I/O Ninja

If you're looking for a comprehensive software tool to help you with debugging almost any communication scenario, look no further than this combination terminal/sniffer program. With the ability to send and receive arbitrary binary data in HEX or TEXT form using a terminal emulation program like HyperTerminal or a telnet client, you'll have ultimate I/O flexibility to work with any underlying transport, including serial ports, TCP/UDP in client or server modes, named pipes, and more.

This software also includes monitoring capabilities of a network sniffer or a serial monitor, and you can customize its functionality using various plugins. For instance, the Connection Socket plugin provides you the ability to create TCP/UDP/PIPE connections, while the Listener Socket plugin listens to incoming TCP/UDP/PIPE connections.

The Network Sniffer plugin monitors Ethernet traffic, and the UDP Socket plugin allows you to send/receive UDP traffic and perform connectionless UDP operations. You can even act as a proxy and monitor all traffic being passed for scenarios where a network sniffer just won't cut it. And if you need to create a serial connection, you can use the Serial Connection plugin.

Finally, you can inspect and analyze a program's debug trace, to help track down the cause for software crashes. All this functionality is wrapped up in a streamlined, well-thought-out interface, bringing a dash of style and common sense to your complex communication troubleshooting needs.