Cable Testing Devices

Cable Testing Devices

It’s generally considered vital to test a cable after it is made, repaired, or otherwise interfered with. We can do this via several different types of devices.

One of the easiest solutions to testing a cable is to look at a wire map. The device will output the wire map on a screen, so that you may review it and check for the correct wiring. A wire map can also tell us is there are any short-circuits, opens, or reversed-pair faults within the wiring. If one of these faults are indeed found, you’ll need to cut off the connector and reapply a new one- this time paying more attention to the wiring process. Below you can see some of the common wiring mistakes for a straight-through cable, as viewed from a wire map.

Wire Map

Other more advanced devices may test for thing such as propagation delay. Propagation delay is a measurement of how long a signal takes to get from one point to another on a cable. Obviously if there is an abnormally long wait time, we will need to adjust the length of the cable accordingly. However, most wiring jobs do not necessarily need tests such as these, and a wire map will suffice.

One last thing to keep in mind about cable testers is that they can indeed test for crosstalk. There are several types of crosstalk, each particularly harmful to your network. It is generally a good idea to test for crosstalk, although the skilled cable maker will know how to properly install a connector, and thus, this test isn’t as vital.