Fluke Networks Etherscope vs. PingPlotter

We used ours mainly to test the wireless. Wireless could be several different things so the preconfigured tests on this device allowed us to quickly eliminate certain areas and allowed us to focus on the real problem. It’s easy enough a PC Technician could use it.

Incentivized

The best scenario and best results are seen when the path does not reuse the same device for the "next hop". It is less well suited in situations where the path is being tricked by the re-use of devices for the next interface. This is seen required in many networks where the proper type of connection is not on an end device and the core device is used to provide a fiber to copper sort of "pass-through" connection.

Incentivized

• The Fluke Networks Etherscope can test network speed performance on copper and fiber networks
• The Fluke Networks Etherscope can detect network switches and also available and active ports.
• The Fluke Networks Etherscope can check for bandwidth between two points quick and easy.

Incentivized

• Monitor traffic in network
• Measure stops when contacting network locations such as websites
• Measures the lag and latency it takes to contact network locations
• Gives you both induvidual measurements as well as good oversight
• identifies when network lag or disconnect occurs

• Battery life
• Touch screen is slow to respond.
• Operating System is slow.

Incentivized

• Its a little confusing to see which targets are currently running pings and which ones are displayed in the plots.
• Starting and stopping pings requires a right click and that would be better with a play/pause button I think.
• Ability to drag and drop the graphs to reorder them.
• more columns to show which targets are running and which are displayed. Currently this is done with symbols so you cant sort by just the running targets for example I've found.

Incentivized

I installed it and it just started working. I realized I could then tweak it to show what I needed but didn't have to spend a long time configuring it before use, editing YAML files etc. Maybe that's fine for a network professional, but I only need this software if something goes wrong, and then need it to work quickly out of the box.

Incentivized

I have not had much contact with the PingPlotter support, only one time have I went to them and it was a positive experience. The questions I had were answered quickly and professionally. I have no issue with the experience I had with the Support team. This was from before and after the purchase of the product.

Incentivized

We briefly tested a NetAlly LSPRNTR-300 LinkSprinter 300 Network Tester with WIFI and Distance to Cable Fault Indication and it was a worthy testing unit it but we quickly discovered that it did not offer the large range of testing in both the copper and fiber network drops, nor was it as complete with regard to wireless testing. But in it's defense it was not quite as pricy as the Fluke.

Incentivized

PingPlotter has better visualizations and a stronger ability to capture historical data than other tools I've used. This makes it easier to find the root cause by looking back in the log data to find where latency or packet loss occurred.

Incentivized

• Very expensive for small business or school districts.
• Battery Life is terrible not able to use it for an entire day.

Incentivized

• Great ROI, troubleshooting time has been reduced by 90%
• Network Discoveries used to take 2 to 3 hours and were inconsistent - now it is a matter of minutes
• lacks integration into our MSP toolkit, and we now use it as a stand alone product

Incentivized