Best Cable Qualification Testing Tool
Pros:
Fast 9 second cable test. Includes many testing standards.
Cons:
Optional Network Module doesn't perform constant ping test. More complicated-different settings required for different cable.
The Bottom Line:
I highly recommend this product to serious Network Administrators who have medium to large infrastructures. We have a small/medium environment, and I am not regretting the purchase.
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Overall Rating:
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Author's Review
Don't get it if:
If you're looking for a tool that simply tells you if the wires in the network cable are in the right order and there is no disconnect anywhere in the middle, this tool might be too expensive for you - get a cheaper one.
Why to buy it:
I purchased this from Dell since they gave us the best price, and have found it valuable in determining if my Cat 5e cables were indeed qualified according to Cat 5e standards, and if our Cat 6 cables were indeed qualified according to Cat 6 standards. In a box filled with miscellaneous cables, I probably ended up finding about 10 cables out of 100 that didn't meet the standards they were supposed to meet.
What I don't like:
One thing I don't care for is I had to adjust the settings manually based on the type of cable I was testing. It makes it easier if you separate your Cat 5 and Cat 6 cables prior to testing and then you don't have to do too much manual adjusting. The other thing I didn't care for is the Network Module doesn't have an ability to keep a constant ping on a remote host. Not that it's a necessity, but would be a nice to have feature. Read below to see why I do appreciate and love the Network Module. One other thing I don't care for is both the main unit and the remote unit are required even if simply testing a short patch cord.
What I like:
The cable testing is very fast - fastest in it's field. A complete cable test is ready for review in about 9 seconds flat. Upgrade the firmware if you don't see it in your unit. I like the Network Module because it can quickly show me if a link is up without me having to boot up a laptop or a computer. I can see things like the DHCP server address, my IP, my Subnet Mask, my Network Address, and the DHCP assigned DNS addresses. The connectors are rugged and built to last, and should one of the connector modules go bad, it's easy to replace without replacing the whole unit. I have used many cheaper network cable testers before, and many of them tend to go bad after a year or so. Fluke has a reputation for building quality long lasting products, so I'm comfortable with the purchase.
In addition:
I also appreciate the ability of the unit to save test results and to graph out the crosstalk, attenuation, and other cable statistics. There is a neat talk feature where you take your cell-phone headsets and put it in each of the units and can use it to communicate over the line you are testing to someone on the other end.
The DTX-1800 has helped our IT department to solve several problems within a matter of minutes, where if we didn't have the tester, we could have easily taken a few hours to isolate the problem. It's also comforting to know I don't have bad cables sitting in our miscellaneous cable pile, just waiting to be deployed somewhere innocently.
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