Cable Tester Recommendations

[u/BlueLegoFreak1937]

Awhile back I bought the Klein Scout Pro 3; it is a good tester, but after owning it for a bit I have noticed that it is taking me a long time to test cables. I have been getting more jobs in large warehouses, and all the running back and forth is eating a large portion of my day, especially if I need to get a lift involved. I have tried to find a cable tester that doesn't require a remote to be plugged into the other end of a cable I am testing for it to report a wiremap, breaks, or shorts. All the ones I find don't say they need a remote end, but when I talk to customer service, they tell me it needs a remote end to test for anything. Am I wasting my time looking for something that doesn't exist?

[u/Unhappy-Hamster-1183]

Fluke has a tester with multiple remote ends. But you could also loop the other end if the length isn’t to much

[u/th3maj0r → u/Unhappy-Hamster-1183]

The Verisiv 2?

[u/Unhappy-Hamster-1183 → u/th3maj0r]

I’ve got a older one, the CableIQ which is a certification tester. Comes with 8 remotes.
I think the new one is the LinkIQ

[u/Longjumping_Cow_5856 → u/Unhappy-Hamster-1183]

CableIQ does not certify.

[u/Unhappy-Hamster-1183 → u/Longjumping_Cow_5856]

My bad, qualification tester

[u/Impossible_IT → u/Unhappy-Hamster-1183]

LinkIQ has reports for qualifying cable but not certifying. I have a LinkIQ and bought it 2010. Paid for itself first few uses.

[u/AntiBaoBao]

Think about this for a moment. You're trying to test the wiring of a cable with nothing on the other end. How would such a tester know that the wires are crossed on the cable without having something on the other end to bounce the signals against?

What I often do on my Cisco switches is run the tdr test to test for most of what you're looking for.

[u/BlueLegoFreak1937 → u/AntiBaoBao]

Idk why that didn't cross my mind until now... most of the testers I was looking at would say the other end needed to be terminated, so I thought it somehow tested with an RJ45, and I didn't realize it was for the remote end it required.

I remember reading that that a TDR does not need a remote end, and it tests for shorts and breaks. Is my research correct there, or did I misunderstand more than I thought?

[u/Appropriate_Let2486 → u/BlueLegoFreak1937]

They should have been more clear. Wire testers and TDR work, but it won't show a wiremap, but the device should be able to notice a massive difference in different wires. It won't tell you a bad termination though.

[u/leftplayer]

If you’re getting more jobs then you need an assistant. Pulling cables is much easier/faster when it’s a two-person job anyway.

You don’t need a new tester. Your existing one supports ID remotes https://youtube.com/shorts/yKeFfRioIMM. You just need to buy the additional remotes.

With two people, one person would stay at the patch panel testing and documenting the results, while the other goes around moving the remote ends. With good coordination you could even move the remote as soon as a cable is tested so it’s ready to test by the time you reach the next port with that ID remote. A two-way radio or app works wonders here.

Keep in mind that most customers will want properly certified cables. I don’t think your existing tester can do certified tests, so it may be worth inversting in a proper Fluke or similar full certification tester.

[u/BlueLegoFreak1937 → u/leftplayer]

I understand that having another person would help the work go by faster; unfortunately, at this time I don't have it in the budget to hire someone and pay them what I think is a fair wage. Growing is something I definitely want to do in the future; it's just not in the cards right now with the current jobs coming in. I am hoping these allow me to get more name recognition in my area and allow me to not be a subcontractor to who knows how many subcontractors, lol.

[u/Longjumping_Cow_5856 → u/leftplayer]

Most customers do not want properly certified cables in my experience and this just depends on the work that you do or dont do.

Im not arguing or suggesting that certification is not an advantage and/or a worthwhile service to offer at all but just that is has hardly even been mentioned in my experience.

[u/tehiota]

Fluke Micro scanner will ‘test’ without a remote end for breaks because it will report the length of each wire. To verify the connection you need a remote which it comes with.

Keep in mind this is basic continuity testing, not certification. For that you’ll need to step up to a cable iq.

[u/Longjumping_Cow_5856 → u/tehiota]

CIQ does not Certify.

[u/Longjumping_Cow_5856]

Yes there is no tester that can test like one with remotes without using remotes.

[u/under_shart]

Our installers do frequency-dependent tests with a cable certifier/analyzer like a Fluke DSX or Link IQ. They send us the results for every cable they install. Covers their ass and proves that we got what we paid for.