Network traffic monitoring: BSD monitor & verifying encryption

[Daniel Underwood]

Hi folks:

(1) I'm only used Wireshark and Ethereal to inspect network traffic,
and I've only used these on several occasion.  Would someone suggest
FreeBSD alternatives (console or xserver based?

(2) I'm testing my connection to a remote server.  The connection is
supposed to be encrypted. What's the easiest way to verify that the
data is in fact being encrypted?  I don't care to validate the
encryption itself; I trust that it is working properly, if it's
working at all.  I just want to know what, if anything, I can look for
in the traffic that will indicate encryption (e.g., is the initiation
of key-exchanges easy to locate?).