I have a bunch of Ethernet cables to build and I want to test the Quilty of the cables.

I am looking for an education and which test device to buy.

Thanks!

You have lots of options, depending on the depth of your wallet.

On the low end (~$25-50), you can get a wiremap tester. All that really tells you is if you have it terminated correctly (i.e., green to green, orange to orange, etc.). On the high end, you have Category 6 certification testers (Fluke's is well-respected, and can run you $5K-10K).

Honestly, you're better off buying them pre-made and pre-tested, unless you can't physically pull them connectorized. In that case, I'd recommend terminating to jacks on either end and using standard patch cables.

I have this "argument" with fellow engineers all the time.

quote:

Originally posted by IntrepidTraveler:
On the low end (~$25-50), you can get a wiremap tester. All that really tells you is if you have it terminated correctly (i.e., green to green, orange to orange, etc.).

This is all you really need. I've build tons of cables and this is all I've ever used to test them.

quote:

I'd recommend terminating to jacks on either end and using standard patch cables.

^^^It's good advise to use punch down keystones at the end of each run, though I still make my own custom patch cables to avoid excess wire having to be dealt with.

Powerbook-I MIGHT be able to help you out. What do you need in terms of quantity/length?

I've pretty much been out of business for the last year (health) and have a good number of high-quality patch cables in various lengths.

I couldn't get to your profile for your e-nmail; mine is in my profile.

quote:

Originally posted by IntrepidTraveler:
You have lots of options, depending on the depth of your wallet.

On the low end (~$25-50), you can get a wiremap tester. All that really tells you is if you have it terminated correctly (i.e., green to green, orange to orange, etc.). On the high end, you have Category 6 certification testers (Fluke's is well-respected, and can run you $5K-10K).

Honestly, you're better off buying them pre-made and pre-tested, unless you can't physically pull them connectorized. In that case, I'd recommend terminating to jacks on either end and using standard patch cables.

I have this "argument" with fellow engineers all the time.

This, unless you are insane - then go ahead & crimp a bunch of plugs.

I have an $8 Pyle tester that tells you if you have continuity & that 1-8 are not crossed. Anything more sophisticated goes up exponentially$$ from there.

I wired, networked, and instlled a large server and workstations for a small commercial business about 20 years ago as a side job. Not being very good at terminating cat5 cables, I bought a small device to check the cables, about $100 at the time iirc. No matter how many cables I terminated, I never really got the hang of it. That cable tester saved my ass. I have no idea where it is now, or any of the terminating consumables, tools and crimper. That job was out of my normal wheelhouse but it sure was fun. I'm too old to do that stuff now.

Anyway my point is, you should not have to spend big money for a simple tester, especially these days compared to 20 years ago.

We have a few Boys Scout and Order of the Arrow events coming up including NOAC and my sons are on the Tech Teams so I am on the Tech Teams.

We plan to have to run cables for NOAC as well as local stuff. I have made hundreds of Cat 5 cables, but never tested them.

These event will be moving lots of video files over the network so I wan them to actually work well and nt just work.

jonstuck@mac.com

Buy them on Monoprice. Great quality and huge time savings. How many Diana you need?

Short of spending around $1,000 on a Fluke cable tester, like I used to use at work, that will report things like cable length, near and far end crosstalk values, cable impedance, and qualification for given bandwidths, you're down to simple "have I got all the same pins connected to the same wires at each end" testers, such as the Klein Tools LAN Scout Jr. Network Tester I use now. These run around $50 or so.

You still have to make sure you've actually got the correct wires on each pin, not just the same wires on each pin at each end. Providing you can do that, it'll tell you if they're all actually connected and whether or not you have any crossed at one end or the other, but not both.

E.g.: TIA/EIA-568B pattern, pins 1-8:

1. orange/white
   
2. orange
   
3. green/white
   
4. blue
   
5. blue/white
   
6. green
   
7. brown/white
   
8. brown
   

Note the pattern of pins 3-6: blue and green are swapped in order.

If you have a brain-fart, and do something like:

1. orange/white
   
2. orange
   
3. green/white
   
4. green
   
5. blue/white
   
6. blue
   
7. brown/white
   
8. brown
   

Which seems right, but isn't, a simple tool like the LAN Scout Jr. will detect nothing amiss, but the cable won't work. A $1,000+ tool like a Fluke will not only tell you it's wrong, but exactly how it's wrong.

A high-end Fluke tester will also tell you if you've screwed-up pulling cable. It is oh so easy to get a kink or twist in Cat5e and below cable, and badly distort the pair geometry somewhere mid-span without knowing it. This can, often will, greatly reduce the cable's performance--perhaps to the point of un-usability. A high-end Fluke tester will not only tell you it happened, but pretty much just about where in the cable the problem lies. Something like the LAN Scout Jr. won't detect it at all.

Cat6 cable is harder to screw up, because it has a semi-rigid separating core. But you do have to be very careful not to exceed minimum turn radius going around corners.

For the most part the simple task/tool is to test connectivity.
Those tools are price inexpensive to moderate.
If you want more such as what ensigmatic mentioned (FLUKE) then those advanced tools are very expensive.
In most simple LAN environments those more sophisticated test/tools are unnecessary.
Not that they aren't helpful it is quite a bit overkill for the vast majority of LAN installations.
Also as mentioned before if the cables are just short to moderate runs or patch cables just get them pre made.
All of us IT guys - been there - done that before and know making cables is only out of necessity.
A simple cable tester is required however when you punch down jacks and patch panels.

quote:

Originally posted by smschulz:
In most simple LAN environments those more sophisticated test/tools are unnecessary.

