Software Alternatives, Accelerators & Startups

tcpdump VS NetStress

Compare tcpdump VS NetStress and see what are their differences

tcpdump logo tcpdump

tcpdump is a common packet analyzer that runs under the command line.

NetStress logo NetStress

NetStress is a user-friendly benchmarking tool that is mostly used by networking professionals to measure the network performance of both wired and wireless connections.
  • tcpdump Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-04-27
  • NetStress Landing page
    Landing page //
    2021-07-04

tcpdump features and specs

  • Powerful packet capturing
    tcpdump offers comprehensive capabilities for capturing network packets, providing detailed insights into network traffic, which makes it a powerful tool for network diagnostics and analysis.
  • Wide compatibility
    Being a widely used tool, tcpdump is compatible with numerous operating systems, including Linux, Unix, and macOS, ensuring accessibility across different platforms.
  • Filter flexibility
    tcpdump supports a wide range of filtering options that allow users to capture specific types of traffic, ensuring efficient and targeted packet capture.
  • Command-line interface
    tcpdump is a command-line tool, which provides advanced users the ability to script and automate tasks, making it highly efficient for those familiar with command-line operations.
  • Free and open-source
    tcpdump is open-source software, which means it is freely available for use and can be modified and distributed by anyone, fostering a community of users and contributors.

Possible disadvantages of tcpdump

  • Steep learning curve
    For users unfamiliar with command-line interfaces and packet-level networking, tcpdump can be difficult to learn due to its complex commands and options.
  • Minimal graphical interface
    tcpdump lacks a graphical user interface (GUI), which can make it less accessible for users who prefer visual tools over text-based interfaces.
  • Limited analysis capability
    While tcpdump is excellent for capturing packets, it offers limited built-in analysis features, requiring additional tools for comprehensive analysis of captured data.
  • High resource usage
    Running tcpdump with extensive capture options or on high-traffic networks can result in significant CPU and memory usage, potentially impacting system performance.
  • Security risks
    tcpdump requires root or elevated privileges to capture packets, which could pose security risks if not managed correctly, especially on sensitive systems.

NetStress features and specs

  • Easy to Use
    NetStress offers a user-friendly interface which makes it easy for both beginners and experienced users to perform network performance tests.
  • Comprehensive Testing
    NetStress provides a range of testing features, allowing users to assess various aspects of their network's performance, such as throughput and latency.
  • Real-time Graphs
    The software includes real-time graphical displays of network performance metrics, providing users with instant feedback during tests.
  • Local Network Testing
    NetStress is designed to test wireless and wired networks on a local scale, which can be particularly useful for home or small office environments.

Possible disadvantages of NetStress

  • Limited to Local Networks
    NetStress is intended for local network testing only, which may not be suitable for those looking to test larger or external networks.
  • Limited Advanced Features
    While it provides core network testing capabilities, users seeking more advanced or enterprise-level features might find NetStress lacking.
  • Windows-Only
    NetStress is limited to the Windows platform, which excludes Mac and Linux users from utilizing this tool.
  • Static Testing
    The tool is primarily focused on static testing scenarios and may not support dynamic assessment of networks under varying load conditions.

tcpdump videos

Tcpdump - Protocol Review 5 (TCP)

More videos:

  • Review - Tcpdump - Protocol Review 3 (UDP)
  • Review - Tcpdump - Protocol Review 4 (DNS) - Draft

NetStress videos

Netstress

Category Popularity

0-100% (relative to tcpdump and NetStress)
Monitoring Tools
70 70%
30% 30
Log Management
72 72%
28% 28
Network & Admin
0 0%
100% 100
Productivity
100 100%
0% 0

User comments

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Reviews

These are some of the external sources and on-site user reviews we've used to compare tcpdump and NetStress

tcpdump Reviews

6 Best Wireshark Alternatives for Windows and macOS
The quickness that you can have with tcpdump over Wireshark is awesome. It is one of those tools that many network administrators prefer whenever they need to take a look at the actual network packets that are being transmitted. The Tcpdump is not as feature rich as Wireshark but the output of its packet dump can be used as input by other programs. Moreover, It can be used...
Source: techwiser.com

NetStress Reviews

We have no reviews of NetStress yet.
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Social recommendations and mentions

Based on our record, NetStress seems to be more popular. It has been mentiond 1 time since March 2021. We are tracking product recommendations and mentions on various public social media platforms and blogs. They can help you identify which product is more popular and what people think of it.

tcpdump mentions (0)

We have not tracked any mentions of tcpdump yet. Tracking of tcpdump recommendations started around Mar 2021.

NetStress mentions (1)

  • How do you Load Test your Wireless router? I did a 1 Hour Continuous Network Speed Test.
    I have a few laptops I use for testing purposes, I connect them all to it and run netstress between them http://nutsaboutnets.com/archives/netstress/ To be fair I've not needed to load test my stuff in a long time but it worked last time I tried it. Source: over 3 years ago

What are some alternatives?

When comparing tcpdump and NetStress, you can also consider the following products

Wireshark - Wireshark is a network protocol analyzer for Unix and Windows. It lets you capture and interactively browse the traffic running on a computer network.

iperf - A TCP, UDP, and SCTP network bandwidth measurement tool

SmartSniff - SmartSniff is a packet sniffer that capture TCP/IP packets and display them as sequence of conversations between clients and servers.

JPerf - This project gives a better UI and new functionalities to the initial JPerf 1.

netcat - Netcat is a featured networking utility which reads and writes data across network connections...

netperf - Netperf is a benchmark that can be used to measure the performance of many different types of networking. It provides tests for both unidirectional throughput, and end-to-end latency. - HewlettPack...