15+ Best Wireshark Courses & Certifications Online in 2026

Last updated: July 2026. Written by Josh Hutcheson, OnlineCourseing editor. See our review methodology.

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Wireshark captures and decodes the traffic flowing across a network, one packet at a time. It is how you prove what actually happened on the wire — a slow application, a misconfigured handshake, credentials sent in the clear, or a malware beacon phoning home. It is completely free and it is a core skill for network troubleshooting, security analysis, and penetration testing alike.

One important legal note before you start: Wireshark is a legitimate analysis tool, but capturing traffic on networks you do not own or have permission to monitor can break privacy and wiretapping laws. Every course below teaches capture in a lab or on your own network — keep it there.

The best Wireshark courses in 2026

1. Wireshark: Packet Analysis and Ethical Hacking: Core Skills — Udemy (Best overall)

Chris Greer is a Wireshark instructor and packet-analysis consultant who teaches for Wireshark University itself, and it shows. This course is the platform’s best, rated 4.8★ from nearly 9,000 ratings with 245,000+ students (last updated May 2025). You learn to capture and filter traffic, follow TCP and HTTP streams, spot retransmissions and resets, and use Wireshark to identify security issues like cleartext credentials and suspicious connections. If you buy one Wireshark course, buy this one.

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2. The Complete Wireshark Course: Go from Beginner to Advanced — Udemy

A broader, cheaper alternative that starts from the OSI model and builds up through display filters, protocol analysis, and traffic troubleshooting. Good if you want networking context alongside the tool, or as an inexpensive first look before committing to Greer’s course.

3. Wireshark for Basic Network Security Analysis — Coursera (Best free option)

A short, hands-on guided project you can audit for free. In about an hour you capture live traffic and analyse it for basic security issues, working in a browser-based environment with no local install. The fastest way to decide whether packet analysis interests you before paying for a full course.

4. Getting Started with Wireshark — Pluralsight

A structured fundamentals course for Pluralsight subscribers, covering capture, display filters, and everyday troubleshooting like DHCP and client-server exchanges. Solid, if a little older in its interface than Greer’s course.

5. Digital Networks Essentials — edX

Not a Wireshark course as such, but the right pick if the packets do not make sense yet. It teaches the networking fundamentals — protocols, addressing, and the OSI layers — that make Wireshark readable. Take this first if you are brand new to networking.

What you’ll learn with Wireshark

A capable Wireshark course should get you comfortable with all of the following — if one stops at “here is the capture button,” it is too shallow:

• Capturing traffic on the right interface, and using capture filters to keep the volume manageable.
• Display filters — the single most important skill; isolating exactly the packets you care about from millions.
• Following streams — reassembling a full TCP or HTTP conversation to see it as the applications did.
• Reading the TCP handshake and spotting retransmissions, resets, and latency — the core of troubleshooting.
• Security analysis — finding cleartext credentials, odd DNS, and beaconing malware in a trace.
• tshark, Wireshark’s command-line counterpart, for scripting and capturing on servers with no GUI.

Looking for “Wireshark Essential Training” or the LinkedIn Learning courses?

A lot of people search for specific LinkedIn Learning titles — Wireshark Essential Training, Troubleshooting Your Network with Wireshark, and Wireshark: Advanced Tools and Techniques (taught by Lisa Bock). They are solid, well-produced courses. The catch is that they are only available inside a LinkedIn Learning subscription, so there is no standalone purchase — and searches for a free “download” of them lead to pirated copies that are illegal and routinely bundled with malware. If you have LinkedIn Learning through work or a library card, they are worth watching. If you do not, Chris Greer’s course above covers the same ground (and more current security material) as a one-time purchase.

Is there a Wireshark certification?

Yes. The WCNA (Wireshark Certified Network Analyst), offered through Wireshark University, is the only certification specific to the tool. It validates deep packet-analysis and protocol knowledge and is respected among network engineers, though it is a niche credential rather than a career-maker on its own. Wireshark skill also feeds broader certifications: it appears in CompTIA Network+ and Security+, and packet analysis is a core competency for the OSCP and most SOC-analyst roles. If a course promises a “Wireshark certificate,” check whether it means the WCNA or just a completion certificate.

How to choose a Wireshark course

Match the course to your goal. For security and ethical hacking, Greer’s Core Skills course is purpose-built. For network troubleshooting, any of the broader courses work — prioritise one that spends real time on display filters and following streams, the two skills you will use daily. And if the OSI model and TCP handshake are still fuzzy, start with a networking foundation (the edX course, or our CompTIA Network+ guide) before diving into packets.

Wireshark courses: frequently asked questions

Is Wireshark hard to learn?

Capturing packets is easy; making sense of them is the skill. The interface is approachable, but reading a trace fluently — knowing which packets matter and why — takes practice. A good course plus a few hours analysing your own traffic gets most people to a useful level within a couple of weeks.

Is it legal to use Wireshark?

Yes, on networks you own or are authorised to monitor. Capturing traffic on networks you do not control — public Wi-Fi, an employer’s network without permission — can violate privacy and wiretapping laws. Keep your practice to your own lab.

Do I need networking knowledge first?

A working grasp of TCP/IP makes Wireshark far easier. If protocols and the OSI model are new to you, take a networking foundation course first — several picks above assume those basics.

What is the WCNA certification?

The Wireshark Certified Network Analyst is the official, tool-specific certification from Wireshark University. It certifies advanced packet-analysis skill and is well regarded among network engineers, though it is a specialist credential rather than a broad career qualification.

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