Unnecessary: Yes. But I sure do miss having one

quote:

Originally posted by smschulz:
Not that they aren't helpful it is quite a bit overkill for the vast majority of LAN installations.

I wouldn't say that. If I was installing LAN cabling for a living I wouldn't even consider not having one.

In fact: If I was building a new home, or even moving into an existing one, and planned to network it extensively: I'd spend the money w/o a second thought. Even in our current home, which is small by today's standards, there'd be <counting...> somewhere on the order of fifty cable runs (A duplex on each wall of the larger rooms and at least one duplex in each of the smaller rooms.) In new construction they'd all be run, terminated, and tested before the sheetrock went up. Then there'd be the cabling to the soffits for the surveillance cameras.

quote:

Originally posted by ensigmatic:
In new construction they'd all be run, terminated, and tested before the sheetrock went up.

At which point the sheet rock guys would run screws through them or hit them with a knife. If something can be hosed, the sheetrock crew can most assuredly do it.

quote:

Originally posted by IntrepidTraveler:
In that case, I'd recommend terminating to jacks on either end and using standard patch cables.

Why? Lookup the pinout (I may be able to do IP subnetting in my sleep, but I never memorized RJ45 Ethernet cable pin outs, not A or B), make up the cable, double check pinout is correct before crimping, plug one end into the hub and the other into the computer. If you don’t start seeing the blinky blinky of the networking activity light on that port on the hub, double check your pinout and see what you did wrong. If you have blinky blinky, pull up a web browser and cruise over to SIGforum to make sure it works. If so, move onto something else. After you’ve done one or two it likely won’t take longer than five minutes a cable.

quote:

Originally posted by bigdeal:

quote:

Originally posted by ensigmatic:
In new construction they'd all be run, terminated, and tested before the sheetrock went up.

At which point the sheet rock guys would run screws through them or hit them with a knife. If something can be hosed, the sheetrock crew can most assuredly do it.

They actually make these really cool galvanized plates. They’re prolly an inch and a half wide or maybe a skosh more by maybe three inches long there are tab cut at the ends and bent ninety degrees to the plate like cleats. You just hammer these onto both sides of the studs with the drilled hole that the cables pass through near the center of the plate. They don’t make it impossible for the drywallers to screw up your cables, but the do make it a lot more difficult.

 
I wish they made the RJ45 connectors where the wires go all the way through the front (to be cut off later) when I was working with them. It would make it much easier to determine visually you have the correct order of wires. In the style where they don't go all the way through, no matter how hard you try and hold them in order, occasionally a couple will slip over to other slots. And it is not so easy to see the colors inside the cube.

quote:

Why? Lookup the pinout (I may be able to do IP subnetting in my sleep, but I never memorized RJ45 Ethernet cable pin outs, not A or B),

I've ran miles of cables, still never have memorized it. I use the cheat sheet that comes with the RJ45s.

quote:

Originally posted by henryaz:
 
I wish they made the RJ45 connectors where the wires go all the way through the front (to be cut off later) when I was working with them. It would make it much easier to determine visually you have the correct order of wires. In the style where they don't go all the way through, no matter how hard you try and hold them in order, occasionally a couple will slip over to other slots. And it is not so easy to see the colors inside the cube.

They do in fact make just that:
https://www.amazon.com/Platinu...s=industrial&sr=1-12

Not my preferred place to buy them, but they do make them.

quote:

Originally posted by slosig:

quote:

Originally posted by IntrepidTraveler:
In that case, I'd recommend terminating to jacks on either end and using standard patch cables.

Why? ... make up the cable, double check pinout is correct before crimping, plug one end into the hub and the other into the computer. If you don’t start seeing the blinky blinky of the networking activity light...

Because network connectivity is more than making sure you have proper pinout. Look at it this way - if we were talking about runways, a dirt runway would be as good as a concrete runway for a 747, because they both go to the same place. PERFORMANCE is important. particularly as LAN speeds go higher. See ensigmatic's post above.

quote:

Originally posted by henryaz:
 
I wish they made the RJ45 connectors where the wires go all the way through the front (to be cut off later)...

They do, although I can't remember the manufacturer off the top of my head. But again, it's more than about just getting the wiring right. If it's a short run, your performance expectations aren't high, and you're in a budget bind, then go for it. But there is a reason there are standards that go beyond wiremap.

A better plug solution is the Modular Plug Terminated Link (MPTL). It's designed for those instances where you can only use a plug, such as a POE IP camera. It combines tool-less punchdown-style IDC with a plug. But it's also pricey at about $10-15 each.

Example:

https://ecatalog.siemon.com/#/...ield-Terminated-Plug


ETA: stoic-one found the one I was thinking of, but I still wouldn't use it where it counts.

quote:

ETA: stoic-one found the one I was thinking of, but I still wouldn't use it where it counts.

I use them in a ton of applications, but most of my networking requirements are 100BaseT (100MBPS), NOT gigabit.

quote:

Originally posted by stoic-one:

quote:

Originally posted by henryaz:
 
I wish they made the RJ45 connectors where the wires go all the way through the front (to be cut off later) when I was working with them. It would make it much easier to determine visually you have the correct order of wires. In the style where they don't go all the way through, no matter how hard you try and hold them in order, occasionally a couple will slip over to other slots. And it is not so easy to see the colors inside the cube.

They do in fact make just that:
https://www.amazon.com/Platinu...s=industrial&sr=1-12

Not my preferred place to buy them, but they do make them.

Yes great tip, I was going to mention that in my previous post but forgot.
After making a lot of connections and having to do it all over again after testing -THIS eliminates MANY redo's.