analysis vs Wireshark comparison

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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

Broadcom Network Flow Analysis
Ranking in Network Troubleshooting
11th
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
7.6
Number of Reviews
6
Ranking in other categories
Network Management Applications (23rd), Network Monitoring Software (76th)
Wireshark
Ranking in Network Troubleshooting
1st
Average Rating
9.0
Reviews Sentiment
6.4
Number of Reviews
64
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of November 2026, in the Network Troubleshooting category, the mindshare of Broadcom Network Flow Analysis is 5.1%, down from 5.6% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Wireshark is 16.7%, up from 13.2% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Network Troubleshooting Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
Wireshark16.7%
Broadcom Network Flow Analysis5.1%
Other78.2%
Network Troubleshooting
 

Featured Reviews

Purneswara Rao - PeerSpot reviewer
Principal Consultant at KyndleIT Consulting
A stable tool that helps identify the complete flow analysis in a network
The most valuable feature of the solution stems from the fact that the complete flow analysis can be identified through the tool. The classification of each protocol and how the bandwidth utilization is happening with the protocols while managing to get SLAs, IP protocols, and QoS metrics is possible because of the product.
reviewer2837244 - PeerSpot reviewer
It System Engineer at a manufacturing company with 5,001-10,000 employees
Packet analysis has improved real-time troubleshooting and simplifies mapping complex data flows
The best features that Wireshark offers are everything. Every time I look into Wireshark, I find something new. The ability to capture real-time packets and understand how the packet is working and moving through how many hops and to how many points it reaches makes it a wonderful tool. The specific feature I use most is capturing packets of real-time communication and seeing how the packet is working. I rely on all the filters it has to check the protocols and see the communication between one end and another end and what the hops in between are, and if there is a proxy, how it behaves. Everything helps us check out the issue and troubleshoot it. I do not have anything additional to add about the features; everything looks really fine. The graphics are also good, and you can change its graphical features, making it a pretty nice tool. You can also use it with the PCAP file, which is really nice. Wireshark has positively impacted my organization by giving us the ability to capture packets and see into the network how it is working and what we can clarify about the network, specifically how we can remove many hops in the communication channels. A specific example of a measurable outcome is that we have a few switches in our network that, when we use Wireshark analysis, we find should not be needed or can be replaced with automatic switches instead of manual switches, such as switches which do not have any active features and only passive switches. That has saved us a lot of time.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"This solution has helped our organization by allowing us to have visibility. We deal with cybersecurity, so visibility is very important."
"Despite the low level of support, I would still fully recommend this product, because even when not all the features are used, the advantage of having such a wealth of useful information about the network traffic in real time, together with such flexibility of its presentation, is undeniable."
"It is an overall stable solution."
"Anomaly Detector - This detects the anomaly flows in infra environment and makes job easy to analyze issue."
"For supporting flow-traffic monitoring, this product is the best option."
"The custom report is the most valuable feature."
"Wireshark is a great tool to help network engineers identify network problems like broadcasting, injection, poisoning, etc."
"It's easy to troubleshoot issues because there's a large online community."
"This is the de-facto standard network protocol analysis tool."
"The most valuable feature of Wireshark is the ability to choose a destination of flow that has not been working as expected."
"I use this free, open-source solution daily for packet analysis, and the packet details pane is particularly valuable."
"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."
"Being able to dissect email data and figure out what is inside email messages was the most valuable feature."
"I like the filtering feature as we can filter data easily. This feature is also available in tcpdump, but it's a simple piece of software. Wireshark is more advanced and has many features. It allows you to filter a lot of things. The output can be filtered easily. The most important feature is colorization. If I say, "Okay, this particular SMB protocol in red, it will show me red." It's easy to identify that protocol or capture data."
 

Cons

"Enhanced support should be given with APIs that work to maintain collected information."
"I would like to see more security features, like a lost protection package."
"If one is able to find it at all, the documentation is often no help."
"Prefer this product only if the scope of flow analysis is vast and for a limited scope I don’t prefer this product since the product licenses are very costly and it is a waste of money."
"Currently, Broadcom Network Flow Analysis does not support high-availability solutions, making it an area that needs improvement."
"Sometimes the custom report jammed in the MYSQL database."
"We'd like to be able to extract the output into an Excel table."
"Wireshark's UI isn't easy to handle and doesn't have as nice a view as Omnipeek."
"The initial setup depends upon the basics. You need to have a clear understanding of the basics."
"Wireshark could be improved with a delay option when getting data automatically. It could also work faster."
"Wireshark can be improved if it provides the accessibility of capturing packets from one device that is installed in the network without needing the port-mirrored facility."
"Built-in help system is not robust."
"Bigger memory footprint."
"I would like better control of bandwidth from the service provider."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"If you make a DX NetOps-based purchase and the complete suite of products that fall under DX NetOps from Broadcom, then you get Network Flow Analysis along with DX NetOps Performance Management and DX Spectrum."
"Wireshark is free software, so you don't have to pay any licensing fee. Individual people can use it and then donate to Wireshark."
"This is an open-source product that can be used free of charge."
"The solution is open source so is free."
"Wireshark is open-source and free of charge."
"Wireshark is open source and gives great value and functionality to the network investigation."
"We are using a freeware version of this solution, so there are no licence costs involved."
"Wireshark is free of charge, and there's no license involved."
"I am using the free version of this solution."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Comms Service Provider
16%
Construction Company
12%
Outsourcing Company
10%
Manufacturing Company
7%
University
11%
Manufacturing Company
10%
Construction Company
7%
Comms Service Provider
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
No data available
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business31
Midsize Enterprise11
Large Enterprise29
 

Questions from the Community

Ask a question
Earn 20 points
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.
What needs improvement with Wireshark?
Wireshark can be improved if it provides the accessibility of capturing packets from one device that is installed in the network without needing the port-mirrored facility. They could provide somet...
What is your primary use case for Wireshark?
Wireshark's main use case is capturing packets and reviewing the data flow over the network. Regarding my main use case for Wireshark, it is a great tool and would be one of the best tools availabl...
 

Also Known As

CA NetQoS Reporter Analyzer, CA NFA, CA Network Flow Analysis
No data available
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Empowered, BCBST
Comversion, ADP, Talbots
Find out what your peers are saying about Broadcom Network Flow Analysis vs. Wireshark and other solutions. Updated: September 2026.
920,769 professionals have used our research since 2012.