PathSolutions Reviewed: The best Hidden Gem
5/5 Stars, My personal favorite network monitoring solution.
I’ve been in network management for over twenty years. In that time, I’ve worked with nearly every monitoring platform out there—SolarWinds, PRTG, Datadog, ManageEngine, you name it. Each one has its strengths, but none of them balance depth and simplicity quite like PathSolutions TotalView.
What really stands out about TotalView is how fast it turns noise into answers. It doesn’t just say something’s wrong on interface Gi0/1. It tells you why—dirty optics, high retransmits, duplex mismatch, or crushed cable. It does the hard part of diagnosis automatically. With SolarWinds or Datadog, I often spent hours digging through logs to piece things together. With TotalView, I get a human-readable explanation within minutes.
Setup was shockingly quick. I installed it on a workstation, pointed it at my network, and had actionable data within the hour. No complex agent installs, no endless configuration wizards. For small IT teams, that alone makes it worth considering.
Licensing is another area where Path gets it right. The lifetime license is a godsend for municipal and education environments where yearly renewals can crush budgets. Once you buy it, you own it—no subscription treadmill.
In terms of capability, it covers more ground than you’d expect from such a lightweight platform:
Path tracing and diagnostics between endpoints (not just device status)
Configuration management and VoIP analysis
Cloud and hybrid visibility
Detailed SNMP data exploration down to the MIB level
Even after years in the field, I still find it catching things I’d otherwise miss. At one deployment, TotalView flagged high FCS errors on a supposedly “clean” fiber line. Turned out the manufacturer shipped it with dirty optics. That kind of real-time context saves money and face.
Support is another high point. I’ve contacted them a handful of times, and you actually get engineers—not tier-one scripts. They’re responsive and seem to genuinely care about improving the product, which is rare.
For small IT departments, TotalView is one of the few tools that truly scales down without losing substance. It’s powerful enough for enterprise use, but intuitive enough that a two-person team can get real visibility in a morning.
They’re one of the smaller players in the game, but absolutely don’t overlook them. In my opinion PathSolutions is the best network monitoring solution available alongside industry giants like Datadog, PRTG, and Solarwinds
If you manage networks with limited time, staff, or patience for overcomplicated platforms, PathSolutions TotalView just makes sense. It’s the kind of software that quietly earns its keep—because when something breaks, it’s already halfway to the solution before you even open the console.