Colasoft Blog

We are very pleased today to announce that a new version of Colasoft Capsa Network Analyzer, a real-time portable network analyzer for wired and wireless network monitoring, bandwidth analysis, and intrusion detection, is now available.

Capsa Network Analyzer v8.3 comes with the following improvements and fixed bugs:

• The Windows 10 operating system logs off from time to time when starting Capsa.
• Added name table cannot be auto-saved.
• Packet files with capitalized extension cannot be replayed.
• Log View settings in Analysis Profile cannot be auto-saved.
• For wireless analysis, no packets are shown on the Packet view when a MAC address is selected in the Node Explorer.

A free trial of Capsa network analyzer v8.3 is available for download at:http://www.colasoft.com/download/products/download_capsa.php

February 23, 2016 – Colasoft LLC, a leading provider of innovative and affordable network analysis solutions, today announced the availability of Colasoft Capsa Network Analyzer v8.2, a real-time portable network analyzer for wired and wireless network monitoring, bandwidth analysis, and intrusion detection. The data flow display and protocols recognition are optimized in Capsa Network Analyzer 8.2.

Capsa v8.2 is capable of analyzing the traffic of wireless AP with 2 channels. Users can choose up to 2 wireless channels to analyze the total traffic which greatly enhances the accuracy of wireless traffic analysis. Hex display of decoded data is added in Data Flow sub-view in TCP/UDP Conversation view. Users can switch the display format between hex and text in Capsa v8.2.

Besides the optimizations of Data Flow sub-view in TCP/UDP Conversation view, with the continuous improvement of CSTRE (Colasoft Traffic Recognition Engine), Capsa 8.2 is capable of recognizing up to 1546 protocols and sub-protocols, which covers most of the mainstream protocols.

“We have also enhanced the interface of Capsa which improves user experience”, said Brian K. Smith, Vice President at Colasoft LLC, “the release of Capsa v8.2 provides a more comprehensive network analyze result to our customers.”

A free trial of Capsa network analyzer v8.2 is available for download at: http://www.colasoft.com/download/products/download_capsa.php

Learn more from www.colasoft.com

Capsa network analyzer review from wireshark.com.

Capsa is a powerful network analyzer for Ethernet analysis, troubleshooting and monitoring. Not only does it provide users with a series of powerful features that help them learn more about improving network security, pinpoint network issues and monitor network activities, but it also features a user-friendly interface that makes using it a breeze. The software is generally targeted at computer professionals and/or teachers who want to learn more about networking technology, protocols, monitoring and security.

Real time monitoring

As a packet sniffer, Capsa is capable of real time packets monitoring and can also presents the data visually by using logs and a GUI for future reference. Given the fact the software is capable if easily analyzing and diagnosing problems on a network, it can tell the user in minutes what is causing it to be slow or if there is an attack that may be the culprit for its poor performance.

In identifying network issues, Capsa can find the top ten local hosts that slow down the network and can also detect whether someone is using a Bit torrent client to download files off the web which is obviously a prime cause of slow network performance.

Safety and security

Should an attack be responsible for the network’s poor performance, the software will immediately locate the packet info and source codes from the host so that the admin can promptly begin investigating the issue. There are 2 types of worms the software can locate, including operating system works and E-mail worms. This functionality is paramount in identifying the infected computers which eventually allows the admin to fix these issues.

Available filters

In order to be able to focus on specific packets, administrators can use a wide range of filters right from Capsa’s dashboard. For instance, admins can monitor real time messages, http requests, E-mail messages and more of the 4 most popular IM apps including YM, ICQ, AIM and MSN.

Other features

There are of course many other features that Capsa incorporates, such as the ability to generate reports of a certain group or global networks automatically, but also customize the data on different charts. As a network administrator, you can also use the software to remotely monitor traffic by installing the application on the business network (on a workstation of course) and using the Remote Desktop Access function.

Conclusion

All in all, Capsa is by far one of the most reliable and simply the best network analyzers out there. Not only does it offer a wide range of improvements that make using it a breeze, but it makes it very easy for anyone who uses it to find the info they need. On top of that, thanks to functions such as reports, Matrix and Diagnosis, it definitely stands out from the large crowd of similar programs available today.

Source

By Mike Williams

Colasoft Capsa 8 Free is a powerful tool for monitoring and analyzing network traffic, the free version of an enterprise package normally costing from $695.

The program has a vast and lengthy list of features, yet it’s also accessible to regular users. Just choosing an adapter and clicking “Start” gets you an attractive dashboard, with graphs showing network utilization, traffic, and top traffic by protocol and domain (keep in mind that Wi-Fi devices can’t be monitored in the free edition).

That’s just the start. Click the Summary tab and you’ll see the data behind the charts, the total numbers of IP and MAC addresses used in this session, the various protocols, DNS queries and responses, SMTP/ POP3/ IMAP 4 connections and a whole lot more.

Maybe you want to zoom in? Choosing one of the Conversation tabs — TCP, say — allows you to drill down, see which packets went to/from which addresses, the packet size, time sent, and more.

