OptiView XG [EOL] vs Wireshark comparison

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OptiView XG [EOL]

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Executive Summary

We performed a comparison between OptiView XG [EOL] and Wireshark based on real PeerSpot user reviews.

Find out what your peers are saying about Wireshark, Auvik, Isovalent and others in Network Troubleshooting.

To learn more, read our detailed Network Troubleshooting Report (Updated: October 2026).

Network Troubleshooting

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Helped 920,769 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

OptiView XG [EOL]

Average Rating

8.6

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

Wireshark

Average Rating

9.0

Reviews Sentiment

6.4

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

Network Troubleshooting (1st)

Featured Reviews

Mark_Walker

President at Bitwise Micro

A valuable, impressive, and portable product that saves time and has great scalability and stability

It just saves time. We have run into situations where contractors come in, and they plug in a WiFi device that is handing out DHCP addresses, which affects the rest of the network. To be able to quickly identify from where the problem is originating, you need a network tool that can identify the device that is doing this. It just brings into clear focus the exact issue when there is a problem or outage. When there is a crisis and you've several people wanting to know an estimate of when things are going to be back up and running again, you need to have answers. I have been at places that didn't have a tool like that. I know one place that had an outage for almost a week, and it was craziness. It turned out to be just a bad cable. That's all it was. They were having trouble with their email server, which was an on-premise email server, but emails were taking six hours to appear. The whole problem was because of a bad network cable. When I plugged in the Fluke analyzer, it analyzed and told me immediately that there were transmission errors on this one port from one switch. It told me this within 10 minutes. It is an incredible product.

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reviewer2837244

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.

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Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"The 10 GigE connectivity and ClearSight are the most valuable features for us."

"Technical support was awesome; they were quick to respond, very knowledgeable, and kept us up to date on the status."

"OptiView just made it a little bit easier; it was a neat package that made it easier to utilize."

"The packet capture feature is valuable when there's a troubleshooting issue, and since this is a data center, there are thousands of servers and users."

"I've switched to Fluke Networks products because having an all-in-one tool is more convenient, and the way information is presented makes it easier to share knowledge."

"OptiView XG helps us troubleshoot problems faster than we would normally be able to."

"All the wireless features are valuable."

"It allows us to be able to troubleshoot, predominantly in the field, with the tools that we would normally have in the lab."

More OptiView XG [EOL] pros

"The session-level filtering features are valuable."

"Wireshark analyzes networks, captures traffic and decrypts information passed through the communication channels into a form that is readable and can thus be used to learn how network protocols work."

"The GUI is easy to use."

"It is a stable product. I would rate the stability a ten out of ten."

"The options that are required to get the details for the packet drops are good."

"The transmission and reception issues are valuable."

"It has good basic features."

"Wireshark's best features are that it lets us see what traffic is in the network and what data should be encrypted."

More Wireshark pros

Cons

"With the cost it's hard to justify having more than one in our school."

"I haven't been able to really get the mobile app to function right, but that's minor."

"Maybe the licensing could come down; the price could come down a little bit, that would be kind of nice. I think it's a little bit expensive, but as far as functionality goes, I'm not too sure about any room for improvement; I'm not the one that uses it every day."

"I think that the maintenance is ridiculous on some of the products, including OptiView."

"We found that when we used the wireless section of the AirMagnet, we used to have a laptop dedicated to AirMagnet and it actually ran smoother on the laptop."

"Hardware is unreliable. It's already crashed on me several times."

"It takes some time to get used to it. There is always room for improvement in the ease of usability and learning curve type of stuff."

"I think everything is OK, except that they integrated AirMagnet already. It's also very heavy, like a brick."

More OptiView XG [EOL] cons

"This product needs to improve the UI."

"The decryption of encrypted packets could be better."

"Wireshark could be improved by adding more monitoring features."

"We'd like to be able to extract the output into an Excel table."

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

"The product has been using the same GUI for many years."

"A room for improvement in Wireshark is its ease of use for beginners; it could be better."

"DNS could be improved."

More Wireshark cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"Its price was a bit excessive. The device that I had died. It is under warranty, and they want $20,000 for another one. I just don't want to spend that kind of money, so I'm trying to find an alternate solution. They have annual maintenance on it, which probably was 10% a year, so it all starts to add up."

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

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

"Wireshark is free of charge, and there's no license involved."

"The tool is free."

