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  1. Home>
  2. IT Topics>
  3. Performance>
  4. Network Traffic Tracer
PRTG Logo

Network Traffic Tracer with PRTG

Trace traffic in your network plus keep a constant eye on your entire IT infrastructure

  • Get an all-in-one network traffic and data packet capture tracer
  • Use packet sniffing, flow, SNMP, and traceroute for tracing traffic
  • Monitor traffic directly on your servers, routers, switches, and firewalls
Free download
product overview

Our users give top ratings for monitoring with Paessler PRTG

Gartner peer insights
spiceworks
Capterra
G2
Trustpilot

PRTG network traffic tracer: What you will find on this page

Table of content
  • What network traffic tracing looks like in PRTG
  • 4 reasons to choose PRTG as your network traffic tracing tool
  • Traceroute: 3 advantages of PRTG vs. Linux and Windows tools
  • Discover network traffic tracing sensors included with PRTG
  • Tracing network traffic: FAQ

PRTG makes network tracing as easy as it gets

Custom alerts and data visualization let you quickly identify and prevent data traffic and network congestion issues.

Free download
PRODUCT OVERVIEW

What network traffic tracing looks like in PRTG

Diagnose network issues by continuously tracking network traffic data. Show network congestions, bandwidth bottlenecks , and other key metrics real time. Visualize monitoring data in clear graphs and dashboards to identify problems more easily. Gain the overview you need to troubleshoot your network’s health, downtime, and all kinds of performance issues.

PRTG Screenshot device tree view

Device tree view of the complete monitoring setup

PRTG screenshot map entire it infrastructure

Custom PRTG dashboard for keeping an eye on the entire IT infrastructure

PRTG screenshot graph live data traffic

Live traffic data graph in PRTG

Start tracing network traffic with PRTG and see how it can make your network more reliable and your job easier.

Free download
PRODUCT OVERVIEW

IT experts agree: Paessler PRTG is a great solution for IT infrastructure monitoring

PCMag

“All-around winning
 network monitor”

IT Brief

“The real beauty of PRTG is the endless possibilities it offers”

ITPro

“PRTG Network Monitor 
is very hard to beat”

4 reasons to choose PRTG as your network traffic monitoring tool

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Always accessible

PRTG continuously consolidates all your monitoring information into an easy-to-read, customizable dashboard. A quick glance anywhere, anytime is all it takes to know that everything is OK.

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Easy installation

Thanks to the Auto-Discovery feature, which pings a specific range of IP addresses in your subnet, you can set up PRTG in minutes and immediately start checking your network traffic.

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Preconfigured sensors

PRTG comes with over 250 predefined sensor types and also offers customizable sensors that can monitor the metrics which are most important to your company.

Icon alarm

Customizable alerting

PRTG promptly alerts you if your traffic increases and risks causing problems in your network. Its built-in alarm functionality acts fast and alerts you via SMS, text, push notification, and more sif thresholds are breached.

Traceroute: 3 advantages of PRTG vs. Linux and Windows tools

Icon laptop

Continuous network monitoring

Unlike command line tools such as Traceroute and Tracert, which are used selectively, PRTG continuously monitors your entire IT infrastructure.

Icon notifications

Customizable
notifications

In the event of delays, disruptions, or crashes, PRTG immediately sounds the alarm and notifies you however you like: via email, SMS, push notification, and more.

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Faster, easier
troubleshooting

There are many possible reasons for a data packet not reaching its destination. With PRTG, troubleshooting is faster and easier due to continuous monitoring and fast alarms.

Explore our preconfigured PRTG sensors for network traffic tracing

PRTG comes with more than 250 native sensor types for monitoring your entire on-premises, cloud, and hybrid cloud environment out of the box. Check out some examples below!

Traceroute Hop Count

The Traceroute Hop Count sensor traces the number of hops from the probe system to the IP Address/DNS Name of the parent device. It can show the following:

  • Execution time
  • Number of hops
Traceroute Hop Count
Traceroute Hop Count

SNMP Traffic v2

The SNMP Traffic v2 sensor monitors bandwidth and traffic on a device. It can show the following:

  • Number of incoming and outgoing broadcast, multicast, unicast, and non-unicast packets
  • Number of incoming and outgoing discards and errors
  • Total, incoming, and outgoing traffic
  • Number of incoming, unknown protocols
SNMP Traffic v2
SNMP Traffic v2

Packet Sniffer

The Packet Sniffer sensor monitors the headers of data packets that pass a local network card using a built-in packet sniffer. You can choose from predefined channels. It can show the following and more:

