Sniffer® Portable Professional User's Guide - NetScout

Introducing the Sniffer
Window
Overview
3
Once you start Sniffer Portable Professional, log in, and select a profile
for monitoring, the Sniffer window appears.
You use the Sniffer window to perform standard network analysis
activities – monitoring network activity, capturing network traffic,
decoding captured traffic, and so on. This chapter introduces the Sniffer
window and includes the following topics:
Navigating the Sniffer Window
Sniffer Window Menus
Navigating the Sniffer Window
When you start Sniffer Portable Professional, log in, and select a profile
for monitoring, a Sniffer window appears where you can control network
monitoring and analysis activities (Figure 3-1).
The Sniffer window consists of:
A title bar (item a, Figure 3-1) showing:
Network topology in use.
Line speed.
Certain adapters may add additional information to the title
bar, including the channel being monitored, wireless signal
strength, and so on.
NOTE: During monitoring or capture of wireless networks, the
window title bar shows the channel currently being monitored,
as well as the signal strength and the type of network being
monitored (802.11a or 802.11b/g). You can use this display to
get a quick feel for the strength of the signal being monitored
and determine whether you need to move the analyzer closer
to an access point to get a stronger signal.
Several toolbars (item b, Figure 3-1) at the top of the Sniffer
window providing access to commonly used functions, including:
User’s Guide 41