"I've never personally had to pay for it, making it a highly valuable internet resource that's accessible for use. While they offer some paid versions, our firm has utilized the free version for the past three years."

"It's a stand-alone tool. If there is a commercial license for it I am unaware of it."

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

"Wireshark is free software, so you can download it and use it for free with no licensing fees."

More Wireshark pricing and cost advice

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Outsourcing Company

19%

Construction Company

11%

Financial Services Firm

Manufacturing Company

University

11%

Manufacturing Company

10%

Construction Company

Comms Service Provider

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	7
Midsize Enterprise	8
Large Enterprise	26

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	31
Midsize Enterprise	11
Large Enterprise	29

Questions from the Community

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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?

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...

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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...

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Comparisons

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Compared 21% of the time

DX Spectrum vs OptiView XG [EOL]

Compared 19% of the time

NetAlly EtherScope nXG vs OptiView XG [EOL]

Compared 13% of the time

Cisco Nexus Dashboard Fabric Controller (Formerly DCNM) vs OptiView XG [EOL]

Compared 10% of the time

Nagios XI vs OptiView XG [EOL]

Compared 6% of the time

More OptiView XG [EOL] Competitors

Colasoft Capsa vs Wireshark

Compared 7% of the time

DX Spectrum vs Wireshark

Compared 7% of the time

Broadcom Network Flow Analysis vs Wireshark

Compared 7% of the time

AirMagnet Survey PRO vs Wireshark

Compared 7% of the time

Observer GigaStor vs Wireshark

Compared 6% of the time

More Wireshark Competitors

Product Reports

OptiView XG [EOL]

Download OptiView XG [EOL] product report

Download Wireshark product report

Overview

OptiView XG is the first network analysis tablet designed specifically for the network engineer. It combines critical functions necessary to automate root-cause analysis of both wired and wireless network performance issues – whether network or application related to reduce time for problem identification. OptiView XG supports repeatable, effective troubleshooting – whether pre- or post-deployment.

NETSCOUT

Wireshark offers robust packet analysis through comprehensive filtering and color-coding features, adaptable across platforms due to its open-source nature. It supports real-time and offline packet captures, multiple protocols, and easy installation, making it a favored tool for network experts.

Renowned for its traffic decryption capabilities and detailed traffic insights, Wireshark provides deep packet inspection and a simple GUI. Ideal for network troubleshooting, it allows users to view VoIP traffic and perform advanced customizations. While Wireshark's interface can be complex and challenging for newcomers, its powerful features make it invaluable in identifying network issues, inspecting protocols, and understanding data flow across wired and wireless environments. Users seek more intuitive filters, better Windows and non-laptop support, as well as features like real-time evolution and graphical analysis tools to enhance usability. Wireshark's wide application includes security research, protocol analysis, and application performance baselining, supporting both on-premises and cloud-based operations.

What are Wireshark's standout features?

Filtering and Color-Coding: Enables detailed packet analysis.
Real-Time and Offline Captures: Supports both capture modes for comprehensive network monitoring.
Traffic Decryption: Provides detailed insights into encrypted traffic.
Deep Packet Inspection: Delivers granular network data examination.
GUI Simplicity: Ensures ease of use despite complex capabilities.

What benefits and ROI should users evaluate?

Network Troubleshooting: Streamlines identification and resolution of network issues.
Protocol Inspection: Facilitates in-depth examination of network communication protocols.
Traffic Monitoring: Ensures effective monitoring of network traffic in real time.
Security Research: Assists in uncovering malicious traffic and vulnerabilities.
Application Performance: Aids in baselining and optimizing app performance.

Wireshark is implemented across industries to manage and troubleshoot networks, analyze traffic flow, and ensure secure, efficient communication. It supports research and security operations, providing insights into protocol usage and application performance across physical and virtual environments. Its deployment spans education, telecommunications, finance, and healthcare, underpinning connectivity and data integrity.

Sample Customers

XG is used in all industries. Example customers include: Republic National Distributing Company, Titelive, CitiGroup, Los Angeles Unified School District, Saudi German Hospital, DeKalb County Schools, Valdosta State University, The Everett Clinic, Bio-Reference, Miami-Dade Library, Mitel, Borsa Istanbul, Cimarex, Air National Guard Lowndes County, High Point City, Carrollton City Schools, Kern County, Pruitt Communications and Bosch Group.

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Network Troubleshooting