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NETSCOUT OPTIVIEW XG EXPT PLUS + 3YR

Mfg # OPVXG-EXPTPLUS-3W CDW # 4138982

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This item was discontinued on July 17, 2020

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NETSCOUT OPTIVIEW XG EXPT PLUS + 3YR is rated4.22 out of5 by23.
Rated 5 out of 5 by from The GUI’s user friendly and it's portable. It's easy for the field service guys to handle.Valuable FeaturesThe WiFi debugging features. It's called Debug. It helps solve issues that we deal with, with our product.Improvements to My OrganizationIt allows us to be able to troubleshoot, predominantly in the field, with the tools that we would normally have in the lab. The portability, the software of it, is nice to use.The GUI’s very user friendly, so it's easier for the field service guys to handle.Room for ImprovementThere's some obvious shortcomings with the product. Hardware is unreliable. It's already crashed on me several times. It's unusable for weeks.There are some problematic features. For example, file sizes cause problems where they're too small. You want to record a certain number of things, but this one limits us due to how much we can record and how large the files are.Software corruption prevented it from turning on. It resolved itself on its own, just by rebooting it a million times.Use of SolutionAbout 2 years.Stability IssuesThere isn't that much instability.Customer Service and Technical SupportI give it a 8. The response time was okay, but the level of detail didn't help solve the problem.Previous SolutionsWe used the PC-based devices. They were much harder to be mobile, so this device makes it easy to go into the field with. It's more accessible if you're out in the field.Initial SetupIt was straightforward. It was predominantly already set up. All you needed to do is turn it on and register it. There's not much you have to learn to start using it. It's already familiar.The user interface is intuitive.Other AdviceDo the proper research into the features that it has and whether or not it's the right fit, because for the cost of how much you pay for, there are other solutions out there that you can get. It's the portability that makes this valuable. If that's really what you're after, you need something that's going to be out in the field and is portable, it's great, but if you're looking for something to set up in the lab or something like that, where it stays fixed, then might not be the right tool.I'm rating it an 8 because it is easy to use and it is portable. Both of those are the positives. The negatives would be hardware unreliability and scalability or the file size limitation. You should be able to record longer periods of time. This one minimizes. It does allow you to record beyond a certain point.Disclaimer: IT Central Station contacted the reviewer to collect the review and to validate authenticity. The reviewer was referred by the vendor, but the review is not subject to editing or approval by the vendor.
Date published: 2016-08-31T00:00:00-04:00
Rated 5 out of 5 by from It helps me determine whether I need to add wireless access points.Valuable Features* All of the wireless applications* The packet snifferThis product ( https://www.itcentralstation.com/products/optiview-xg ) helps troubleshoot problems, find issues and fix them.Improvements to My OrganizationOn the wireless side, when users say that they have trouble connecting to the wireless network in a certain area, I take the Fluke up and I use the analyzer to see the signal strength and if I need to add wireless access points in that area.Room for ImprovementI actually don't have any complaints.Use of SolutionI have used it for a couple of years now.Stability IssuesI have not encountered any stability issues. The only problem I've had with it was the hard disk failed. After that, it wouldn't boot. I had to send it back to get replaced.Scalability IssuesI don't know why the hard disk failed. I don't believe it was a scaling issue.Customer Service and Technical SupportTechnical support ( https://www.itcentralstation.com/products/optiview-xg/by_topic/technical_support ) was awesome. They were quick to respond. They were very knowledgeable. We were kept up to date on the status.Previous SolutionsI did use something else before using the Fluke product. I switched because of the more updated capabilities of the OptiView.For one thing, the OptiView is much more compact. The other things that I was using, I had to carry two or three things. OptiView has a lot of things rolled into one compact tablet.Pricing, Setup Cost and LicensingThe licensing was confusing in the beginning, but once I figured out what was going on, it makes sense now. The software upgrade process on it is easy.Other AdviceI would recommend it to others and I have recommended it to others. I told my peers at other remote sites about this and three other sites have gotten one.They just love it. We love it.The only reason I haven’t given it the highest rating is because everything can be improved.Disclaimer: IT Central Station contacted the reviewer to collect the review and to validate authenticity. The reviewer was referred by the vendor, but the review is not subject to editing or approval by the vendor.
