I find SolarWinds NPM to be a flexible tool for both small and enterprise systems alike, with regular feature and system enhancements to help keep your network on top of the game. These more in-depth features make a difference when you’re trying to troubleshoot a problem quickly so it doesn’t reach your end-users. It can tell you whether your firewall is blocking the right traffic and how your load balancer is functioning and can link in with a variety of vendors, including Cisco and Palo Alto Networks.
NPM also puts more complex network infrastructure in context, as simply knowing if something is up or down or running slowly doesn’t necessarily help you. NPM also includes a proprietary NetPath ™ network path analysis tool, which monitors network pathways to visualize any changes along the path that could result in issues down the line, as well as identifies issues stemming from service providers. This allows you to pinpoint which parts of your network are having problems, and how certain parts of the network may be affecting others. NPM runs on Windows and includes a centralized performance management interface, where you can see all your network performance metrics on a common timeline.
My favorite tool for locating and resolving network issues is SolarWinds Network Performance Monitor (NPM). I’ve kept this in mind while compiling my picks for best network troubleshooting tools. Some tools are well-suited to small businesses or simple networks, while more complicated networks need a more powerful tool with greater data analysis and troubleshooting capabilities. Which network troubleshooting tool you choose will depend in part on the size and complexity of your network.
For home network use, there are smaller, free tools you can check out, but SolarWinds ® NPM is second to none when it comes to helping companies of all sizes keep up with the needs of their networks. I’ve tried a number of the network troubleshooting tools out there, and I would choose Network Performance Monitor (NPM) every time. If you’re frustrated with your current process of network troubleshooting, you’ll want to build a toolbox you can rely on.
Figuring out exactly where in the network the problem is and how to fix it can be difficult even for experienced network administrators. Lastly, the utility allows you to perform several tests on the card and make sure that everything is working as intended.Network troubleshooting is a tricky process, and even if you’ve done it many times before, problems can arise in new ways anytime the network changes, a new device is added, or devices interact in a new way.
It is important to note that the tool enables you to access the advanced settings of the network adapter so you can enable and disable properties that might be responsible for the unexpected crashes or connection failures.
In addition to the full name of the hardware, the program also gives you extra valuable information, such as the MAC address of the card, IP address, link status, connection name, duplex mode or virtual network, if you have them configured on your system.
In case you do not know too much about which driver to download, then you can rest assured that the application provides you with this data. As the name suggests, Realtek Ethernet Diagnostic Utility is a tool dedicated to identifying a wide array of issues associated with your network card.īefore you run the diagnostic tool and forward to the troubleshooter, it is always a good idea to make sure that you have the latest driver installed. In the eventuality that you are having connection problems whenever you launch your computer or you get random disconnects, then there is a good chance that the problem can be a faulty network card.