Network Cable Tester, AT278 TDR Multi-Functional LCD Wire Tracker for RJ45, RJ11, BNC, Metal Cable,PING/POE NF-8601S for Length Testing

Really good, but there are cheaper options. I think the main competitors would be the F-488 and NF-8108. They have similar features but without the nice screen. For at home use, where you may never use it again after getting your setup to work, I’d probably consider getting one of those $40 options, but I had work buy this for troubleshooting at work knowing I’ll be using this 1-5 times a year for 10 years.I’m a noob at Ethernet stuff, so I can’t really evaluate the nerdy side of this. I really just make ethernet cables, and need them to work right, and sometimes they don’t and I am not sure why (It’s is almost [okay, it was my fault once] never the cable’s fault, but I need to rule that out). But I really like this one I think it’s worth the extra money if you are going to use this long term.I watched a YouTube video before buying this, so I didn’t read the instruction manual, and it pretty much all made sense. Here’s what I like that I don’t think you’ll get all of this in the cheaper units.First of all, the units (Feet/Meters) are remembered after the device is turned off, I wasn’t sure if this would be the case or not, many other units report not remembering, so I was pleased to see that this one remembers.Second, the length seems accurate out of the box. I had an Ethernet cable on a spool, the cable lists the footage on it, so it was within a foot of 118 feet. I used the alligator clips on 2 wires and it seemed off at first, so I calibrated it, but I realized it will give different readings based on whether you put them on twisted pairs or non-pairs. The out of the box calibration I think was right for twisted pairs. Know that you are getting something that is super imprecise. This is just helpful if you have 2 wires, one short and one long, and it will tell the difference. Also, if a wire gets cut, you can tell if it was cut far intot he run or not. It doesn’t replace a tape measure, or the feet markings on the cable. Also, everyone I see tries to calibrate with short wires and of course that will throw it off. If it’s one 1 inch on a 1 foot cable, and you use it on a 120 foot cable, that’s 12’ off. But I don’t know what it’s measuring, but it clearly uses a formula that converts something electrical (resistance?) that is only loosely correlated to length. So you need a long wire when calibrating to help average out variances in the wires. But in the end, it will never be very accurate. They let you save 9 calibrations. Probably for different types of cables because of the correlation between wire type and length.Third, the rechargeable battery charges slow, but in my opinion that means the battery will last a long time (both in terms of run time, and in charge/discharge cycles). I really didn’t like the idea of 9volt batteries, they always seem dead when I need to use the device. Plus, they cost money, plus I don’t want to maintain a stock of them. So rechargeable is great. I would probably take a star off for the slow charging if you could not use it while charging, but you can use this while charging, so charge time is no big deal.Fourth, 8 remotes are awesome. I happen to need it for a job with 8 ethernet wall jacks in a cabin, and I need to trace them out, so this is perfect. When I mapped a wire, it told me I was using remote 8, and that’s great (each remote has a number on it). This way I can walk once through the house (memorize or right down what number I put in each room) go to the mechanical closet, and map out all 8 of them.Fifth, it has settings, in particular the auto-off time. I want auto-off, but I might not want the manufacture’s auto-off, so it’s nice to adjust.Sixth, it can test ports by sending packets. It can make the lights blink too. I haven’t tested this yet, but I have had a terrible time with our network witch hang ports stop working. I plan to use this to confirm a port is dead or not, I don’t thin cheaper ones have this option.Seventh(s), the screen is bright, easy to understand, and simple to use. The buttons are rubbery and have a satisfying click. I think if I dropped it the buttons would not break. The screen is the main reason I got this. It’s just so much clearer to understand compared to those old fashioned “alarm clock” screens.My complaints are minor: I don’t understand the RJ5 ports or the warning sticker on the side. I probably should read the manual, but if some function doesn’t work, I’ll just switch to a different port, but there are three ports for RJ45s. I expect this not to be a problem over time, and “main” is helpful for a noob like me, just start there. But the screen is digital and could provide some help on which port to use with a software update. For the sticker, I won’t put POE into any port but the POE port. I don’t know if it’s trying to tell me more than that. I don’t have any POE right now, I got this unit for the future.But the ‘scan’ function (for the beeper remote) works in the main port and the scan port. So I think the only use of the scan port is if you want to test a cable without using a remote. On the beeper, you have to press and hold the power button too to get it to turn on. It still won’t work though, because next you have to press set. No idea why the beeper is not set to the default when you turn it on (the tester is, the beeper is not). When you turn the beeper on, it’s set to “nothing” (I guess?) and then you press set to change it to the first setting which is low frequency (which is the default on the main unit). There is no memory for scan settings on the tester or beeper.Thankfully another commentor said this already so I knew, but you really need to know: PRESS AND HOLD THE POWER BUTTON TO TURN IT ON (no need to hold for off, just for on). After it’s on, the screen will time out, and you can hit any button, no need to press and hold. The beeper also requires a press and hold to turn on. It’s a little annoying when messing with them, but in real world use, it keeps them from being turned on accidently over and over in a bag, and then dying.I do wish it came in a pouch with a strap I could put around my neck/shoulder. But since I don’t do a lot of this stuff, this will be fine. The holder it comes with is in the video, it’s a portfolio style.I also wish the charging port was USB-C but I know that costs more and this device was probably designed a long time ago. I’d probably pay an extra $10 for USB C for the convenience and durability.