Date published: 2016-09-29T00:00:00-04:00
Rated 5 out of 5 by from Enables site surveys and spectrum analysis.What is most valuable?We have only been using it for site survey. I've used spectrum analysis as well, just to see what is on the wireless. I haven't used it too much, but it's on our network.How has it helped my organization?We use it as a site survey tool. I don't hire out, so it's done in-house. I don't use it every day, but only when I need to.What needs improvement?I had some problems generating reports. However, that could be me and not the tool. I don't know. I couldn't get a report out of it for some reason. I have to review that myself.For how long have I used the solution?It's been about two years since we starting using this solution.What do I think about the scalability of the solution?There were no scalability issues that we experienced. It's running pretty well.How is customer service and technical support?I personally have not contacted support. I just haven't had time for anything like that. I had other people use it, and they got the report they were looking for.Which solutions did we use previously?OptiView XG is the first solution that I've gone with. I have not used any other solution yet.How was the initial setup?The setup was straightforward. You turn it on. It's really easy to use, once you understand it a little bit. For the site survey part, it's pretty simple. For the other issues, you do need some training. I took some training for it.Which other solutions did I evaluate?I did not evaluate other options. I went with this solution because I read the reviews on it and they were good. We had shortage of time to purchase the product, so either you purchase now or never. I ended up purchasing it.What other advice do I have?It's a good tool and is pretty simple to use. Once you get the hang of it, it's not too hard to use. You don't have to read a bunch of manuals to get it going, at least for the site survey part.For the other issues, such as the analyzer and the spectrum, you will probably need some training. I've got to use it more often. If I had time to play with it, I would, but I don't have time.Disclaimer: IT Central Station contacted the reviewer to collect the review and to validate authenticity. The reviewer was referred by the vendor, but the review is not subject to editing or approval by the vendor.
Date published: 2017-03-07T00:00:00-05:00
Rated 5 out of 5 by from This helps us narrow down if an issue is a network or application problem.Valuable FeaturesI use it most for data capture or to troubleshoot issues on the production floor, because of intermittent issues we're having with communications, not knowing if it's a network problem or an application issue, and this helps us narrow it down.Improvements to My OrganizationWhen there's an issue of communication, data being dropped, we can prove the network that provided it. That allows the developers or software engineers to work on finding the solution in their area. It tells them that it's in that section. It defines the problem area.Room for ImprovementThe biggest one I can think of right now is probably training. We did have people attend training, but they weren't overly impressed with the training. Other sessions I have taken were OK, but when we first got it they were not thrilled with the instructor.The reports I got back from the guys I sent to training said the guy spent more time telling stories, war stories and that type, rather than actual training about the product. They got, I won't say turned off, as it was fun at first they said, but they didn't get that much out of the training. Most of the time it was self-learning. I took an online one and that was very good. They went to the class in person.Use of SolutionWe've had it about two years, but I'm not the main user.Stability IssuesEverything is just fine.Scalability IssuesWe haven't seen any limitations scaling it.Customer Service and Technical SupportI'm not the main user of it, but I would say it's good. We're not having problems with it.Previous SolutionsWe used different solutions, such as Wireshark ( https://www.itcentralstation.com/products/wireshark ), but they had limitations. This brought everything to one solution.Initial SetupIt depends on how far into it you want to get. I have not gone that far, but I understood it. It takes some setup to get done, to run a whole network, but we're just slowly adding into it. Discovery of devices, that type of stuff was simple, but it only discovered local devices.Disclaimer: IT Central Station contacted the reviewer to collect the review and to validate authenticity. The reviewer was referred by the vendor, but the review is not subject to editing or approval by the vendor.
