Fifth-Generation (5G) networks generate traffic volumes and architectural complexity that expose the limits of legacy visibility infrastructure. Control and user plane separation (CUPS), network slicing, and high-throughput New Radio (NR) interfaces mean that Mobile Network Operators (MNOs) and enterprises running private 5G need packet brokers capable of handling encrypted 5G cores, GTP correlation, and subscriber-aware filtering — all at speeds up to 400G. Choosing the wrong platform means blind spots in the most critical parts of your network.
This guide compares five verified packet broker platforms against the specific demands of 5G monitoring environments, covering throughput, 5G-specific capabilities, and scalability.
| Vendor | Key Strength | Max Throughput |
|---|---|---|
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Scalable hybrid TAP/broker architecture with API automation |
Up to 400G |
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5G and CUPS correlation with subscriber-aware filtering |
Up to 400G |
|
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FPGA-accelerated zero-loss architecture with network slice awareness |
Up to 400G |
|
|
Integrated service assurance with 5G MobileStream |
Up to 400G |
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Application-aware DPI with GTP and VXLAN header stripping |
Up to 400G |
Network Critical's SmartNA-PortPlus delivers scalable network packet broker functionality from 48 to 194 ports across 1G, 10G, 25G, 40G, and 100G speeds. The SmartNA-PortPlus HyperCore extends this to 400G via 32 QSFP-DD interfaces, with a maximum backplane throughput of 25.6 Tbps — well suited to high-density 5G core deployments.
The platform's scale-out architecture allows MNOs and enterprises to start with a single 1RU unit and add capacity incrementally without replacing existing hardware. Each expansion unit integrates into a single managed system, so traffic mapping, filtering, and load balancing continue to function across the full port estate.
Drag-n-Vu software provides graphical configuration with a built-in RESTful API. This enables automated port mapping and filter updates without manual intervention — important in 5G environments where traffic patterns and network slices change frequently. The API supports standard HTTP and JSON, making integration with orchestration platforms straightforward.
Network Critical hybrid TAPs combine TAP and packet broker functionality in a single chassis, reducing hardware footprint and simplifying the 5G visibility stack. Features include traffic aggregation, intelligent filtering, load balancing, packet slicing, and payload masking for regulatory compliance.
Proven results:
Gigamon's Deep Observability Pipeline is one of the most widely deployed visibility platforms in telecommunications. The company's 5G and CUPS Correlation capability — delivered through the GigaSMART module — is specifically designed for environments where control and user plane traffic is physically separated across different locations. MNOs can filter subscriber sessions by subscriber ID, user equipment, Radio Access Network (RAN) ID, or network slice, and forward correlated sessions to the appropriate monitoring tools.
Gigamon supports FlowVUE subscriber-aware flow sampling, which reduces traffic volumes to downstream tools while keeping user sessions intact. This is particularly valuable in high-throughput 5G deployments where tool oversubscription is a constant risk.
The GigaVUE HC Series chassis supports physical and virtual environments, with cloud TAP integration for AWS and Azure workloads. GigaVUE-FM provides centralized fabric management across the full deployment.
Key specifications include support for 1G through 400G interfaces, SSL/TLS (Transport Layer Security) decryption, and integration with major Security Information and Event Management (SIEM) and analytics platforms. The platform holds approximately 25% market mindshare in the network packet broker (NPB) category as of early 2026, according to PeerSpot data.
Keysight's Vision X Network Packet Broker delivers up to 2 Tbps of throughput in a 3RU chassis, with 60 multi-speed ports ranging from 10G to 100G. A dedicated Field-Programmable Gate Array (FPGA)-based hardware acceleration layer provides a zero-loss architecture — verified through third-party Tolly Group testing — at full line rate.
Enhanced 5G visibility capabilities include support for CUPS, network slice awareness, subscriber-aware metadata, and encrypted 5G core access. The GTP Session Controller 7433 provides dedicated GTP correlation for operators managing large-scale 5G SA and NSA deployments. These features allow service assurance platforms to monitor 5G Quality of Experience (QoE) at the subscriber level without requiring additional infrastructure.
