CAT6A cable testers that won't break the bank?

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Psychor

Limp Gawd
Joined
Dec 22, 2007
Messages
388
Soon I'll be wiring shielded CAT6A throughout my house and I was wondering what testing tools you all recommended for testing such cable to verify correct termination and line integrity. Each end of each run will be terminated in a female shielded keystone jack - one end for the outlet and one end for the shielded patch panel. I've search around for different testing tools but the prices seem to really vary. I'm also not sure what testing tools I need and what testing tools I can do without. ;)

Thanks.
 
Whats wrong with a normal RJ46 cable tester? For Example

The cable tester isn't what will break the bank, its that shielded cat6 that will
 
k1pp3r said:
Whats wrong with a normal RJ46 cable tester? For Example

The cable tester isn't what will break the bank, its that shielded cat6 that will
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Thanks. No, it's the cost decent shielded keystones that hurt the most. Especially when you need a few dozen.
 
epimetheus said:
Just out of curiousity, why shielded at home?
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You're not the first to ask that.

Psychor said:
I like to over engineer things or perhaps I'm itching to drops thousands on a 10GBASE-T (http://www.utp-vs-stp.com) setup that I don't need? ;)
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Keep in mind that by no means do I think the use of shielded cable in a typical home is required. But I do believe that is can't hurt unless improperly installed (e.g., not using shielded keystones and improperly grounding the patch panel).

Siemens has some good articles on the subject: http://www.siemon.com/us/standards/Screened_and_Shielded_Network_Cabling_Guide.asp
 
Psychor said:
You're not the first to ask that.



Keep in mind that by no means do I think the use of shielded cable in a typical home is required. But I do believe that is can't hurt unless improperly installed (e.g., not using shielded keystones and improperly grounding the patch panel).

Siemens has some good articles on the subject: http://www.siemon.com/us/standards/Screened_and_Shielded_Network_Cabling_Guide.asp
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That's about what I figured, just curious. Hell, I'm an electrical engineer and I've got a couple grand worth of equipment in my landscape lighting system that has a whopping 6 lights on it ATM, and they're LED's.

I'm all about over engineering something, not because it's necessary, but because I want to. That's [H]ard!
 
epimetheus said:
That's about what I figured, just curious. Hell, I'm an electrical engineer and I've got a couple grand worth of equipment in my landscape lighting system that has a whopping 6 lights on it ATM, and they're LED's.

I'm all about over engineering something, not because it's necessary, but because I want to. That's [H]ard!
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We're on the same page. I'm a Computer Engineer (essentially an EE with a focus in programming).
 
I must say that I wired my house last summer in CAT6 and regreted it since cat5e can still work with 10GBaseT up to a certain length. Why waste cash, it's really more expensive and not worth it.

Anyway in the end you are the one that will live with your install but I still think I could mention my personal experience that thought me that once installed you won't give a shit anyway.
 
alext5 said:
I must say that I wired my house last summer in CAT6 and regreted it since cat5e can still work with 10GBaseT up to a certain length. Why waste cash, it's really more expensive and not worth it.

Anyway in the end you are the one that will live with your install but I still think I could mention my personal experience that thought me that once installed you won't give a shit anyway.
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Because in the end I will know and anything less would not make me happy. Hell I even considered fiber but that's for the next house.

Currently a 1000 foot spool of shielded CAT6A cable and a shielded CAT6A patch panel (e.g., keystones, etc.) are patiently waiting inside my house. :D
 
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