Can you test Cat5e cable from one end?

[Rudderman]

I have two pcs connected by a cat5 crossover cable. I'm having intermittent network problems. I have a cat5 tester but is it possible to do a test from one end only of the cable, or do I need to plug both ends of the cable into the tester? (they are on different floors of the building and the cable is attached to the skirting!)

 

[Bondo]

Re: Can you test Cat5e cable from one end?

My cat5 tester snaps apart,+ you connect each pc. to each end of the cable............<br /><br />I loaned it out, so I can't tell you much more about it unfortunately................

 

[ndemge]

Re: Can you test Cat5e cable from one end?

nope, you need seperateable cable tester<br /><br />Question for you, how long is this cable? Has it EVER worked good?<br /><br />On method if you are having problems, and don't have a tester, cut off both ends are re-terminate.

 

[KaGee]

Re: Can you test Cat5e cable from one end?

Unless you do this for a living, forget the tester, just go and buy another cable.<br /><br />Better yet, switch/hubs are cheap now, get one and network the PCs properly.

 

[ndemge]

Re: Can you test Cat5e cable from one end?

If I only had 2 pc's to connect, a hub/switch would be a bottleneck, and a waste of $ if not needed.<br /><br />I don't need a 10/100 switch when I can simply make a cross connect cable. He has most likely a layer 1 problem only. Luckily he doesn't have a hub/switch/router in the way of troubleshooting.<br /><br />Sounds like it's either a bad cable or bad network card. Cable is the easiest thing to check now.

 

[beezee28]

Re: Can you test Cat5e cable from one end?

If you have a cable tester, then unplug the rj45 connector from both pc and plug it into the cable tester. If your cable tester is capable of checking a good connection in a cross over cable then you should get a good reading with the tester. If not the tester is not capable of testing the crossover but just a patch cable then the next best thing is to get a switch or hub like Kagee suggest.

 

[Rudderman]

Re: Can you test Cat5e cable from one end?

Thanks guys, I cut off both terminal ends and rewired them and everything works fine. The guy who set up the cables originally must have crimped the rj45 plugs with his teeth or something!<br />Yes I do this for a living, mostly I do on-site software training but recently I'm trying to get into hardware/networks a bit more (yes I know I'm crazy).

 

[ndemge]

Re: Can you test Cat5e cable from one end?

Glad to see you got it working.<br /><br />I use to admin lan parties with 120 plus computers, and we only had a few hours to setup the entire network. If we had a problem with a backhaul link, the first thing we'd do is cut and crimp, 5 minutes and you've got 2 new ends and then start fresh.

 

[carrotsnapper]

Re: Can you test Cat5e cable from one end?

I build cables all the time and have seen a lot that were crimped badly or wrong. Easyist thing is to cut off and recrimp the jacks.