LinkRunner AT Network AutoTester vs. PingPlotter

All network administrators would be able to find a use for this tool in their environment. It allows people from outside of the networking industry to capture data required for a quick diagnosis. Things that typically would require me to be onsite for diagnosis can now be handed to Tier 1 techs for data collection and reporting. Since moving toward cable certification, we've experienced an almost unbelievably low level of cable failure. When it does happen, though, there is no guessing. Our Fluke units tell us what the problem is and where.

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

• Identify the exact switchport a given line is plugged in to.
• View the length and viability of any category or fiber optic cable.
• It acts as a premade packet capture device, simple enough to walk someone through deploying while I'm offsite.
• In the event LLDP based identification of a port fails, it has the ability to blink a switchport allowing for manual identification.

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

• It could be updated for Mgig or 10Gb.
• Some devices should have SFP+ modules capabilities
• Could be combined with other tools

• 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

The network tester is one of the easest devices I have ever used. It does have capabilities that other testers simply don't have. Being able to identify the switch port it is plugged into, the address of the switch, the switch name, along with the VLAN has helped on so many occasions

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

I feel that the LinkRunner autotester is just a simple device with an extremely easy to use and understand interface. It does the job that is required without the need of a bunch of additonal bloat that is never used. I find it to be the best tester on the market.

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

• Saves time which saves money
• Allows for us to identify where issues are quickly and who the issue belongs too.
• Testing cables has been much easier.

• 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