Category tests?

[Superfly3176]

Can anyone point me in the direction of what tests are done to a cable to certify it for category 5, 5e, 6 etc?

 

[Fint]

I think you can use a pentascannerto do it.

 

[Nostradamus]

I don't know if there is a "cable certifier" guy out there. Generally I've assumed that if a cable passed the cable category test and then ALL the cables pass the test then it is rated at that category.

Probably the most notable company that produces certified cable testers is Fluke. They have products that test just about anything. Of course this comes with a price...

Hope this helps.

 

[Superfly3176]

I don't know if there is a "cable certifier" guy out there. Generally I've assumed that if a cable passed the cable category test and then ALL the cables pass the test then it is rated at that category

I guess I worded it wrong, not like certified but which tests are ran to say this cable qualifies as cat 5 or this one as cat 5e.

Apologizes on my wording.

 

[Boscoh]

Sometimes high-end network cards in workstations and servers will come with management apps that will test the line and tell you a lot of stuff about it, including throughput, noise, etc.

Other than that, there are testers out there from Fluke, and the like.

Theres also a freeware client/server program you can download to test throughput, but I cant remember what it is. I've gotta run to class, but I'll try to find the name later this evening.

 

[Kaos]

well theres always the 1gb file and a stopwatch test. but you wouldnt be able to tell the difference between cat5e/6 on a 10/100 connection. to certify them in the sense of what i do for a living you need an actual certifier such as a pentascanner or a test-um validator.

 

[Fint]

I guess I worded it wrong, not like certified but which tests are ran to say this cable qualifies as cat 5 or this one as cat 5e.

Apologizes on my wording.

Oh... from what I can remember what my pentascanner would say it was testing, it was something like distance, attenuation, wire-map, signal-to-noise...

 

[Fint]

I found a site which mentions these:

Cable Quality Tests:

* SKEW
* NEXT-All combinations on all pairs (12)
* Channel Response
* Echo Testing (Return Loss) impedance mismatches
* Signal to Noise Ratio
* Attenuation
* Amplitude
* Return Loss
* Bit Error Rate (BERT)