Pockethernet (~$200)
Netool ($175)
NetScout LinkSprinter 300 (~$375)
Hey, all. I've been recently promoted into the network engineer role in a large Cisco-based enterprise environment over a large physical footprint (university campus). I'm the only engineer for this location, with a supervisor that steps in to help. Our pockets aren't what I'd call deep, but we're looking to get a few network analyzers for both myself and some to hand off to service desk for in-the-field troubleshooting/reporting on ports, since we have a pretty dynamic environment and our networking team is only 1-1.5 guys, really.
Do you guys have any strong opinions on usability, reliability, performance, etc, on these 3 devices, when compared to each other? I'd say our priorities are checking VLAN tags, PoE/PoE+, switch port ID'ing, CDP, DHCP resolution, general internet access, link speed. I already have a Fluke IntelliTone Pro 200 for wire maps and toning lines out. So, nothing terribly fancy, just a faster way to troubleshoot/analyze than having our techs lug a laptop around (which they always forget), plug it in, get their correct NIC MAC, call me, try to find the exact switch and port via guesstimation and querying MAC address tables, etc etc.
There's something to be said of a larger network monitoring service here and that's definitely a priority on my radar, but a decent tool for the techs and myself could also help.
I'd greatly appreciate any experienced opinions. My supervisor seems to be leaning for the LinkSprinter, mostly because he's just used Fluke/NetScout tools for a long time, but the price is significantly higher, especially when considering buying multiple. Is it worth it? I'd like to consider all of our options and all 3 devices seem to be well-received, from what I researched.
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