Ethernet Cable Tester

[comicsansms]

I am wondering what an Ethernet cable tester does and if it mattered which one I should buy.

I want to be able to buy cheaper Cat6 Cables on ebay since that saves a couple of dollars per cable and I need a lot, but I want to be confident that they will be able to transfer at 1Gb or 10Gb if needed be.

[TheCrazyWalnut]

Cable tester basically tests to see if all the pins make contact with the cable on each side and has full communications through the cable. If you are wanting 10Gb, you will need to go with Cat6A for guaranteed 10Gb Throughput

[W-L]

1 minute ago, Comic_Sans_MS said:

I am wondering what an Ethernet cable tester does and if it mattered which one I should buy.

I want to be able to buy cheaper Cat6 Cables on ebay since that saves a couple of dollars per cable and I need a lot, but I want to be confident that they will be able to transfer at 1Gb or 10Gb if needed be.

An ethernet tester is mainly just for connectivity purposes when making new cables to ensure they got properly crimped, for cables as long as they are properly shielded and rated CAT 6 (<55m run) and CAT 6A they can do 10Gb. A good place for ethernet cables though is monoprice. 

[comicsansms]

1 minute ago, TheCrazyWalnut said:

Cable tester basically tests to see if all the pins make contact with the cable on each side and has full communications through the cable. If you are wanting 10Gb, you will need to go with Cat6A for guaranteed 10Gb Throughput

I have had Cat5e Ethernet cables before that have maxed out at 100Mb

1 minute ago, W-L said:

An ethernet tester is mainly just for connectivity purposes when making new cables to ensure they got properly crimped, for cables as long as they are properly shielded and rated CAT 6 (<55m run) and CAT 6A they can do 10Gb. A good place for ethernet cables though is monoprice. 

So there is no way to test a cable if it is capable of a specific speed, so I should buy proper brand Ethernet cables from a real store that I can trust? 

[Xanthe_2871]

Are you planning to use this on a 6 foot cable or something longer? You could probably just use two computers with some testing software, if you have two computers wherever you're planning to do these tests.

[W-L]

1 minute ago, Comic_Sans_MS said:

I have had Cat5e Ethernet cables before that have maxed out at 100Mb

So there is no way to test a cable if it is capable of a specific speed, so I should buy proper brand Ethernet cables from a real store that I can trust? 

In general there is hardware for testing that but not consumer level stuff, your best option is to get decent quality cables and test it between two system or your networking equipment. 

[TheCrazyWalnut]

1 minute ago, W-L said:

In general there is hardware for testing that but not consumer level stuff, your best option is to get decent quality cables and test it between two system or your networking equipment. 

http://www.datadepot.com.au/fluke-networks-ciq-100-network-cable-tester?gclid=CK_Ksrjdu9ACFYNjvAodUpgOWg 

wowzers, definitely not consumer level.... and agree with W-L, purchase the cables if you can and plug them in and copy files over the network for speedtests

[brwainer]

If you want a good cable tester for "normal people" money I can wholeheartedly support Noyafa cable testers. It may appear to be a cheap Chinese brand, and certainly the manual has funky English and the build quality isn't 100%, but I have been very pleased with the one I have personally, and with the several that have been purchased and used by onsite technicians at the company I work for.