Custom alerts and data visualization let you quickly identify and prevent network congestion and performance issues.
As a sysadmin of a large network, you may face issues of budgeting or management approval to get bandwidth monitoring tools. However, Paessler PRTG makes your job easy.
It comes with 100 free sensors to quickly prove the worth of bandwidth monitoring, plus it offers flexible, scalable licenses and subscriptions that let you buy according to need. This way, you can convince management without putting pressure on your budget.
If you work for a small to medium-sized company, you may worry about the cost of PRTG to monitor routers, switches, and workstations.
If you have a small to medium-sized network, PRTG can serve as a free bandwidth monitoring tool. The first 100 sensors are free and never expire, which may be all you need for reliable bandwidth and network monitoring.
As an admin, you may have a small home network that you like to outfit with professional hardware. But you likely want to spend as little money as possible on your bandwidth or network monitoring.
Our network monitoring tool works great for use on home networks to get a feel for the software, and the free 100-sensor edition should suffice.
Diagnose network issues by continuously tracking network traffic flow, bandwidth consumption, throughput, and overall performance. Show data traffic, bandwidth utilization, and other key metrics in real time. Visualize monitoring data in clear graphs and dashboards to identify problems more easily. Gain the visibility you need to troubleshoot LAN and WAN congestions, as well as bandwidth hogs and bottlenecks.
Live traffic data graph in PRTG
Device tree view of the complete monitoring setup
Custom PRTG dashboard for keeping an eye on the entire IT infrastructure
Live traffic data graph in PRTG
Device tree view of the complete monitoring setup
“All-around winning
network monitor”
“The real beauty of PRTG is the endless possibilities it offers”
“PRTG Network Monitor
is very hard to beat”
The Freeware edition of PRTG includes 100 sensors free for life. This means you can immediately start monitoring your entire IT infrastructure, including bandwidth, hardware, software, network performance, data traffic, and more.
PRTG’s free edition includes all essential features: customizable alerting & notifications, reports, advanced visualization, and more. Plus, setup is quick and easy with PRTG’s automatic network discovery. It detects all devices within a given IP address range and automatically integrates them into your monitoring setup.
Need to monitor more? Our simple, scalable licensing lets you buy according to need. On top of the 100 free sensors, you can upgrade to several thousand or even unlimited sensors. For professional network monitoring, you’ll need around 10 sensors for each device.
3 tips for setting up PRTG monitoring
The PRTG Auto-Discovery function is launched upon installation. It searches for available devices within a certain range of IP addresses and sets up an initial monitoring environment. This facilitates the configuration and maintenance of your monitoring.
With the 100-sensor edition of PRTG, you’ll have to delete most of the sensors created by the automatic network discovery. For basic monitoring, use most of your sensors for essential servers, routers, and switches.
Want to focus on bandwidth monitoring? Then utilize essential, preconfigured sensors as shown below.
PRTG comes with more than 250 native sensor types for monitoring your entire on-premises, cloud, and hybrid cloud environment out of the box. Check out some examples below!
The SNMP Traffic v2 sensor monitors bandwidth and traffic on a device. It can show the following:
The Packet Sniffer sensor monitors the headers of data packets that pass a local network card using a built-in packet sniffer. You can choose from predefined channels. It can show the following and more:
The NetFlow v9 sensor receives traffic data from a NetFlow v9-compatible device and shows the traffic by type. This sensor has several filter options to divide traffic into different channels. It can show the following and more:
The Windows Network Card sensor monitors the bandwidth usage and traffic of a network interface via Windows Management Instrumentation (WMI) or Windows performance counters. It can show the following:
See the PRTG Manual for a list of all available sensor types.
Real-time notifications mean faster troubleshooting so that you can act before more serious issues occur.
Your investment in PRTG usually pays off. The benefit of preventing costly crashes, support inquiries, and ineffective network management means a quick boost to your ROI. With PRTG, you’ll often eliminate these costs entirely.
When your IT infrastructure is down, your support hotline can quickly become overloaded. Your coworkers become annoyed because they are no longer able to work, and frustration reigns. PRTG contributes to a stress-free workplace by allowing you to prevent crashes and downtime.
Save money and boost efficiency by planning ahead. PRTG performs long-term network monitoring so you can plan for the future instead of reacting to a crisis. Stop playing catch-up, and use PRTG to plan your resources with vision and efficiency.
Custom alerts and data visualization let you quickly identify and prevent network congestion and performance issues.
PRTG is set up in a matter of minutes and can be used on a wide variety of mobile devices.
“Excellent tool for detailed monitoring. Alarms and notifications work greatly. Equipment addition is straight forward and server initial setup is very easy. ...feel safe to purchase it if you intend to monitor a large networking landscape.”
Partnering with innovative IT vendors, Paessler unleashes synergies to create
new and additional benefits for joined customers.
baramundi and PRTG create a secure, reliable and powerful IT infrastructure where you have everything under control - from the traffic in your firewall to the configuration of your clients.
Combining their tools to a powerful solution for advanced analysis and automation, KnowledgeRiver and Paessler enable IT teams to ensure best performance for their infrastructure and networks.
Siemon and Paessler bring together intelligent building technology and advanced monitoring and make your vision of intelligent buildings and data centers become reality.
Real-time notifications mean faster troubleshooting so that you can act before more serious issues occur.
Network Monitoring Software – Version 24.4.102.1351 (November 12th, 2024)
Download for Windows and cloud-based version PRTG Hosted Monitor available
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Bandwidth is measured as the amount of data that can be transferred from one point to another within a network in a specific amount of time. Typically, bandwidth is expressed as a bitrate and measured in bits per second (bps). It refers to the transmission capacity of a connection and is an important factor when determining the quality and speed of a network.
Bandwidth monitoring is the process of tracking and analyzing the amount of data transmitted over a network connection within a specific period. It helps administrators understand the usage patterns, identify potential bottlenecks, and optimize network performance. By monitoring bandwidth usage, organizations can allocate resources effectively, detect unusual activity or unauthorized usage, and plan for capacity upgrades as needed.
No, PRTG is proprietary network monitoring software by Paessler GmbH for which you need to own a commercial license if you want to monitor your business network. However, for small networks, PRTG offers a Freeware edition that comes with 100 sensors free of charge and includes important features like alerting, reporting, and network mapping.
No, PRTG can monitor your entire IT infrastructure, including:
In PRTG, “sensors” are the basic monitoring elements. One sensor usually monitors one measured value in your network, for example the traffic of a switch port, the CPU load of a server, or the free space on a disk drive. On average, you need about 5-10 sensors per device or one sensor per switch port.
Paessler conducted trials in over 600 IT departments worldwide to tune its network monitoring software closer to the needs of sysadmins. The result of the survey: over 95% of the participants would recommend PRTG – or already have.
Paessler PRTG is used by companies of all sizes. Sysadmins love PRTG because it makes their job a whole lot easier.
Bandwidth, servers, virtual environments, websites, VoIP services – PRTG keeps an eye on your entire network.
Everyone has different monitoring needs. That’s why we let you try PRTG for free.
