We selected WAN monitoring software that offers bandwidth monitoring and traffic analysis, along with real-time tracking of network devices, servers, applications, and infrastructure across wide-area networks.
See a comparison of popular WAN monitoring software:
Selection criteria
We selected WAN monitoring tools meeting these criteria:
- Number of employees: We looked at vendors with 10+ employees on LinkedIn.
- Average review ratings: We selected vendors with an average rating of at least 4 points.
Top 5 WAN Monitoring Software
1. Paessler PRTG
PRTG Network Monitor, built by Paessler, handles network monitoring, including WAN environments, through its sensor-based approach. The software appeals to both technical teams and managers who need network visibility without getting lost in complex interfaces.
Key capabilities
- Sensor-Based Licensing: Unique licensing model based on number of monitored metrics rather than devices. Allows precise control over monitoring scope and associated costs.
- NetFlow/sFlow Analysis: Provides detailed traffic analysis capabilities for bandwidth and application monitoring.
- Wireless Network Monitoring: Monitors wireless access points, client connections, and RF performance beyond standard wired network monitoring.
Choose Paessler PRTG for Wan monitoring
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Key capabilities
- Cisco IP SLA Integration: Monitors Cisco IP Service Level Agreement operations for measuring WAN performance between sites.
- NetFlow/sFlow Analysis: Provides traffic analysis for capacity planning and bandwidth management.
- Configuration Management: Backs up and tracks network device configuration changes.
- Linux Deployment: Runs natively on Linux operating systems, allowing organizations with Linux infrastructure to deploy without Windows Server licensing.
3- Cisco ThousandEyes
Cisco ThousandEyes monitors network infrastructure, troubleshoots application delivery, monitors WAN and maps internet performance from a SaaS-based platform.
Key capabilities
- Cloud-Native SaaS: Operates as cloud service with vendor-managed infrastructure.
- Active Synthetic Monitoring: Uses distributed agents to actively test network and application performance from multiple locations.
- Internet Path Visualization: Maps internet routing paths and identifies performance issues in provider networks.
- BGP Monitoring: Tracks Border Gateway Protocol routing to identify internet routing issues and route changes.
4- Nagios XI
Nagios XI provides network monitoring through extensible plugin architecture. The platform runs on Linux and monitors networks, servers, and applications through custom and community plugins.
Key capabilities
- Plugin Architecture: Extensible plugin system allowing custom monitoring of any parameter. Thousands of community-contributed plugins available. Organizations can develop custom plugins for specialized requirements.
- Linux Deployment: Runs natively on Linux operating systems.
What is WAN monitoring?
WAN monitoring, or Wide Area Network monitoring, involves overseeing the performance and reliability of a network that spans a large geographical area, such as a city, country, or even continents. This type of monitoring is essential for businesses and organizations that rely on network connectivity to link multiple locations, data centers, and cloud services.
Key aspects of WAN monitoring include:
- Performance Monitoring: Tracking various metrics such as bandwidth usage, latency (delay in data transmission), packet loss (data that never reaches its destination), and jitter (variance in time it takes for packets to travel). These metrics help in understanding the quality of the network connection.
- Fault Management: Detecting and diagnosing network issues to minimize downtime. This involves identifying failed devices or links, troubleshooting problems, and implementing solutions to restore connectivity.
- Configuration Management: Keeping track of network device configurations and ensuring they are optimized for performance. This can also involve updating configurations to adapt to network changes or to enhance security.
- Security Monitoring: Protecting the network from external threats such as hacking, phishing, and malware attacks. This involves monitoring for suspicious activity and ensuring that firewalls and other security measures are up to date and effective.
- Traffic Analysis: Analyzing the types of traffic flowing over the network to identify usage patterns, bandwidth hogs, and potential security threats. This can help in capacity planning and ensuring that critical applications have the necessary resources.
What is the difference between WAN monitoring and network monitoring?
WAN monitoring is a specialized area within the broader scope of network monitoring, focusing specifically on overseeing the performance and reliability of Wide Area Networks that connect geographically dispersed locations of an organization. While network monitoring encompasses the entire network infrastructure, including LANs, servers, and applications, WAN monitoring zeroes in on long-distance network connections, addressing unique challenges such as higher latency, packet loss, and bandwidth management.
This specialization is crucial for ensuring seamless communication and data transfer across different sites and cloud services, making WAN monitoring an integral part of the overall network monitoring strategy to maintain optimal network performance and reliability.
What are some WAN challenges?
Some common WAN challenges include:
- Network bottlenecks that slow down data flow
- Network failures that bring operations to a halt
- Security breaches that compromise data integrity
- Compatibility issues between different network components
- Configuration errors that lead to network instability
Effective troubleshooting and resolution processes are key to overcoming these challenges and maintaining network integrity.
