Yes, Another Network Moniotr Thread...

[J-Mac]

Hi folks.  Sorry to start yet another thread about network monitoring.  I've searched and read all I could find here on DC, but I have different questions -- plus those threads were mostly pretty old and I am hoping that there is better info available now.

I have recently tried - or am currently trying - several monitoring applications, including:

• Micorosoft's Network Monitor
  Nice capture program but it only captures when you set it to do so and saves the data in a log file. Nice for analysis.

• Show Traffic
  Simple, but limited to one adapter at a time, and again, appears to be mostly for analysis later.

• The Dude
  Looks cool but I cannot get it to do much - most likely due to my own limitations more so than the program's.  Instructions look like a rough translation to English and are brief; not verbose at all. I need "simple"!

• NetMeter
  Very nice for monitoring bandwidth. Shows real-time amount of data uploaded and downloaded plus has reports that show daily, weekly, monthly, and to-date totals. But not really a network traffic monitor per se.

What I cannot seem to find is one with a feature similar to something that TrendMicro's PCcillin used to have when I was running that:  A monitor that tracks exactly what is connected to my PC and send me alerts if/when another computer connects to my home network.  I would enter the device names and MAC addresses of my own PCs/devices that could connect and if any other MAC address - or one with a cloned MAC address but not the same device name - connected it would alert me and prompt me for an action.

All others I have tried show any and all connections, similar to a firewall, but non appear to have the ability to alert me if any connections not meeting certain parameters connect to my network. Great for analysis - which I also need. But none are suitable for keeping a small graph/chart visible.

Any recommendations?

Thanks!

Jim

[f0dder]

http://www.ethereal.com/ , http://www.wireshark.org/ ?

[PhilB66]

LF Connection Keeper

[J-Mac]

http://www.ethereal.com/ , http://www.wireshark.org/ ?

-f0dder (October 15, 2007, 02:30 PM)

Thank you. I tried these for a while, but not for network monitoring.  I used them to try to capture recordings on my VoIP line. (That IS doable, but it takes a lot of work to get it - more than it was worth!)

Can they be used for network monitoring?  That is, without having a computer science advanced degree? 

Jim

[J-Mac]

@PhilB66:

LF Connection Keeper looks interesting - are you using it? Any comments about it?

Thanks!

Jim

[J-Mac]

@PhilB66:

On the LFDomain web site - developer of LF Connection Keeper - it indicates that the application automatically logs you out when you shut it down, and some users have problems when starting Windows again - mainly because Windows is often slower to connect to the Internet than LFCK is trying to logon, thus disallowing access to the Internet. Also, some users report getting 503 errors and the developer blames that on the ISP logon server not being accessible at the time.  This sounds like the users wherever this is developed must logon to their ISP's servers in order to get Internet access, and logoff when they finish. I'm in the USA and I have a broadband connection that is never logged out from the Web.

Can this default behavior by LFCK be reconfigured? I'd really hate to lose my connection due to LFCK trying to do something it can't and then spend the next couple days troubleshooting it! (LFCK apparently sets up as a service and takes over a few Windows DLLs, including mfc42.dll). Also, it looks like LFCK requires users to use it as a proxy to access the Internet. If this is the case, I don't think this would work for me.

Any comments?

Thanks.

Jim

[PhilB66]

I am using Samurize for network monitoring performance. I read about LFCK in a forum awhile back and gave it a try. I did not encounter any of the issues described above. I will give it another go later on tonight (HK time) and report back.

[PhilB66]

@J-Mac
You could have LF Connection Keeper start as application by unticking the Startup Options (see pic)



Also, if you do not enter your connection settings, LFCK will not automatically login and logout to your ISP.