EtherDetect

With an active Internet connection, your computer receives and sends data packages with or without your permission in order to establish connections smoother. Analyzing the content is not for everyone, even though various tools exist in this regard. One of them is EtherDetect and provides a breathtaking amount of information on data flow.

There are not many options to play around with while the application is running, most of them referring to setting up connection and adapter. Depending on the environment the application is used in, you can apply custom filters for better capturing of data.

With no preset filter types, nor is there a need for any, you must create your own configurations. This is done by providing the IP address of the target machine, a port, as well as choosing whether or not to accept packages from matching variables. This can come in handy for testing out new server or websites.

You must also choose the network adapter to be kept under surveillance if you are to get a proper result. These are all found in a list along with the IP address, NetMask and a few more details. Unfortunately, you can only monitor one adapter at a time and running another instance of the application won't solve a thing.

When everything is set, hitting the “Start” button grabs packages according to your specifications. All connections are enlisted in a dedicated panel, with related IP and protocol info, number of packages found in the transfer, but no field for target name, if available.

Individual packages can further be analyzed by simply selecting them from a list. Thorough content details are displayed, such as Ethernet, IP and UDP headers, along with corresponding variables. A hex representation is also displayed, with a clever highlighter that points out selected items. If you want to save any data it must be manually copied, because you can only export to an application specific file format.

EtherDetect is a small, yet powerful network analyzing tool that administrators mostly fancy. It takes little time to get acquainted with its features thanks to the intuitive design, and the amount and depth of details provided is enough to meet nearly any demand. Whether you want to keep an eye on employee computers or simply want to check your own machine, this app can come in handy.