But what about the specific routing issues and internet outages that impact application performance over the WAN? That’s where SD-WAN monitoring tools come in. These tools offer an understanding of these issues, similar to how a GPS gives insights into traffic conditions, enabling efficient management of application performance.
How to enhance visibility with WAN monitoring?
WAN monitoring software offers comprehensive visibility vital for understanding network performance and pinpointing potential bottlenecks.
But network visibility isn’t just about performance insights. It’s also a crucial component in cybersecurity. Integration with cybersecurity tools enhances WAN monitoring solutions by offering advanced threat detection and response capabilities within the network.
Plus, correlated visibility into both the network underlay and overlay paths is crucial for understanding and ensuring application performance, especially in SD-WAN environments.
1- Mapping the entire network
Automated network topology mapping in WAN monitoring software serves as your guide, dynamically updating to mirror changes and preserve an accurate depiction of the network.
For instance, WAN monitoring software provide comprehensive dashboards that represent edge locations, transit gateways, devices, and sites on a global map, offering a visual perspective of the network topology. They also furnish detailed views of network components along with logical relationships, providing a structured overview of the global network.
Whether you’re managing an enterprise network or a distributed one, comprehensive monitoring platforms are necessary to provide visibility into every aspect of the network, including the performance of physical and virtual servers, WAN links, and cloud-based services.
2- Real-time monitoring for immediate action
In the world of network management, time is important. Real-time network monitoring tools facilitate the assessment of availability and performance of mission-critical services, guaranteeing swift resolution of operational and configuration issues.
Real-time WAN monitoring provides:
- Real-time data analysis that offers visibility to resolve most of the network issues, emphasizing the importance of live traffic monitoring
- Anomaly detection using machine learning to identify unusual patterns in network performance, which could indicate emerging problems
- Advanced alerting mechanisms that categorize alerts by severity, allowing network administrators to prioritize their response efforts effectively.
3- Reporting and analytics
Detailed reporting aids in long-term network planning and daily operations management via visualization and analysis of network telemetry data like IP flows and raw packets.
Predictive alerting features use historical data to foresee potential issues, and advanced analytics in WAN monitoring software provide bandwidth forecasting, which helps in planning for network capacity expansion. Real-time and historical data visualizations presented in dashboard reports are crucial for immediate insights and informed trend analysis, assisting network administrators in decision-making.
Customizable dashboards and reports provide valuable insights into network performance and trends, offering end-to-end visibility for performance benchmarking and application scoring. These insights are based on detailed performance metrics, ensuring accurate analysis of network performance.
How to select the right WAN monitoring software for your business?
Choosing the appropriate WAN monitoring software parallels selecting the right pair of shoes. Factors such as size (your network’s scale), style (your business’s specific needs), and comfort (the tool’s usability) must be considered.
While choosing the right solution, you should consider:
- Your Network Needs and Scale: Whether you’re a small business or a large enterprise, the scale of your network and the size of your business play a crucial role in the selection process. Small businesses need user-friendly, immediate alert systems, while enterprises require comprehensive, scalable solutions.
- Feature Sets and Usability: Contrasting feature sets and usability of various WAN monitoring tools is akin to trying on diverse pairs of shoes to discover the optimal fit. Above we explained the key features to look for. However, you should check the solutions in detail to assess whether they accommodate your specific needs.
- Support and Community Feedback: Reliable technical support from the provider is essential for addressing complex network issues and minimizing downtime. The vendor’s reputation for customer service significantly affects overall satisfaction with the product and support during critical situations. Community feedback and user reviews provide valuable insights into the tool’s real-world performance and reliability. The vendors in our articles are reliable in this respect.
FAQ
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Cem's work has been cited by leading global publications including Business Insider, Forbes, Washington Post, global firms like Deloitte, HPE and NGOs like World Economic Forum and supranational organizations like European Commission. You can see more reputable companies and resources that referenced AIMultiple.
Throughout his career, Cem served as a tech consultant, tech buyer and tech entrepreneur. He advised enterprises on their technology decisions at McKinsey & Company and Altman Solon for more than a decade. He also published a McKinsey report on digitalization.
He led technology strategy and procurement of a telco while reporting to the CEO. He has also led commercial growth of deep tech company Hypatos that reached a 7 digit annual recurring revenue and a 9 digit valuation from 0 within 2 years. Cem's work in Hypatos was covered by leading technology publications like TechCrunch and Business Insider.
Cem regularly speaks at international technology conferences. He graduated from Bogazici University as a computer engineer and holds an MBA from Columbia Business School.
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