Cable Tester A handheld electronic device that tests the continuity of cables and is used to measure the electrical and physical properties of network cabling. It does that by generating and monitoring a signal along the cable. Used commonly to certify cabling to known standards, or as a troubleshooting tool.   Basic Cable Testers: There are a number of very simple and inexpensive basic cable testers available (less than $100). They usually consist of one or two small boxes with RJ-45 jacks to plug the cables to be tested into. Many of these are designed specifically to test only Ethernet UTP type of cable. The testers will have more than one jack to allow for testing of straight thru or crossover cable. Both ends of the cable are plugged in to the proper jacks and the tester will test all 8 wires and indicate whether the cable is good or bad. If any of the eight wires has a break or is shorted to any of the other wires, the cable is bad. The simple testers may just have a single light to indicate this; others may have eight lights to tell you which wire is bad. These testers have internal batteries and are doing continuity checks on the wires. Advanced cable testers, such as the Fluke 620 LAN CableMeter, are sophisticated cable testers which have basic cable testing functions and much more. Advanced cable tests can cost from hundreds to thousands of dollars.

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