Date published: 2016-07-17T00:00:00-04:00
Rated 5 out of 5 by from Gives us the ability to see our networkWhat is most valuable?Gives us the ability to see our network.How has it helped my organization?It helps us troubleshoot when we have problems.What needs improvement?I would like a built-in tap feature which doesn't interfere with the network, and it allows you to see what is happening there.I would also like to see them lower the cost of maintenance. We paid a lot of money for the product and you also have to pay a yearly fee for technical support.For how long have I used the solution?We have been using this solution for three years.What do I think about the stability of the solution?There were no issues with stability.How was the initial setup?I was involved in the setup. It was easy.What other advice do I have?We can see the sub-net, but we can't see more without using the tap feature.Disclaimer: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
Date published: 2017-08-02T00:00:00-04:00
Rated 5 out of 5 by from It's a great tool for going out in the field. In the beginning, it was not user-friendly. Like anything else, the more time you spend on it, the better you get with it.Valuable Features:We are using it to run wireless only. From a wireless perspective, it's a great tool for going out in the field and seeing what's going on.Improvements to My Organization:We use it. It's great for going out there and getting environmental information regarding WiFi. It's great for doing surveys. It's great for generating reports that can be submitted to management-type people, that type of stuff.Room for Improvement:It takes some time to get used to it. There's always room for improvement in the ease of usability, learning curve type of stuff. It was not that user-friendly at the beginning. Like anything else, the more time you spend on it, the better you get with it.Use of Solution:I think we've had it a few years now. At least three years.Stability Issues:I have not had any stability issues. Again, we use it infrequently. It's not something that I'm using every day, but anytime I've needed to use it, it seems to work fine.Scalability Issues:I have not had any scability issues for what I'm doing.Initial Setup:I think initial setup was fairly straightforward. I assume you would need some sort of previous knowledge if you're going to use this product.Other Solutions Considered:I played around with some free stuff, but nothing that would be comparable to this particular product.It was a management decision to go with this product. That's what they gave me to use. I'm just an end user.Other Advice:It's worth a shot. Give it a try. Definitely a product worth considering. I'm not sure what else is out there on the market at this point in time. I haven't really looked into it, but it would be definitely something you would want to check out.I use it a couple times a month. We use it. OptiView ( https://www.itcentralstation.com/products/optiview-xg ) does other stuff. We are just using the tablet. It's just running the WiFi analyzer. I could run that product on other pieces of equipment, but we're just running it on the OptiView tablet.I'm rating it a seven because I haven't used it that much. To be able to say how it could rate higher, I would need to do more with the product, to really dig deeper into it, explore all the functionality of the product.Disclaimer: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
Date published: 2016-08-31T00:00:00-04:00
Rated 5 out of 5 by from We use it for key devices to let us know if we lost communication with any of them.Valuable Features:We use it for key devices to let us know if we lost communication with any of them. We use it if we get a complaint about slowness or whatever on the network but for the most part, to let us know of problems with communication to like the switches or servers.Improvements to My Organization:Right now, we haven't gotten into it as much as we can. We did use it to troubleshoot our VLANs because we were having a problem with the VLANs. That helped quite a bit with displaying our VLANs and the paths things took.Room for Improvement:Right now, I can't really add anything. I haven't used it enough. We use it for some troubleshooting, but we're not heavy into using Fluke Networks yet.Use of Solution:1 year and a half.Deployment Issues:No issues deploying it. They helped us get it initially set up and really had no problems with setting it up.Stability Issues:It has been stable. There is the app mobile piece of it, which I will have to call to maybe get working. I'm not sure whether it's our firewall blocking it. I haven't been able to really get the mobile app to function right, but that's minor.Scalability Issues:I think we will be using it more and more as our infrastructure starts growing.Previous Solutions:As I said, we had an older Fluke Networks unit in here before and this was really an upgrade. It's a trade up that we did from that work group analyzer.Initial Setup:Straightforward.ROI:My opinion is yes, we have seen an ROI. For me, just resolving our one VLAN problem really makes it worth it.Other Advice:I'd give it an 8 because there's little things that we've used it for. I can see it being used for a lot more and I can't rate on anything that I haven't tried, but for the pieces that we have used it for, it has been very accurate and truthful.Disclaimer: IT Central Station contacted the reviewer to collect the review and to validate authenticity. The reviewer was referred by the vendor, but the review is not subject to editing or approval by the vendor.
