First of all: Actually (April 2016) the product is free for up to 100 Sensors! I was searching for an easy solution to monitor the internetconnection of one of my customers from outside. They sporadically experienced strange bandwidth problems and the cable provider didn't solve the problem within months. So while searching for an easy to install and use monitoring (simple ping) solution I found PRTG from Paessler in Nuremberg. I 've heard of it before as the Windows based alternative to Nagios. What can I say: I expected a solid Dice Game and ended up in Las Vegas! Installed withing minutes on a small Celeron machine running Windows 7. This runs the core Server and the Probe. You create Groups within the Windows (or Browserbased) Desktop. Within those Groups you create Devices and Sensors (Ping, HTTP, FTP, NTP, SIP, SMTP, SNMP Switch Traffic, ... and I'd say hundreds of others) at Locations you can define and are shown on a map. A configurable HTTPS allows secure Browser and mobile APP access. I use the one for my Windows phone that shows me my favorite (customer) Sensors directly. Automatically scan your Network (that might create a lot of Devices and Sensors, especially when you are using SNMP ready Switches, but don't worry, just pause them before you run out of your licenses). Monitor Switch Traffic if you wonder how long the Windows 10 updates disturb your other Machines. You can install remote Probes in other networks to monitor them and still collect all data on one central monitoring server. PS: In the end, the cable provider changed the modem after I sent them several times very clear screenshots from PRTG where you could see the 1800 ms echos all three weeks instead of 32 ms the rest of the time.
Pros
Very good structure and overview of your devices and systems load, usage, availability and traffic
Easy install and use. No deep knowledge of MIB, RMON, LINUX or SNMP necessary
Free for small environments
Very Flexible (google 'prtg netatmo' for an impression :)
Be aware and informed about uprising problems (Mail, SMS, Mobile)
You literally see what your users experience
Cons
Really! I have been thinking, but didn't find that much.
Rather ... nothing?
OK, one: you need a Windows system. That might be an issue for some.
Rating breakdown
PRTG can do Monitor all systems, devices, traffic and applications of your IT infrastructure. Everything you need, and don't expect more for custom weekly / monthly reports
Pros
This is the Recommended software that I often use to monitor or improve the Information Technology infrastructure. Very easy to install, user friendly and supports mobile devices. It can detect our problems quickly. We can check all critical Service Application components on the bus :)
Cons
This software does not yet have a weekly custom report for audit needs, so we do a manual retrieval :(
Dear Reski,
thank you for leaving us a review!
Cheers,
Paessler AG
Rating breakdown
Likelihood to recommend: 8/10
Good software for network and devices monitoring with custom sensors capability and notification.
Pros
Very good features to monitor and probe network devices for uptime and alerts. Ticketing system and Notification system.
Overall good product and gives needed visibility.
Cons
Interface could use a refresh to be more modern. Needs some time to get used to managing.
Dear Jack,
Thanks for sharing your review with us and the community!
Cheers,
Paessler AG
Rating breakdown
Likelihood to recommend: 9/10
I have been a longtime customer of PRTG 7+ yrs now. I contact them about once a year for little things I run into with the program. This time around they refuse to help, beyond basic email support in the middle of the night. If you want a program that provides support this isn't the product for you. If you are in the US the best you get is email support and they usually only respond while you are sleeping. Don't expect them to go out of the way for you. PRTG has wasted 2+ hrs fighting with me on fixing something their software caused, something they could likely fix in a 5min phone call. After paying them for support all this time I am done with this company, they are a scam!
Pros
Great for monitoring bandwidth usage or finding health problems/over utilization of resources. All using the SNMP protocol.
Cons
Support, they don't provide much beyond an KB article or emails in the middle of the night.
We're sorry to hear about your frustration and that our support has not lived up to your expectations.
We always try to give you the best possible support in case of problems.
Kind regards,
Paessler AG
Rating breakdown
Likelihood to recommend: 0/10
PRTG enables it's user to share accurate information with channel partners and provide comprehensive suggestions to solve problems that can sometimes be difficult to pin point root cause.
Pros
This software provides you with the ability to monitor various aspects of devices. It does not just allow you to monitor stability, but rather everything that goes into proving a stable connectivity. Easy to load/manage devices and also very user friendly graphing.
Cons
It is sometimes difficult to specify the limits on alarms and therefor you can face a large number of alarms when in fact it is only one device/service that is having issues.
Dear Zandre,
Thank you for leaving us a review!
Feel free and have a look in our knowledge base how to reduce the number of alarms.
Cheers,
Paessler AG
Rating breakdown
Likelihood to recommend: 9/10
https://www.paessler.com/prtg/pricing
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