User Guide

Table 7.1. Time zone examples for UTC arrival times (without DST)
Los Angeles New York Madrid London Berlin Tokyo
Capture
File (UTC)
10:00 10:00 10:00 10:00 10:00 10:00
Local Offset
to UTC
-8 -5 -1 0 +1 +9
Displayed
Time (Local
Time)
02:00 05:00 09:00 10:00 11:00 19:00
An example: Let's assume that someone in Los Angeles captured a packet with Wireshark at exactly
2 o'clock local time and sends you this capture file. The capture file's time stamp will be represented
in UTC as 10 o'clock. You are located in Berlin and will see 11 o'clock on your Wireshark display.
Now you have a phone call, video conference or Internet meeting with that one to talk about that
capture file. As you are both looking at the displayed time on your local computers, the one in Los
Angeles still sees 2 o'clock but you in Berlin will see 11 o'clock. The time displays are different as
both Wireshark displays will show the (different) local times at the same point in time.
Conclusion: You may not bother about the date/time of the time stamp you currently look at, unless
you must make sure that the date/time is as expected. So, if you get a capture file from a different
time zone and/or DST, you'll have to find out the time zone/DST difference between the two local
times and "mentally adjust" the time stamps accordingly. In any case, make sure that every com-
puter in question has the correct time and time zone setting.
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