Ethernet Debugger

Overview

More than just a gigabit-capable network tap.

The Intona Ethernet Debugger is a device to capture all packets between two Gigabit Ethernet devices. It is able to detect data direction, inter-frame gaps, CRC erros and non-ethernet frames – while bypassing the undesirable path through the operating system's network stack. Moreover, it is able to inject or disrupt packets.

In summary, it's the ideal tool to inspect, debug, disrupt or just record everything on the ethernet wire. A perfect companion to Wireshark!

The host tool for Windows, Linux and macOS is available as open source software.

Features

capture ethernet packets without intrusion (preamble, SFD, and FCS are all left intact)
capture non-ethernet packets
detect direction
detect CRC validity
count inter-frame gaps
inject packets
disrupt packets
measure latency
PoE passthrough
accessed through userspace, no kernel device driver needed
can be directly accessed from Wireshark
can be accessed and controlled by command line interface
open source host software
compact and portable, USB-powered solution

The device is powered and accessed through USB 3.0. Installing the device will not destabilize your system. In particular, the device is not exposed as network device (and there is no kernel device driver). This has the advantage that your OS will not mess with it.

Applications

Network tap
Traffic capture
Ethernet troubleshooting
Protocol development (including layer-2 protocols like AVB / TSN, 1588, Spanning Tree)
MAC development
PHY debugging
Cable testing
Performance monitoring
Intelligence wiretap

Downloads

Datasheet	download
User Guide (Online)	link
User Guide (PDF)	download
Host tool source code	link to GitHub (recommended for Linux/BSD/macOS)
Host tool Windows installer	download (Windows 10/11 Intel x64)
Letter of Volatility (Online)	link
Letter of Volatility (PDF)	download
Timing Review (Online)	link
Timing Review (PDF)	download
Firmware 1.09 (latest)	download (MD5: 54aa2304fcb8f983a470cf88c1835279)
Firmware 1.08	download (MD5: a55ec5a32bc6d3f1af07646f177e9fd6)

For macOS and Linux, the host tool can be easily built from sources. The Ethernet Debugger is best used with Wireshark as inspection tool. The Windows version of the host tool contains the latest firmware update.