Date published: 2016-01-20T00:00:00-05:00
Rated 5 out of 5 by from It's a valuable network troubleshooting tool. We'd like it to decode IP tunnels.Valuable FeaturesPacket capture is a valuable feature. It's a network troubleshooting tool.Improvements to My OrganizationWe use it to validate new networks.We use it in our data center.We need it for troubleshooting WAN circuits, which are LAN circuits. We use it to troubleshoot and validate LAN and WAN circuits. We have approximately 300 servers that we use OptiView for.Room for ImprovementWe would like to use it to decode IP tunnels. That would be it, as far as room for improvement. We have a lot of IP-to-IP tunnels. If we can decode the traffic within the IP tunnel, that would be great.Also, if they added some software features to enhance usability. If I wanted to do a simple packet capture, I'd like, for example, an online menu to do that, where I'd connect network here, next set this up to put the IP in, and so on - some kind of simple guide that would systematically guide you through a packet capture.Use of SolutionI have been using this product for about a year.Stability IssuesWe did not encounter any issues with stability.Scalability IssuesWe did not encounter any issues with scalability.Customer Service and Technical SupportWe've only used technical support a few times, and it was just satisfactory. My big problem is training my new employees. I don't remember the online training suite, but we did attend a couple of seminars. Those were pretty good.Previous SolutionsWe switched to OptiView to be a little bit more flexible. We were using Wireshark before, and wanted something a little bit more flexible. It's more portable. It's more accesible, as well, because it has lots of ports on it to do different things.Initial SetupInitial setup was complex. The online training was very helpful with that. Make sure the training seminar's available.Disclaimer: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
Date published: 2016-08-31T00:00:00-04:00
Rated 5 out of 5 by from Easy to use. Its effectiveness has improved the way my organization functions.Valuable FeaturesThe device is easy to use and is effective very quickly. I can plug it into a network and troubleshoot it in 15 minutes and pinpoint problems that would take days to do otherwise. It is an expensive device but, if you are going to use it, it pays for itself in time and effectiveness.Improvements to My OrganizationIts effectiveness has improved the way my organization functions.It is hard to say what it takes to analyze a network without this device, and then of course with it. For example, with the wireless. I was able to plug it in and see that the client was using the same channels for communication too close together. They were interfering with each other, causing problems with the client using their laptops. Once we were able to rearrange the channels that the individual access points were using, everything cleared up.Room for ImprovementI cannot even speak to that because normally what it does for me is so well. Then they come out with new features that I cannot even anticipate that make the product more effective. I do not want to say easier to use. Sometimes it is kind of complicated, but they come up with new solutions and they also stay with the market. With fiber and the speeds of fiber, these devices had to become even more powerful to be able to handle that kind of traffic and that kind of testing.They really do stay up with technology. If you keep up with your maintenance, you can easily upgrade, obviously your softwares, and the hardware; trade it back in. It is almost like a lease on a vehicle. You can trade it back in and get a newer one for big discounts, and stay up with the technology that OptiView ( https://www.itcentralstation.com/products/optiview-xg ) offers.Use of SolutionI have used this solution for over 10 years.Stability IssuesI have not had any issues with stability. We have two of them and they are out, and the clients love them. They just love them. Anytime I plug this in and go through testing of a network and you have their network administrators there, they pretty much love the product. I have only had one client who was a naysayer, but otherwise it is extremely effective.Scalability IssuesI have not had any issues with scalability because they built that into their product to handle that. You can capture packets, all of the information, that is coming over the wire, which is immense. You can have these ports that are rather large. Any other testing device can get overwhelmed with too much data but the OptiView does not. They