  • Traffic from Citrix applications
  • Traffic from file transfer (FTP/P2P) and various other protocols (UDP, TCP)
  • Traffic from network services (DHCP, DNS, Ident, ICMP, SNMP)
  • Internet mail traffic (IMAP, POP3, SMTP)
  • Traffic from remote control applications (RDP, SSH, Telnet, Virtual Network Computing (VNC))
Packet Sniffer
Packet Sniffer

SNMP Cisco ASA VPN Traffic

The SNMP Cisco ASA VPN Traffic sensor monitors the traffic of an Internet Protocol Security (IPsec) VPN connection on a Cisco Adaptive Security Appliance. It can show the following:

  • Total traffic
  • Incoming traffic
  • Outgoing traffic
SNMP Cisco ASA VPN Traffic
SNMP Cisco ASA VPN Traffic

See the PRTG Manual for a list of all available sensor types.

Find the root cause of the problem with our PRTG network traffic monitoring solution

Real-time notifications mean faster troubleshooting so that you can act before more serious issues occur.

Free download
PRODUCT OVERVIEW

PRTG is compatible with all major vendors, products, and systems

compatible with all major vendors, products, and systems

How to perform a traceroute on a server with PRTG

 

PRTG lets you perform a traceroute on a specific server or network device with just 2 clicks.

Note: The target device must be incorporated into your monitoring.

  1. In the PRTG device tree, scroll down to the device.
  2. Right-click the device to open its context menu.
  3. In the Device Tools menu, click Traceroute.

PRTG will then perform a traceroute on the target device and display the results in a matter of seconds.

Start tracing network traffic with PRTG and see how it can make your network more reliable and your job easier.

Free download
PRODUCT OVERVIEW

“PRTG helps us to keep control of our IT by making issues visible immediately – and everywhere. We always have an eye on the performance and availability of our IT and can react in time if any failures occur. On a long-term perspective, the monitoring data helps us with capacity planning so that we can deliver the required resources for our own systems as well as for our customers, without wasting money on unwarranted redundancies.”

Stein Erik Høybakk, Senior Network Engineer
TAFJORD

“All our production and business processes depend on SAP. But, of course, IT and production systems also play a crucial role in securing these processes. By incorporating SAP, production, and IT into one centralized monitoring system, we can quickly detect critical drops in performance and identify the causes of these issues. In fact, thanks to PRTG and itesys, this couldn’t be any easier.”

Andreas Schmidt, Senior Systems Engineer
Truma

“Any downtime could be detrimental to our customers. We also strive to provide the best possible service to our customers. PRTG allows us to see the health and performance of the network. Using these measurements we can make decisions on how to repair a piece of equipment before it fails and causes a service interruption.”

James Ott Jr., Communications System Technician and IT Administrator
Federal Radio

Your network tracer at a glance – even on the go

Set up PRTG in minutes and use it on almost any mobile device.

device overview
Gartner peer insights

“Excellent tool for detailed monitoring. Alarms and notifications work greatly. Equipment addition is straight forward and server initial setup is very easy. ...feel safe to purchase it if you intend to monitor a large networking landscape.”

Read the complete review at Gartner Peer Insights

Create innovative solutions with Paessler’s IT partners

Partnering with innovative IT vendors, Paessler unleashes synergies to create
new and additional benefits for joined customers.

IP Fabric

IP Fabric

Combining PRTG’s broad monitoring feature set with IP Fabric’s automated network assurance creates a new level of network visibility and reliability.

Read more
Rhebo

Rhebo

Rhebo and PRTG offer a comprehensive monitoring solution for IT and OT environments: from condition monitoring through to anomaly and threat detection.

Read more
UVnetworks

UVnetworks

UVexplorer integrates tightly with PRTG to bring fast and accurate network discovery, detailed device inventory, and automatic network mapping to the PRTG platform.

Read more

PRTG makes network tracing as easy as it gets

Custom alerts and data visualization let you quickly identify and prevent data traffic and network congestion issues.

Free download
PRODUCT OVERVIEW
Paessler PRTG

Paessler PRTG

Network Monitoring Software – Version 24.4.102.1351 (November 12th, 2024)

Hosting icon

Hosting

Download for Windows and cloud-based version PRTG Hosted Monitor available

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Languages

English, German, Spanish, French, Portuguese, Dutch, Russian, Japanese, and Simplified Chinese

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Monitor everything

Network devices, bandwidth, servers, applications, virtual environments, remote systems, IoT, and more

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Pricing

Choose the PRTG Network Monitor subscription that's best for you

Discover more monitoring insights and stories

Resources Solution

Solutions for all your monitoring needs

  • Network monitoring tool
  • Cisco Monitoring
  • Packet Capture Tool
Resources Content

Powerful stories from the monitoring world

  • Monitoring Cisco Devices With PRTG – Part 1/3
  • 4 Vital Tips for Getting the Most Out of Traceroute
  • The Top 5 Causes of Sudden Network Spikes
Resources Solutions

Resources to master your monitoring challenges

  • Are there any tricks for asp.net web applications which utilize asynchronous loading.
  • How do SNMP, MIBs, and OIDs work?
  • Ping Sensor

Tracing network traffic: FAQ

 

What is a network traffic tracer?

