DataShark Network Cable Tester - Cable Mapper, Check Continuity - Test Patch Cords or Installed Cable Runs

Just what I needed to test DYI built cable.

Fácil de usar

After 4 months of use the lights have started to fail. I would not buy this product again. I would have thought with a name like greenlee it would have been of better quality.

This is a reliable tester. It has never mis led me. It is tough, it gets dropped and banged around like most tools, yet it continues to work.

This simple tool was just what I needed to slap my diagnostic process back on track when a router went belly-up and a portion of the home network seemed to remain dark after replacing it. All I needed was a reminder that when I last thought hard about the topic, I figured I wanted CROSSOVER cables connecting house to office and router to router. More than enough time had passed for me to forget all about the distinction. (That put me back on the trail of reconfiguring the Apple AirPort using the Windows version of the administrative software, and overcoming -4 and -6375 errors; but I digress. If thats part of what youre up against, know that it can be done.) When I plugged the tester in to a wall plug at one end, and the dongle in at the other, and saw the dongles lights displaying in a scrambled sequence, it was a forehead-smacking reminder. While I was at it, I double-checked every store-bought and homemade Ethernet cable within reach, just to reduce the risk of other nuisances and surprises in the near future. Holding the tool in my lap and tugging at a suspect homemade patch cable where it entered the RJ45 connector, I was able to see how different stresses caused intermittent connectivity failures. A note for the unwary: When I first turned the tool on, I got nothing. It felt so light that at first my suspicion fell on whether or not the 9V battery had been included. The designer apparently worked in environments where lost and stolen 9V batteries are a real problem, because he elected to secure the battery compartment with a Phillips head screwdriver. After rummaging through my toolbox for that screwdriver, I was able to open the compartment and establish that the battery was in fact there. Was it so cheap it had already gone dead while the box sat on a shelf? No; it had been stuffed into the battery compartment still wrapped in cellophane. Probably a good idea, but an even better idea would have been to tell me what to expect. I had to debug the tool before I could debug my network. The tool needs few instructions, but comes with none. You wont find any more on the manufacturers website. The blurb on the box and these reviews are the most documentation youll find. It looks and feels cheap. Id much rather have a tool with some heft and a dozen or so neatly labeled ports, buttons, and LCDs, along with the manual required to understand them; something with winking and blinking lights, to impress my friends and confound my enemies. For several times the price, I could get one. To use every five years or so? Once a year, if I tell everyone I know that I have such a thing? I couldnt convince myself that would be a good investment. This saved me more than what it cost, in heartburn and wasted time. Im just lucky the electrician who helped me before retired, or I would have gotten him to come over and tell me what this tool told me, for several times as much. If the tool works the next time I need it, so much the better.

Comes with a couple tiny cables and a cloth case. Nice quality. I highly recommend getting one if you need to test ethernet cables.

My apartment is wired for multi-room internet access, but it just wouldnt work. I suspected either I had a bad cable in the mix, or the wiring of the jacks was hosed. So I picked up this tool to find out what the problem was. More on that in a minute. The device comes with a transmitter/receiver (one unit), a smaller receiver, two patch cords and a 9v battery. If you just want to do a quick cable check you can just use the main unit, plug one end into the output, the other into the input and turn it on. It will cycle through all 8 wires, and then repeat until you turn it off. This is very important if you want to put the transmitter in one area and use the small receiver in another. It has a slow speed and a fast speed. You can also test a cable by plugging one end into the output of the main unit and plugging the other end into the small receiver. Same principle - lights are sequentially lit in order from 1 to 8, and you very that the receiver lights come on in the same order. The patch coords are used if you want to check out a network jack. You plug the cord in the transmitter and then into the jack. You can use the other patch coord the same way on the other end of your jack. Easy peasy. So back to my problem. Using this device I found that the wiring in my jack had 2 wires crossed and one wire disconnected. I opened up the outlet, switched the wires and seated the other, and all was good! I now have direct internet access throughout the apartment without having to use wireless. This is important for my DVR video streaming, and works perfectly. Very glad I ordered this unit. In 10 minutes I had my problem solved. Definitely an essential tool to have in the kit.

I received the tester on time with Prime . The tester comes with a pouch, test cables, and 9volt battery inside the unit. I used the tester on 15 cables with new rj45 connectors placed at both ends at about 30 feet in length. There were 5 cables that needed the connectors replaced, saves time and embarrassment in the long run. This is simply a continuity tester and sold itself to my coworkers who are going to purchase one for their own. If the lights do not work in sequence from 1 through 8 then start inspecting your straight through connectors. The tester is light weight and receiver is very small. I figure the receiver will be the first thing lost because of its size, but if you are looking for an inexpensive tester. this unit wont hurt your wallet. If the manufacturer is reading this review then I would recommend attaching a strap to the receiver as you did with the base unit and make the casing of both units less slippery to hold. I would recommend this to a friend.

Tool is as described (continuity checker only, no performance testing), and quickly confirmed some good cables in a new installation, as well as one bad one which had been wired as 568A on one end and 568B on the other. The cable worked fine, though, since the switch was autosensing. Was a little disappointed to see the same unit at Home Depot for less money, even taking tax into account, but its still a lot easier to walk to the mailbox than it is to drive to HD.

Crimped a bunch of Ethernet cables and had a bad one. Easy to figure out. Plug and play.