RawCap

RawCap is a simple network sniffer designed to capture the packets sent and received on your network via raw sockets. The program is designed to be used in command line mode and generates a packet capture file that can be analysed with other applications.

Capturing the network traffic is the first step when you want to analyze and improve the performance of a private or corporate LAN. The packet capture files can provide you with useful information which can also help in detecting problems and intrusion attempts.

While most network analyzers include the ability to capture the data packets, this app aims to provide you with a command line alternative that is both lightweight and easy to use. You can configure it in the Command Prompt or by using script files.

When you run the app you have the option to select the network interface and specify the name of the PCAP file. Although it automatically generates a PCAP file in the current folder, you should specify the path before starting the capture in order to prevent overwriting an older file.

The user can set the limit of the size of the data file by specifying the number of packets or the used time interval. These features as well as the option to flush the memory are available as command line arguments.

The program is designed for raw sockets which are not fully supported on all Windows versions. For instance you cannot use the app to capture incoming packets on Windows 7 or outgoing packets on Windows Vista.

Overall, RawCap is a useful tool for sniffing data packets from your network traffic. Unfortunately, using the raw sockets limits the usage which means that you might miss important details when analyzing your network.