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:
Vendors | # of employees | # of B2B reviews | Average rating |
|---|---|---|---|
364 | 279 | 4.6 | |
ManageEngine Site24x7 | 302 | 449 | 4.6 |
ThousandEyes | 883 | 81 | 4.5 |
Nagios XI | 300 | 56 | 4.5 |
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
Unlike most monitoring tools, which charge per device, PRTG Network Monitor uses a sensor-based model. You pay for the metrics you actually track, making it easier to control costs as your network grows.
Key capabilities
- Sensor-Based Licensing: Licensing based on number of monitored metrics rather than devices. You control your monitoring scope and costs precisely.
- NetFlow/sFlow Analysis: Detailed traffic analysis 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
Visit Website2- ManageEngine Site 24×7
Site24x7 runs entirely in the cloud, so you skip the server setup and maintenance. One dashboard shows your websites, apps, servers, and WAN links.
Key capabilities
- Cisco IP SLA Integration: If you use Cisco routers, Site24x7 taps into IP SLA operations to measure actual performance between your sites—latency, jitter, packet loss.
- NetFlow/sFlow Analysis: See traffic patterns to plan capacity upgrades and identify bandwidth hogs.
- Configuration Management: Automatically backs up network device configs. When something breaks, you can compare current settings to what worked yesterday.
- Linux Deployment: Runs on Linux without needing Windows Server licenses.
3- Cisco ThousandEyes
ThousandEyes focuses on problems outside your control, such as internet routing, ISP performance, and cloud provider connectivity. The platform runs from Cisco’s cloud, so there’s no hardware to deploy.
Key capabilities
- Cloud-Native SaaS: No servers to maintain. Cisco handles infrastructure and updates.
- Active Synthetic Monitoring: Agents placed in different locations continuously test your network and apps, catching issues before users report them.
- Internet Path Visualization: When your site is slow, you can see exactly where on the internet the delay occurs—your ISP, a peering point, the destination network.
- BGP Monitoring: Tracks internet routing changes. If your traffic suddenly routes through a different country, you’ll know why performance dropped.
4- Nagios XI
Nagios XI runs on Linux and monitors through plugins. The core software is simple, but thousands of plugins allow users to monitor virtually anything, from standard network gear to custom applications.
Key capabilities
- Plugin Architecture: The community has built plugins for most scenarios. If you need something specific, you can write your own in any language (Python, Bash, Perl).
What is WAN monitoring?
WAN monitoring tracks network performance across locations between offices, data centers, and cloud services. It measures bandwidth usage, latency, packet loss, and jitter to ensure applications work smoothly across distances.
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.
FAQ
WAN monitoring is crucial for maintaining the performance and reliability of a network that spans multiple locations. It helps identify bottlenecks, ensures that business-critical applications are available, and provides insights that can lead to cost savings through optimized bandwidth usage and better resource allocation.
Some essential features to consider include real-time performance monitoring, automated alerts, detailed reporting, network topology mapping, and support for various network protocols. Additionally, the ability to monitor different types of WAN connections (like MPLS, VPNs, and SD-WAN) is important for comprehensive oversight.
WAN Monitoring focuses on the broader, long-distance connections between various locations or branches of an organization, often involving external networks or service providers. In contrast, LAN (Local Area Network) Monitoring deals with the internal network within a single location, such as an office or data center. WAN monitoring tends to be more complex due to the greater distances and multiple service providers involved.
Cloud-based WAN Monitoring software offer several advantages, including easier scalability, faster deployment, and the ability to monitor networks across multiple locations without needing extensive on-premises infrastructure. They also provide real-time access to data and insights from anywhere, which is particularly beneficial for distributed teams.
Yes, many WAN Monitoring software offer integrations with other IT management systems, such as network monitoring, IT ticketing, and performance management tools. These integrations help provide a more comprehensive view of your network and streamline troubleshooting and management tasks.
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.
For more on network monitoring
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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