PacketStream Normally: $20.00 ZOT Price: $13.95
Click to MacZOT

Monitor Your Network Easily with PacketStream PacketStream provides point-and-click activation of the Mac’s built-in network monitoring program, which is usually available only from the command line. By clicking a few buttons, you can monitor data as it streams over your network–especially useful for checking web traffic, network bottlenecks, or even suspicious network activity. All network data is displayed in the application itself, and you can save the data to a file for further analysis later. PacketStream provides a user-friendly way to configure and use the Mac’s network monitoring tools. It is easier than typing in cryptic commands in Terminal. As a native Aqua application, it is more intuitive to use than complex, hard-to-install, Unix-based GUI programs. And it is simpler and less expensive than the “swiss army knife” network programs, which are overkill for most users. Why PacketStream’s Better PacketStream compared to Terminal and Unix-based programs: Simple to use: Set a couple of user preferences, click a button, and go. Save network data to a file for later analysis. Monitor traffic on specific network ports. Thorough, searchable user documentation via the “Help” menu. PacketStream is a universal binary and Mac OS X 10.4 is the minimum supported platform. For more information, visit www.codebykevin.com.

8 Responses to “PacketStream – Network Monitoring”

1. Mark S Says:
   May 28th, 2007 at 12:23 am

   This looks like a pretty useful app. The developer did an interview on Your Mac Life this past Wednesday. He talked about being an indie developer. If you want to listen go to http://www.yourmaclifeshow.com and click on the link to listen to the show! Quite interesting.

2. adin Says:
   May 28th, 2007 at 12:39 am

   Drat, I was hoping for a good “live” netstat util, looks like this just does packet capture with filters for post-analysis.

   anyone have any recommendations?

3. Mark S Says:
   May 28th, 2007 at 12:49 am

   I just tried it and it’s quite a resource hog on my Core 2 Duo MacBook Pro. I had to force quit it at one point. The UI definitely needs some polish too. Oh well. I tried it in good faith and decided that it’s not what I want.

4. Cyannah Says:
   May 28th, 2007 at 7:37 am

   For the developer Kevin,

   Your website looks good, and describes your 5 useful applications well.

   I have two suggestions, both of which definitely promote my decision to buy. I buy a lot of software, and I definitely look for good deals. That’s why I’ve purchased 79 (? that’s insane!) MacZOT offers.

   1) Each of your apps is $20, which sounds fair enough, but is high enough to demand careful consideration. Why not offer a package deal, saving, let’s say, 15% on the total.

   2) Each of the apps leads to its own Paypal page. That offers clarity and convenience, but sacrifices upsell. A page with all apps listed and the ability to tick off however many you wish to buy is more tempting.

   Just my 2¢.

5. Mike Says:
   May 28th, 2007 at 7:45 am

   I prefer Ethereal (which you can install with MacPorts and run with X11) since it formats the data much better. It’s great for analyzing HTTP requests and responses. I couldn’t see how PacketStream lets you see the actual data.

6. Jordan Says:
   May 28th, 2007 at 9:57 am

   # Save network data to a file for later analysis.
   # Monitor traffic on specific network ports.

   Hmm, that’s odds — command line tools do that just fine, so I don’t know why those would be listed under the “PacketStream compared to Terminal and Unix-based programs” section. For example:

   tcpdump -w filename.dump “port 80″

   (save to filename.dump all traffic on port 80)

   BTW — ethereal is now known as wireshark. If you’re using ethereal, you need to upgrade as it’s got some security vulnerabilities. That said, I agree, it’s one of the most powerful sniffing tools out there.

7. Eniregnat Says:
   May 28th, 2007 at 3:55 pm

   Perhaps my 1Ghz 12″ PB is too old, the app did nothing or just hung up. I have tried it a number of times and it just isn’t for me. It doesn’t matter wether I am using Ethernet or the Airport- it just didn’t do anything.

   Error handeling needs some work:
   “window name “preferences” already exists in parent
   window name “preferences” already exists in parent
   while executing
   “toplevel .preferences”
   (procedure “setPref” line 6)
   invoked from within
   “setPref”
   invoked from within
   “.f.top.pref invoke ”
   invoked from within
   “.f.top.pref instate {pressed !disabled} { .f.top.pref state !pressed; .f.top.pref invoke } ”
   (command bound to event)”

8. Eniregnat Says:
   May 28th, 2007 at 5:53 pm

   I really am trying to give this product a good try. It is now working. I have no idea why it wasn’t logging anything before.

   I really like the 30 day working demo period. Nice.
   I prefer a GUI a opposed to command line.
   It does provide neat info.
   The Zotgeist price is also attractive.