Colasoft Capsa 8 Free captures data packets, too, so you’re not restricted to summaries. Selecting any of these items displays the individual packets, and you can choose one, view any text it contains (maybe the password in a POP3 exchange, say). There’s even a detailed breakdown of the exchange, so for example you might view an IP packet to check its IP flags or TTL value.

This level of analysis isn’t just for a few internet standards, either. The program understands and can decode hundreds of protocols, and show you precisely what’s happening in every exchange.

Unsurprisingly, considering the full Enterprise version costs $995, the free build has a lot of restrictions. No monitoring of Wi-Fi devices, only one network adapter may be monitored, only one capture project can be run at a time, that’s limited to 4 hours maximum, only the first 10 private IP addresses will be analyzed, and so on.

Colasoft Capsa 8 Free has more than enough functionality left to make it interesting, though, for everyone from casual users to network experts. Give it a try.

from: http://betanews.com/2015/07/13/colasoft-capsa-free-is-a-comprehensive-network-analyzer/#comments

Capsa Professional and Capsa Enterprise packet capture application provides the ability feature to backup configurations, including analysis profile settings and network profile settings.

To migrate configuration files from a Capsa Demo version to Capsa licensed version you should:

1. On the Start Page, click the menu button, go to Configurations Backup, and click Export to save the configurations as a file:

2. Uninstall the Capsa Demo version and install the Capsa licensed version.

3. From the new Capsa licensed version go to the Start Page, click the menu button, select Configurations Backup, finally click Import to import the saved file in step 1.

4. After the import, Capsa will restart automatically. Your configuration data is now migrated.

From: colasoft.com

As an innovative and high quality network analysis solution, Capsa network analyzer is not only designed to monitor and analyze wired network traffic, but also for wireless LAN traffic, including 802.11 a/b/g/n networks.

The Enterprise Edition of Capsa network analyzer provides you the capability of wireless network capturing and encrypted wireless data decoding. No matter which encryption type an AP uses, all WEP, WPA and even the hardest WPA2 wireless traffic can be decrypted with the pre-specified security key. Additionally you do not have to figure out the encryption type of an AP, Capsa identifies and matches the encryption type of keys automatically.

We all know that users have to connect to an AP (Access Point) in order to access wireless network; users must have a wireless network adapter in order to access a wireless AP. Therefore, to capture wireless traffic, we use Capsa to monitor a wireless network adapter.

Please follow steps below to monitor and capture the traffic of wireless network.

1. On the Start Page, choose a wireless network adapter. Once a wireless network adapter is enabled, Capsa automatically detects and displays all available APs.

2. Choose an AP that you want to monitor, and if the AP is encrypted, enter the password for it. Once an encrypted AP is enabled, a dialog box pops up to let you enter the key. If the dialog box doesn’t pop up, just double-click the AP to open the box.

3. Click Start to start monitoring; or if you want to set up alarms, capture filters, packet auto-saving, choose a proper network profile and a proper analysis profile and then click Start to start monitoring

• Once a wireless network adapter is used for capturing packets, it cannot be used for accessing the network anymore.
• If you enter the wrong key for an AP, the analysis project will run as well but it will not decode any packets.
• One analysis project can monitor multiple APs at a time, but the APs must be at the same channel.

 To decode and analyze wireless traffic, you are recommended to:

• Make sure the password for monitored AP is correct.
• Be close enough to the wireless router (signal source) to thereby capture all packets.
• Monitor the AP before other hosts access the network to thereby capture EAPOL handshake packets.

from www.colasoft.com

By Shobhan Mandal

Colasoft Capsa Packet Analyzeris a free network analyzer software which can be used toanalyze and monitor WLAN andLAN networks. What it actually provides is network monitoring,in depth packet decoding, andadvanced protocol analysis of the network you are connected to. The best part is you do not have to install this software on a server to view the details; installing in any client machine of the network will provide you with all the necessary details.

Well the software has a number of functionalities, like:

• Troubleshooting Network Problems.
• Know about the performance of the network thus finding any bottlenecks.
• Can be used to detect virus,worms, or network attacks.
• It can also be used to teach and learn various things about network.

Here we will talk about the free version of Colasoft Capsa which has limited capabilities, like you can monitor the network continuously for 4 hours only using a profile and you can use only 1 analysis at a time.

How to use Colasoft Capsa Free Network Analyzer:

When you are downloading Colasoft Capsa, you will be asked to register with your email address. On this email address, you will be sent activation key, which will be valid for 4 months, after which you have to renew. The installation process will take a minute or two. After the installation is over you will get the home screen which looks like the first screenshot of this review.

At first, you have to select the connection from the adapter which you would like to monitor. When selected, it immediately shows a graph for the speed of the network.

The profile section allows you to select what type of analysis you would like to do. The software offers:

• Full Analysis
• HTTP Analysis
• Email Analysis
• DNS Analysis
• FTP Analysis
• IM Analysis
• Traffic Monitor

Full Analysis

Clicking on Full Analysis gives you various information regarding broadcast addresses, multicast addresses, local subnet, the IP addresses of the computer connected, etc. The center screen has various tabs like Protocol- tells about different protocols like IP, ARP, IPv6 and the amount of data and packets being transferred.

