TCP Analyzer was just added recently to CodePlex, Microsoft's Open Source platform. It is the first Network Monitor Expert (extension) that was not developed by the Network Monitor team, but from Microsoft Research. It allows you to analyze network traces of Transmission Control Protocol (TCP) connections.
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Statistical analysis is only useful if you analyze large amounts of data. So if you open a big Network Monitor capture file, keep in mind that the parsing process can take a while, and that it will require your CPU's full attention. Thus, I would wait until parsing is completed before selecting a specific TCP connection and launch TCP Analyzer from Network Monitor's Experts menu.
You can gather statistical data, such as the average data rate, total data amount, and retransmitted data. The round-trip-time (RTT) will only be calculated when selected from the Analyze menu. You will also find a "Flow" command in this menu, which will let TCP Analyzer guess which primary factor was limiting throughput of the flow. Possibilities include limited bandwidth of the bottleneck link, congestion, or other packet losses.
There are also three graphical visualizations, but they will only display something if you feed the tool with enough data. The two time-sequence plots show TCP's progress in sending data from one endpoint to the other. One graph is for transmissions from endpoint A to B, and the other one from B to A. The plot in the middle displays the round-trip-time measurements. The big visualization on the right-hand side allows you to magnify portions of the three small plots.
It is a bit strange that TCP Analyzer opens a command line interface, where it displays some further statistical data. I wonder why the authors didn't integrate this information into the graphical user interface? There, you will find valuable data when it comes to network troubleshooting: out-of-order data packet count, lost packet count, retransmitted packet count, measured roundtrip time etc. (see full list in screenshot).
I think, TCP Analyzer is more a research project than a finished product, even though it carries the version number 1.2. It crashed several times while I played with it. The information provided by TCP Analyzer is mostly interesting for network admins. TCP Analyzer can provide valuable data if you suspect that the network connection is the cause of the problem. You don't have to be a TCP/IP guru to find some valuable hints with the tool.
What a great tool I’m downloading it right now!
I give up, it crashes all the time 🙁