Cat 5 testing. Please help!

[hafaphoto]

Howdy! I have not been in this forum before, but I need some info please. I am taking a CISCO networking class and I need some help. The other night, we made the straight, crossover, and rollover cords (Yeah, just starting).

My teacher did not know how to use the tester! She just plugged one end of the cable in, and expexted a test result. She claimes that at her job, you can test a network cable by plugging just one end of the cable into a tester.

Is it possible to test a wire using just one plug? Dont you need something plugged into the other end to test the connection? We finnally got her to use the other part of the tester, and mine passed. I am totally ignorant, or I am going to have to learn this stuff on my own!

Thanks for your time, sorry about the long post.

E

[Shazbot]

Maybe she was confusing the expensive kind of diagnostic cable tools with inexpensive continuity testers.

Fluke makes some interesting testers for troubleshooting that only need one end to work. They can do nifty things like tell you the exact length, distance to break, interference and such. There is no one-end tester that can tell you if the other end of an un-connected cable is wired right though, for that you can beat a $10 continuity test.

An instructor once told me they're required to sit through the class twice and teach other instructors once before they can go solo. She should have known how to test the cables she asked you to make. :/ Maybe she usually has a different tester or something.

Which class are you in, sounds like ICND maybe?

[AMD Phreak]

As far as I have experienced as well, there are not any one ended testers other than those used to verify cable on-spool. They do not however tell you if it was wired right in the rj-45 end.

[lanman31337]

Even with the expensive Fluke testers, you cannot determine a continuity test with only one end. They include the termination end to tell if you have continuity, and what wiring setup you have.

[hafaphoto]

I appreciate your help. I am taking a CCNA class, and have on several times wondered it the teacher knows her stuff or not. I have helped on running network wire, and testing it. So it looks like to test a straight, rollover, whatever you have to have something on the other end, like I thought. I appreciate your time, if you could recommend a book for me to learn the basics I would appreciate it. Looks like I will have to learn most of this on my own.

Thanks

E

[ghettocomp]

For the Money you can't go wrong. You can get one of these:
Cable Test Kit (http://www.compgeeks.com/details.asp?invtid=SS35407-TEST)
Be the envy of your class. :p

[kurisu]

Too big, ghettocomp:

http://www.thinkgeek.com/gadgets/tools/6c20/

[ErikD]

I am taking CCNA too, currently in the second semester. The official course book and online materials are really pretty good. In fact since they are written by the same people who are going to be making your tests they are probably the best available.

As for the cable testing, went through it and passed easily. Using the other end of the tester allows for more complex features such as wire mapping, length testing, etc. To test and see if the physical RJ-45 to Cat-5 connection is good only one end is needed. So technically to really test a cable and ensure that it is terminated correctly, and has good connections, no shorts etc., you do need to use both ends of the cable tester.

[diggingforgold]

There would be no way for the tester to receive a signal if it wasn't plugged into something giving it a connection on the other end. So, yeah, your instructor is probably a noob and is learning the stuff just as you are. This is common at my community college, where instructors know absolutely nothing.

But that's not a bad thing. It's likely the course will be nice and easy- since the instructor will probably not expect you to do anything she doesn't know herself.

[hafaphoto]

I know I have posted noob questions, and still do, I am learning a lot from this website. Thanks alot! I think I have had a post or two that died from lack of responce, but I can always rely on you folks for an answer to a simple question.

Thanks again, have a great one!

E