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

Cannot use it without the batteries it said it includes.

Bought one of these at Home Depot. It was DOA -- didnt function at all (aside from the power light).

Just what I needed!

If you need a cable tester pin for pin, this is what you are looking for.

Works as described. Helped me troubleshoot an issue with an Ethernet connection that was daisy chained. Ethernet clearly needs single ended terminations and cannot be daisy chained. Good learning experience for me. Just wished I knew that before I decided to go cheap on the cables and not run a dedicated Ethernet line for every connector. Costs a little more and requires more connections for the bridge, but no other way to get it done right.

Very helpful in the job and have a great value

Product is accurate. I used it to run my whole house Cat 6 cable.

I had a problem with my printer intermitantly disappearing off my home network. Having exhausted the possible software causes I began to suspect a hardware problem, and bought this tester, based largely on other buyers reviews of it and of similar products. I chose this particular one because the price was reasonable and the other reviews did not critisize it for being overly cheap. Since my problem was intermitant, it took me a couple of tries to catch the fault in the act. I started by putting the main unit on the end of the patch cord that plugs into the printer and the satellite unit on the end of the other patch cord that plugs into the switch. The first time I tried it tested OK, but when I took it out and reconnected the printer, it was working again. The next time the printer disappeared I tried again, and found an open connection on pin one. I have a relatiley complicated system, with inline surge supressors on both ends of the run through the walls, so I tested each individual patch cord and component working back from the switch to the printer one connection at a time, and eventually found the guilty party. It was a commercially obtained patch cord that worked intermitantly when you wiggled one end around. Being commercially made it is probably about the last thing I would have suspected without the tester. Had I known they were this inexpensive I would have bought one years ago. Since I dont know when I might use it next I took the batttery out of it before I stored it away.

Only thing missing is a brief how to

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.