Of course, any old PC keyboard and mouse you have lying around will do. It transports easily and uses a single tiny USB receiver. I also like the keyboard / mouse listed for this project because it's a laptop-style keyboard with a trackpad built in. The Raspberry Pi Foundation (the guys that make the RPi) recommends any class 10 card. I like the SanDisk micro SD card I listed because it runs the fastest of all the cards I've tried in RPi units, and I’ve tried a lot of them. The kit also comes with a suitable power supply - the RPi4 requires a USB-C power connector because of its higher current requirements. As it does, it throttles itself in self-preservation, so a fan is essential to keep it performing at its peak. The RPi4 has a tendency to get hotter than previous versions, even with heat sinks on the chips. I like the kit I put down as part #1 because it has good thermal management. Of course, each of these parts can be changed for your personal preference, as long as you use the RPi4 as your SBC. To build this packet sniffer, you'll need the following:ġ) 4 GB Raspberry Pi 4 with case, heat sinks, fan, PSU, & HDMI adapter ($79.99)ģ) Logitech Wireless Keyboard & Trackpad ($24.99)Ĥ) Netgear GS1056Ev2 ProSAFE switch with port mirroring ($37.89)Ħ) 4-outlet power cable (15.49 for a 2-pack) With a true gigabit NIC (vs the gigabit NIC on the USB 2.0 bus, giving you about 300 Mpbs), up to 4 GB of RAM, and USB 3.0 ports, the RPi4 has broken the speed barrier that was keeping the RPi from being viable for this use. This, however, has changed with the new Raspberry Pi 4 b. This was because it either had only a 10/100 NIC, or because the NIC was still on the USB 2.0 bus. Until the RPi4 was released at the end of June, 2019, the RPi simply hasn't had the umph to be a viable solution in the business sector as a packet capture device for network troubleshooting.

I've done a lot of projects with them that others have laid out, but this is the first packet sniffer based on the RPi for serious IT pros like us, as far as I know. It’s based on the new Raspberry Pi 4 (RPi4) single board computer (SBC), making it small, portable and affordable. Have you ever needed to use a packet sniffer to troubleshoot your network, but your laptop was tied up with something else? I have found myself in this situation 3 times in the last year, so I've created this system.

Wireshark ip sniffer