Master Network Traffic Analysis: Top 3 Packet Capture Tools You Need to Know

Wireshark

Wireshark is an open‑source packet analyzer that understands virtually every network protocol, from low‑level TCP/IP to high‑level services such as Redis, MySQL, MongoDB, and Elasticsearch.

Interface

Packet List – chronological list of captured frames.

Protocol Tree – hierarchical decoding of each packet’s protocol layers.

Raw Data – hexadecimal view of the packet payload.

Display filters

Large captures can be narrowed with display‑filter expressions entered in the filter bar. Example expressions:

eth.src[0:3] == 00:00:83

ip.addr == 192.168.0.1

tcp.flags.syn == 1

tcp.port in {443 4430..4434}

http.request.uri == "https://www.wireshark.org/"

Full filter syntax is documented at https://www.wireshark.org/docs/wsug_html/#ChWorkBuildDisplayFilterSection.

Conversations and Follow Stream

Wireshark can group packets into conversations (Link‑layer, IPv4, IPv6, TCP, UDP) via Statistics → Conversations . The Follow Stream button displays the complete bidirectional exchange of a selected conversation, using red/blue text to distinguish the two endpoints.

Protocol tree

The protocol tree provides a quick way to locate specific fields within a packet by expanding the hierarchical view of each protocol layer.

Content decoding

Compressed or encoded payloads can be decoded directly. After selecting a byte range, right‑click → Show Packet Bytes… and choose a decoding method such as Compressed to decompress gzip data, or Show as → Image to render embedded images. Wireshark also supports rendering HTML, various character sets, and other media types.

Kela Network Analyzer

Kela Network Analyzer is a Chinese‑language packet capture tool with a modern UI and extensive visual charts. It offers the same three‑pane layout as Wireshark (packet list, protocol tree, hex view) and adds several visual analysis features.

Home page statistics

The home page aggregates traffic by protocol, endpoint, and volume, providing quick insight into overall network usage.

Packet list and protocol tree

The packet list mirrors Wireshark’s layout, while the protocol tree displays hierarchical protocol breakdown for each packet.

Conversation matrix

A matrix view visualizes communication relationships between nodes, making it easy to identify which hosts talk to each other.

Process‑associated traffic

Kela links captured packets to the originating operating‑system process, allowing users to filter traffic by a specific program without manually searching the capture.

TCP session view

The TCP session view shows a timeline of packets with directional arrows and color coding (normal, abnormal, payload‑carrying). This visualisation highlights handshakes, retransmissions, and congestion events at a glance.

Fiddler

Fiddler is a proxy tool focused on HTTP/HTTPS traffic. It installs its own root certificate, enabling decryption of HTTPS streams on the local machine.

HTTPS decryption via proxy

When Fiddler is started, it registers a self‑signed root certificate with the operating system. Applications that trust the system store will accept the certificate, allowing Fiddler to act as a man‑in‑the‑middle and present clear‑text request and response bodies.

Capturing mobile app traffic

To capture traffic from a mobile device, configure the device’s Wi‑Fi advanced settings to use the computer running Fiddler as an HTTP proxy (both must be on the same LAN). After the proxy is set, all app traffic is routed through Fiddler and becomes visible in its session list.

Note: some applications (e.g., WeChat) detect the proxy’s certificate and may modify functionality or report the certificate to their servers.