have built into their technology the ability to capture all the packets and not miss any. If you miss any, your capture is basically ineffective because you lose the roadmap. It is an extremely solid product because they know the problems with the industry that they are dealing with. They are right on top of it.Customer Service and Technical SupportTheir support from my standpoint is 10/10, because any time I have called them with a question they have an answer, or can give you the insight to help you solve your problem effectively. I have never been disappointed with their support when I have had questions, or think I have had a problem. They will help you out, and their staff really knows their stuff.Previous SolutionsWe implemented this solution in the first place for testing of wireless, for wireless troubleshooting. We had a lot of problems with our clients implementing their own wireless, and they were doing it wrong. This was a way for me to troubleshoot their wireless infrastructure to offer a road map to make it better. That was my main concern, and then getting into the network testing. After realizing what OptiView can do, I got pulled into basically kind of a white area of testing with it as well.At the time we started using it, there was no effective software for analyzing wireless. Now there are other software products that you can use to analyze bandwidth usage, or another software product to use for capturing packets, but the OptiView has it all in one bundle. You can do the work that the OptiView does with different software products over a longer period of time. It might take me a day, maybe more. The OptiView, you can plug it in and all the tools are there that you need, and it is effective in very little time.Initial SetupTo set it up, you plug it in and it pretty much discovers on its own, maybe it needs a little bit of technical input from myself. All that is really easy.Pricing, Setup Cost and LicensingTheir pricing is expensive. They are the Mercedes. Most people have a problem with that understandably, because if you are only going to use it once, it is hard to justify it. Luckily, a company like us that deals with thousands of clients, it allows it to be effective.Pricing would be your only problem, because it is expensive. It could be cheaper, in my opinion.They really do stay up with technology. If you keep up with your maintenance, you can easily upgrade your software, and the hardware, trade it back in. It is almost like a lease on a vehicle. You can trade it back in and get a newer one for big discounts, and stay up with the technology that OptiView offers.It is a complete package. It is not just a really good testing device, but also the maintenance that goes along with it. There is support when I have questions. Then the continued advancement of the product itself. It is well worth the price quite frankly, if you are in that arena.Other Solutions ConsideredI have used other products ( https://www.itcentralstation.com/categories/network-monitoring-software ). There were no products that did what the OptiView did as well as OptiView.They have no competitors because nobody has done it like them, so they basically own it. That is why you have to buy the device, because there is no other.Disclaimer: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
Date published: 2016-08-31T00:00:00-04:00
Rated 5 out of 5 by from The product has helped with troubleshooting and has simplified the way the organization functions.Valuable Features* Interface* Ease of useImprovements to My OrganizationIt has helped with troubleshooting and has simplified the way the organization functions.Room for ImprovementNone.Use of SolutionI've been using it for a year, on and off.Deployment IssuesWe didn't have any issues with deployment.Stability IssuesWe didn't have any issues with stability.Scalability IssuesWe didn't have any issues with scalability.Customer Service and Technical SupportCustomer Service: 9/10Technical Support: 9/10Previous SolutionsNo, this is the first monitoring solution we've used.Initial SetupIt was straightforward.Implementation TeamIt was implemented through our in-house team.Other Solutions ConsideredNo, this was the only solution we considered.Other AdviceI would recommend trying it out first and making sure it fits your needs.Disclaimer: IT Central Station contacted the reviewer to collect the review and to validate authenticity. The reviewer was referred by the vendor, but the review is not subject to editing or approval by the vendor.
Date published: 2015-06-25T00:00:00-04:00

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