The tester has a graphical screen which is very easy to navigate. This tester has more features the the "yellow" units costing 8x as much. It also takes into consideration the type of cable being tested (Cat5e, Cat6, and cat6A) due to the different characteristics of the cables. I tested the cable length on a known Cat5e cable length of 90 feet using the built-in factory calibration against a "yellow" brand microscanner. This unit measured more accurately at 92.2' of length. The "yellow" unit measured a low of 94' and a high of 96' feet. It displays cable pair wiring correctly and easy to read. Port flash, mapping, pinging a device, POE, toner all worked great. POE voltage measurements measured the same as my Fluke 87. My only concern would be the built-in lithium battery. I would personally prefer regular replaceable alkaline batteries. Overall, I would recommend this unit to anyone looking for a network cable tester without spending a ton of money.

My 20 year old cable tester was beginning to drive me nuts. It would tell me cables were ok, but once plugged in I would see problems. It was very easy to use and boy has it tested thousands and thousands of cables for me over the years. But the false positives meant I needed to replace it. My old unit only handles connectivity ensuring that plugs are connected right, there's no break in the cable etc.This unit has so many features - including a POE that I'm looking forward to trying out - even though the warning sticker tells me POE+ (48v) vs. the old 24v stuff - the sticker says not to try more than 20v and that just makes no sense to me. So one star off for that.However, the number of features in this relatively small unit is huge. Length, measuring where breaks are and you can easily locate where the cable goes to on the patch-panel or switch. It would have saved me lots of time during past diagnosis issues. Particular about being able to detect breaks in individual wires.Another feature that I hope will really come in handy is being able to detect which exact wire is broken or mis-wired. My old unit was only about pairs - this goes a bit deeper and that will definitely be helpful. The display will guide you to which wires are "crossed" or missing - of course it won't tell you which end of the cable the fault is at.Being able to locate a wire among hundreds is a great feature. I haven't tested how easy it is to tell one cable out of 20 if you have a bundle, but if you have everything in a patch-panel it should be very simple to see which port a cable goes to.The unit comes with a very large carry bag - seems made for a "big brother" of this unit. But at least I know where to keep it when it's not in use.A few minor cons:These are rechargeable units and there's no charger in the box. It's just a standard Micro USB charger that cell-phones used to use - they're cheap and easy to get so if you don't have an old charger from the old phones around you'll have to spend a few more bucks. Next because it's rechargeable ONLY if you don't use this unit for a long while it will be "d-e-a-d" and if you're not careful it will die on the job. I did find I could use it while charging so keep the charger with you in the case. Just one wire. Both units were almost 100% charged on delivery - at least according to the units themselves.The manual is a bit chinglish and because of that a bit fun to read. It's really important to realize the main unit has 3 RJ45 plugs - and depending on what feature you are looking to use, you must be using the right plug (you even have to use the RJ45 when testing RJ11 in some cases). I'll definitely learn that as time goes on, but my testing proved that I didn't always guess right which port should be used. A little light or indicator on the plug would have been REALLY nice to show which one is active.Things I'll NEVER use: pingNo way I'm going to push 100 keys to get IP address and everything else right to see if layer 3 works.

This review is about long-term reliability. When the unit was new and worked it worked great and was a good value. I had no problem with it. After ~2.5 yrs I found the unit unresponsive and could not get it to show any sign of life again, even after replacing the battery. My use was only ever occasional, and it had sat (in case) in the back of the car unused for quite awhile before I found it dead. It was unsurprising initially, as I expected that the battery would have run down. Attempting to charge it had no result, with no light or any sign of life. Then replacing the battery made no difference, and attempting to contact the company through website was unsuccessful as well so I have had to give up on it. As long as it works it will probably do well for you, but be warned that it may not last.