GNS3 vs Mininet-WiFi
GNS3
gns3.comMininet-WiFi
mininet-wifi.github.ioSide by side
| Figure | GNS3 | Mininet-WiFi |
|---|---|---|
| Price from | Free | Free |
| Free plan | Yes | Yes |
| Free trial | — | — |
| Open source | — | — |
| Web | Yes | — |
| Windows | Yes | — |
| macOS | Yes | — |
| Linux | Yes | Yes |
| Self-hosted | Yes | Yes |
| Plans published | 1 | 1 |
| Spec score · Network Simulation Software | 8.0 (#8) | 7.4 (#24) |
| Platform requirements | The documentation lists Windows, macOS, and Linux, and recommends the GNS3 VM for most Windows and macOS setups and complex topologies. | The project recommends the latest Ubuntu LTS; its getting-started guide also describes source installation on Ubuntu, Debian, and experimentally Fedora. |
| Purpose | GNS3 lets network engineers emulate, configure, test, and troubleshoot virtual and real networks. | Mininet-WiFi extends the Mininet SDN network emulator with virtualized Wi-Fi stations and access points. |
| Support | GNS3 points users to its documentation and community for help, questions, and bug reports. | The getting-started guide identifies the mininet-wifi-discuss mailing list as the source for support and community discussion. |
Plans
In their own words
GNS3
GNS3 is free, open-source software for emulating, configuring, testing, and troubleshooting virtual and real networks. Its graphical client works with a virtual machine, and servers can run locally or remotely. Users can combine emulated devices running actual images with simulated devices, including a built-in layer 2 switch. It supports appliances from vendors such as Cisco, Brocade, Cumulus Linux, and HPE, as well as Docker, QEMU-based appliances, VMware, VirtualBox, Hyper-V, and connections to real networks. The GNS3 Marketplace offers preconfigured appliance templates with recommended settings. It runs on Windows, macOS, and Linux; documentation recommends the GNS3 VM for most Windows and macOS setups and complex topologies. Users must supply their own Cisco IOS images. There are no monthly or yearly license fees, and device capacity depends in practice on the host computer’s CPU and memory. GNS3 is used for networking education, certification practice, proofs of concept, demonstrations, and interoperability testing. A server has no authentication enabled by default and should be restricted at the network level.
Mininet-WiFi
Mininet-WiFi has no write-up on Specifiction yet; its figures are above.