A network traffic tracer, also known as a network traffic analyzer or packet sniffer, is a tool used to capture and analyze data packets flowing through a computer network. It allows users to monitor and inspect the traffic for various purposes, including troubleshooting network issues, monitoring network performance, and detecting security threats such as intrusion attempts or malware.

By capturing and analyzing packet headers and payloads, network traffic tracers provide insights into network behavior, helping administrators understand traffic patterns and identify abnormalities.

Can PRTG only monitor and trace network traffic?

No. Paessler PRTG is proprietary network monitoring software that can keep an eye on your entire IT infrastructure, including:

  • QoS monitoring: PRTG comes with several QoS sensors which are perfect for monitoring quality of service. With these sensors, you will discover when (and why) delays and disruptions occur in your VoIP. Other QoS-related topics include jitter monitoring and the analysis of packet loss.
  • IP SLA monitoring: PRTG includes special sensors for Cisco. With IP SLA monitoring, evaluating the quality of service of your Cisco routers and switches is easy.
  • CPU monitoring: When processors are overloaded, the entire network is brought to its knees. PRTG lets you monitor the CPUs of all kinds of hardware devices. In the event of bottlenecks, you’ll be notified at once.
  • And much more
What is the difference between network traffic recording and monitoring?

Network traffic monitoring involves real-time observation and analysis of data packets flowing through a network. It provides administrators with immediate insights into network performance, utilization, and security incidents. Monitoring tools like Paessler PRTG typically display live network activity and may include features like traffic visualization, alerting, and real-time statistics.

On the other hand, network traffic recording involves capturing and storing data packets for later analysis. It allows administrators to review past network activity, investigate security incidents, and troubleshoot issues retrospectively. Recorded traffic can be analyzed using various tools and techniques, providing a detailed view of network behavior over time.

What are traceroute tools in Linux and Windows?

Trace Route (or “Traceroute”) is a command line tool in Linux/Unix that lets you trace the route of data in your network. Individual hops are captured and recorded. As a result, you can identify bottlenecks and disruptions.

A similar command line tool exists for Windows. This tool is called “Tracert,” which also allows you to determine the path of data packets by entering commands in the command line. For example, Tracert can let you pinpoint where a data packet got delayed.

What is a sensor in PRTG?

In PRTG, “sensors” are the basic monitoring elements. One sensor usually monitors one measured value in your network, for example the traffic of a switch port, the CPU load of a server, or the free space on a disk drive. On average, you need about 5-10 sensors per device or one sensor per switch port.

We asked: would you recommend PRTG? Over 95% of our customers say yes!

Paessler conducted trials in over 600 IT departments worldwide to tune its network monitoring software closer to the needs of sysadmins. The result of the survey: over 95% of the participants would recommend PRTG – or already have.

recommendation

Still not convinced?

Love

More than 500,000 sysadmins love PRTG

Paessler PRTG is used by companies of all sizes. Sysadmins love PRTG because it makes their job a whole lot easier.

PRTG

Monitor your entire IT infrastructure

Bandwidth, servers, virtual environments, websites, VoIP services – PRTG keeps an eye on your entire network.

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Try Paessler PRTG for free

Everyone has different monitoring needs. That’s why we let you try PRTG for free.

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Start tracing network traffic with PRTG and see how it can make your network more reliable and your job easier

Free download
PRODUCT OVERVIEW

Products

  • Paessler PRTG
    Paessler PRTGMonitor your whole IT infrastructure
    • PRTG Network Monitor
    • PRTG Enterprise Monitor
    • PRTG Hosted Monitor
    • PRTG extensions
      Extensions for Paessler PRTGExtend your monitoring to a new level
  • Icon Features
    FeaturesExplore all monitoring features

Monitoring with PRTG

  • Network monitoring
  • Bandwidth monitoring
  • SNMP monitoring
  • Network mapping
  • Wi-Fi monitoring
  • Server monitoring
  • Network traffic analyzer
  • NetFlow monitoring
  • Syslog server

Useful Links

  • PRTG Manual
  • Knowledge Base
  • Customer Success Stories
  • About Paessler
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  • PRTG Support
  • PRTG Consulting

Contact

Paessler GmbH
Thurn-und-Taxis-Str. 14, 
90411 Nuremberg 
Germany

info@paessler.com

+49 911 93775-0

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