The Vision 400 Series extends coverage to 400G speeds with high-density flexibility — up to 152 ports of 10G/25G/50G, 64 ports of 100G, and 16 ports of 400G in a single chassis. Packet transformation features include header stripping, timestamping, tunneled IP filtering, data masking, and tunnel creation and termination on every port. Keysight's Vision 400 Series received the Frost & Sullivan 2024 Global New Product Innovation Award.
An automated dynamic filter compiler handles overlapping rule sets without operator intervention, reducing configuration complexity in multi-interface 5G environments.
NETSCOUT's nGenius Packet Flow Switch (PFS) 5000 and 7000 series operate at speeds from 1G to 400G, with the 7000 series supporting up to 12.8 Tbps throughput for large-scale deployments. Self-organizing mesh technology enables the nGenius PFS fabric to scale without manual reconfiguration as monitoring requirements grow.
NETSCOUT's MobileStream solution targets 5G-specific service assurance. It uses Smart Data technology to monitor both user plane and control plane traffic within 4G and 5G mobile networks. Omnis RAN provides automated analytics for Radio Access Network (RAN) performance, supporting operators managing the interoperability challenges inherent in 5G NSA and SA rollouts.
The nGenius Packet Flow eXtender (PFX) software layer adds expert packet conditioning capabilities, including deduplication at up to 200 Gbps in 1RU, NetFlow/IPFIX generation, header stripping, packet slicing, and masking. Supported tunnel header types include MPLS, GRE, L2GRE/NVGRE, ERSPAN, and others.
The 7000 series includes active inline traffic forwarding with security service chaining, application-specific health checks, and integration with external PowerSafe bypass TAPs. This design is well suited to MNOs running inline security stacks alongside passive monitoring.
APCON's IntellaView platform is a chassis-based packet broker available in five rack unit sizes from 1RU to 9RU, with a maximum backplane throughput of 19.2 Tbps. The modular blade architecture supports mix-and-match configurations across 1G, 10G, 25G, 40G, 100G, and 400G port densities.
The HyperEngine Advanced Packet Processor blade adds real-time Deep Packet Inspection (DPI) to IntellaView deployments. It automatically detects over 1,600 applications and 400 protocols at line rate — including GTP, VXLAN, GENEVE, MPLS, and ERSPAN — relevant to 5G traffic monitoring across core and transport layers. Application filtering can identify and route 5G-specific traffic flows, including encrypted or obfuscated protocols, to the appropriate monitoring tools.
APCON's 9RU IntellaView system supports up to 28.8 Tbps of protocol header stripping throughput, making it well suited to high-scale 5G deployments with heavy tunnel encapsulation. Dual-controller architecture separates the data plane from the control plane, ensuring that monitoring connections and traffic filters remain intact even when both controllers fail simultaneously.
The IntellaView platform supports 5G use cases explicitly, with APCON documentation citing 5G mobile network visibility, IoT device traffic, and high-throughput applications as primary deployment scenarios. The TITAN centralized management interface provides multi-site visibility across distributed IntellaView deployments.
The monitoring requirements for 5G Non-Standalone (NSA) architectures differ from those for standalone 5G SA core deployments. NSA deployments retain a 4G Evolved Packet Core (EPC) and use the 5G NR air interface, so GTP correlation tools already in use may require only incremental updates. SA deployments introduce a full 5G core with service-based architecture (SBA) interfaces, requiring packet brokers that can handle HTTP/2-based signaling and N-interface traffic in addition to traditional GTP tunnels. Identify which architecture you're monitoring before shortlisting platforms.
Control and user plane separation creates session tracking challenges that basic packet brokers cannot address. A subscriber session may have its control plane traffic traversing one data center and its user plane traffic flowing through another. Without GTP-C and GTP-U correlation, monitoring tools receive fragmented visibility. Evaluate whether each vendor's correlation engine supports:
5G NR interfaces generate traffic volumes that exceed what many legacy network TAPs and packet brokers were designed to handle. A single 5G fronthaul link can carry 25G or more, and core interfaces frequently operate at 100G. Verify that the platform you evaluate supports your current peak throughput — and your projected throughput for the next 3 to 5 years — without requiring a full hardware replacement cycle.
