I'm running some CAT5 cable around the house and this is the first time I've needed to build/terminate my own cables. I hooked up the cables to a computer and router and was able to reach the router configuration page with no trouble.
If it matters, the cable run is fairly long and I will be running Power-Over-Ethernet on that cable. I also tested with the POE device and everything seems to be in working order.
So all seems good, but I'm wondering if I also need to test with a handheld cable tester device. Is this device simply a way to test a cable without going to the trouble of hooking it up to an actual network, or does it test something that I really should be checking?
I'd hate to have to buy one of those devices if I don't need it since I don't really foresee the need to be running a lot of cable in the future. This is a one-off project.
So is it completely necessary in this situation to test using one of those devices?
Best Answer
These handheld devices are useful, since they test the cabling on the physical level and can help discover problems (cross-talk, wrong impedance, etc.) which are difficult to diagnose otherwise.
If you pulled some cable too much, or some turn inside your wall is too sharp, your network will "kinda work", but you won't get maximum throughput, or you'll get weird connectivity issues, etc.
It will be a pain to re-do stuff once you make everything neat and declare the job is done. Maybe you can lease such a device or hire someone who have it to test your network? These testers are prohibitively expensive to buy if you need it for just one job...
So, it is not strictly necessary to test with such tester, but it gives an extra assurance you did things right, especially if you're not a pro in network cabling.