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More than one of the offered solutions look lke they will work well. I will evaluate all and choose.<br />
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Thank you for your input.
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More than one of the offered solutions look lke they will work well. I will evaluate all and choose.

Thank you for your input.

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I need software the will run on Windows XP that I can use to monitor the performance of my network routers and switches (2 ea.). I have found some good Linux tools but most of the Windows based tools are quite expensive. The free ones are not much use and I don't want to spent money on several that don't work. Any suggestions.
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I need software the will run on Windows XP that I can use to monitor the performance of my network routers and switches (2 ea.). I have found some good Linux tools but most of the Windows based tools are quite expensive. The free ones are not much use and I don't want to spent money on several that don't work. Any suggestions.

Windows based neetwork monitoring tool

A router is a networking device that forwards data packets between computer networks. Routers perform the "traffic directing" functions on the Internet. The most familiar type of routers are home and small office cable or DSL routers that simply pass data, such as web pages, email, IM, and videos between computers and the Internet. More sophisticated routers, such as enterprise routers, connect large business or ISP networks up to the powerful core routers that forward data at high speed along the optical fiber lines of the Internet backbone. Though routers are typically dedicated hardware devices, use of software-based routers has grown increasingly common.

Routers

Wireless networking is a method by which homes, telecommunications networks and enterprise (business) installations avoid the costly process of introducing cables into a building, or as a connection between various equipment locations. Wireless telecommunications networks are generally implemented and administered using radio communication. This implementation takes place at the physical level (layer) of the OSI model network structure. The key hardware components of a wireless computer network include adapters, routers and access points, antennas and repeaters.

Wireless Hardware

A switch is a device that filters and forwards packets of data between LAN segments. Switches operate at the data link layer or the network layer of the Open Systems Interconnection (OSI) Reference Model and therefore support any packet protocol. LANs that use switches to join segments are called switched LANs or, in the case of Ethernet networks, switched Ethernet LANs. A hub is a connection point for devices in a network. Hubs are commonly used to connect segments of a LAN. A hub contains multiple ports; when a packet arrives at one port, it is copied to the other ports so that all segments of the LAN can see all packets.