Physical Endpoint, IP Endpoint which tells about the MAC address and the IP address of the connected systems. Other tabs include TCP, IP, and UDP conversations. Somefunctionalities may not work in the free version.

HTTP Analysis

The HTTP analysis gives you the various results regarding HTTP protocol. At any normal instance it will give the IP address of the computers with which your computer has a HTP connection. Through the IP, TCP, and UDP conversation you can know the amount of data and packets being shared among the computers.

The other analysis gives out more information regarding data and packet movements in the network you are connected to.

Talking to one of my friends who is a ethical hacker and wants to remain anonymous, said that the software is great. According to him:

• This is really a great software and very powerful.
• It helps the network administrator to get various details about the network in real time.
• It can be used for educational purposes as the software tells how packet movement works actually in the network.

Downsides of the software

In the free version, the user cannot use more than one analysis simultaneously. If he wants to have a different analysis he must close the ongoing analysis. The free version has most of the good features restricted not allowing users to know the software’s working properly.

Also check out other network packet sniffer software.

Conclusion

It is a cool software to monitor the data traffic of your network. If you setup a private network you can watch out for any wrongdoings that might happen be happening in the network. It is very much useful for those who want to know more about computer networking.

Get Colasoft Capsa Packet Analyzer here.

Gizmo’s Freeware , a non-commercial community website staffed entirely by volunteers, published an article about Colasoft Capsa on Mar.6 2014 which reviewed Colaosft Capsa as the friendliest network traffic monitor ever.

Here’s the review written by Rob.Schifreen.

If you’ve ever wanted to be able to view a log of all the data that passes through your PC’s network connection (either wired or wifi), you may know that this is possible with a network protocol analyzer utility.  Such programs let you find out who your PC’s been talking to, and what was said.  You can view the content of every packet of data that travels to/from your PC and all of the remote computers and websites that you connect to.

By far the best-known of the network protocol analyzer software products is Wireshark.  It’s powerful, free, and does the job.  However, it also has a very steep learning curve and is far from intuitive to use.

Which is why I was so impressed to learn about a product recently called Capsa, which does a similar job but is way more friendly and much easier to understand.Capsa is from Colasoft, and you’ll find it at http://www.colasoft.com/capsa-free/.  Considering the full Enterprise version costs around $1000, the free no-commercial-use version, which offers pretty much all the features you’ll need, is a bargain.

It’s a 20 MB download, malware-free according to VirusTotal, and should work on all recent versions of Windows. So next time you need to know what’s eating up all the network bandwidth on a computer, or precisely what information a certain application is sending out about your PC, you can track it down with Capsa.

See more at Gizmo’s.

Capsa Network Analyzer Free Edition 7.7 Video Review

Today we use the Internet on a regular basis and in order to have a better experience while browsing we need a stable network.Capsa Network Analyzer Free Edition will provide it to you, because it constantly monitors your network, analyzes it and helps you prevent troubleshooting. The only limitation of the program is that you can start one project at a time. If you want more you have to buy the Enterprise version, which costs USD 995 for a one year license and maintenance. If you want to increase the time limit with one more year you have to buy it for additional USD 245. But if you don’t need the app for commercial usage you can use it for free without limitations.

Features

Several working modes
Analyzes networks
Monitors traffic
Shows statistics
Capsa Network Analyzer Free Edition lets you use several modes that are specialized for different tasks. With them you can make a full analysis of your network or you can choose to start theTraffic Monitor. Also, you can make a profile that is aimed at HTTP Analysis, Email Analysis, DNS Analysis, FTP Analysis and IM Analysis.

Interface

The interface of Capsa Network Analyzer Free Edition seems simple at first, but when you start any of the modes you see that it actually has a lot of sides to it. When you double-click on any of the profiles the app offers a lot of setup options that are used for the analysis. If you want to start the monitoring or the analysis you can click on the Start button and you will see that the app has a lot of instruments, which leads to a bit of a complicated interface. But after you spend some time with it you will see that all the monitoring and analysis utilities are easily used and you don’t have to be a specialist in order to use them.

Basic Operations

When you start the Full Analysis option of Capsa Network Analyzer Free Edition it opens a window for you that is comprised of different panes which show the most important functions of the program. With them you can monitor the traffic in bytes, the protocols, the IP conversations and perform many more analyses and monitoring functions. There are a lot of other instruments that you will find useful after you get used to them.

Conclusion

Capsa Network Analyzer Free Edition is a nice application not only because it is free, but also because with it you will be able to monitor all the aspects of your network. It offers a nice visualization for a vast number of utilities, so even though they are a lot you will still be able to use them without any problems.

Pros
Many utilities
Nice visualizations
Completely free version
Cons
None really

Editor review by softplanet.com

Learn more from Colasoft official website.