5G rollouts are iterative. MNOs bring new cell sites, new slices, and new interfaces online continuously. A packet broker that requires chassis replacement when you exceed its port count will create recurring disruption and cost. Evaluate whether the platform supports incremental expansion, and whether additional units can be managed as a single logical system rather than separate siloes.
5G monitoring environments change faster than human operators can manually reconfigure visibility tools. Packet brokers with RESTful APIs allow orchestration platforms, Security Orchestration, Automation and Response (SOAR) tools, and AI-driven security platforms to dynamically adjust traffic filters and port maps in response to real-time network events. Confirm that the vendor's API covers the full configuration surface — not just a subset of features.
Regulatory frameworks including the Network and Information Systems Directive (NIS2) in the European Union and lawful intercept requirements in various jurisdictions impose specific requirements on how subscriber data is captured, processed, and retained. Features like packet slicing, payload masking, and session-level filtering ensure that monitoring tools receive only the traffic they need, reducing compliance exposure. Confirm which data handling features are available at line rate rather than requiring performance trade-offs.
A packet broker in a 5G network aggregates, filters, and distributes traffic from multiple network interfaces to monitoring and security tools. In 5G environments, packet brokers must handle additional complexity — including GTP tunnel encapsulation, CUPS-separated control and user plane traffic, and network slice identifiers — before forwarding relevant data to the tools that need it. Without a packet broker, tools receive raw, unfiltered 5G traffic volumes that quickly exceed their processing capacity.
A network TAP creates a passive copy of live traffic without affecting network performance or introducing a point of failure. A packet broker sits downstream of the TAPs and applies intelligence — aggregating traffic from multiple TAPs, filtering by subscriber or application, and distributing the right data to the right tool. Most 5G monitoring architectures use both: TAPs for physical access at the network interface, and packet brokers to manage traffic flows across a monitoring fabric.
Yes, if you're monitoring a 5G core or transport network. Legacy packet brokers designed for enterprise data center monitoring may handle raw traffic volumes adequately, but they typically cannot decode GTP encapsulation, correlate CUPS-separated sessions, or filter by network slice. Features like GTP correlation, CUPS awareness, and subscriber metadata extraction are specific to mobile network architectures and are not available on standard enterprise packet brokers.
GPRS Tunneling Protocol (GTP) correlation reconstructs end-to-end mobile sessions by matching GTP control plane (GTP-C) messages — which carry subscriber identity and session parameters — with the corresponding GTP user plane (GTP-U) traffic flows that carry the actual subscriber data. Packet brokers with GTP correlation engines perform this stitching in real time, enabling monitoring tools to receive subscriber-aware traffic rather than raw tunneled packets. In CUPS deployments, the correlation must occur across spatially separated control and user plane functions.
Throughput requirements depend on the scale of your deployment. A single 5G User Plane Function (UPF) typically requires 100G monitoring connectivity, with larger deployments requiring multiple 100G or 400G interfaces. For MNOs managing multiple UPF deployments or high-density urban coverage areas, packet brokers supporting 400G line rates and multi-terabit backplane capacity are appropriate. For private 5G deployments or smaller SA cores, platforms scaling from 10G to 100G are usually sufficient.
Choosing a packet broker for 5G monitoring means committing to a platform that will need to grow as your network does. Network Critical's SmartNA-PortPlus range addresses this directly — the scale-out architecture lets you add capacity incrementally without replacing existing units, and the HyperCore platform supports 400G line rates for the highest-throughput 5G core interfaces.
The Drag-n-Vu API enables automated filter and port map updates, so your visibility layer keeps pace with a 5G environment that changes continuously. With proven deployments at organizations including Vodafone, HSBC, and BP, Network Critical brings documented enterprise-grade performance to the visibility challenge.
To discuss your 5G monitoring requirements and explore how Network Critical's network packet brokers can be configured for your architecture, speak to the team.