This is certainly an overkill for majority of the home network enthusiast; however, if someone wants to go an extreme, I would consider this is probably one of the highest end cable testing product one would ever consider as a home network enthusiast/hobbyist. Here is my honest review.
Background
As you have figure out from this blog, technology is my hobby and network is my current primary hobby amongst the technology. Although I have technical background, my work has nothing to do with network.
Since we have moved to our current home 3 years ago, I’ve been through 3 consumer graded whole home network system: Orbi, Eero Pro and Asus AiMesh. Recently, I have discovered prosumer rated product, UniFi, and that’s when I started to really getting into network. After acquiring/familiarizing myself about the network technical concepts/theories with reading of common online community websites, and dived a bit more deeper with Cisco certification textbook, academic journal articles, I am finally at a stage relatively satisfied with my Wi-Fi setup.
Originally, my home built in 1950’s did not have any Ethernet Cable wiring so I’ve hired an installer to install total nine Cat 6 cables. Now, that my obsession/desire has shifted to have 10G home network, I’ve decided to add four more Cat 6 lines in my home. Since I’ve installed couple lines myself in the interim, these four new lines would get me 15 total Cat 6 lines throughout my home.
One of the main reason I’ve decided to add four more lines is because previously installed lines including the longest cable run with estimated over 150 ft demonstrated it is capable to achieve 10G speed. Since any lines I would add at that point were shorter than the longest run I had, I was fairly confident that all four lines would reach 10G.
Basically, I have had some experience to the point I got tools and felt comfortable terminating either male or female unshielded Cat 6 cables, which doesn’t take much learning/experience but at least its somethig.
However, the latest install of four new Cat 6 lines are not properly functioning i.e. not attaining 10G speed. I have been able to somehow manage to get 2 out 4 lines achieve the full 10G with a few attempted fixes on my own along with suggested per TrueCable tech support, but I am still struggling with two lines.
Since my suspicion is now really on the recently installed cable but also learned it may be dependent on patch cable used i.e. one of the cable being partially defective, I’ve decided to give a try on high-end/pro graded network cable tester, especially, because my plan is to potentially add a few more Ethernet lines in the future, possibly own.
With this decision, I’ve quickly learned that Fluke Networks is considered one of the gold standard tool for Network testing. Amongst the tools I’ve researched online, MicroScanner PoE caught my attention. Even though the sis far more expensive than I had ever imagined spending for just testing device, for Fluke’s testing device standard, this is in affordable price point.
In fact, my main question is “Why can’t I get 10Gbps speed on newly installed cables?” To get answer to this question, multiple sub-questions must be answered:
- Is my newly installed long cable ok?
- Does it have a kink?
- Does it have discontinuity?
- Does it see too much interference somewhere?
- Is the issue on keystone jack(s)?
- Is the issue on patch cable?
- Is my overall, total cable length (patch cables + long cable) under previous run?
- What are the length of cables?
From the testing point of view, this translates into following tests:
- Connectivity Test
- Cable Length Test
- Cable speed/bandwidth Test
The third point is the trickiest and I couldn’t find any device cheaper than Fluke PoE to even touch on this topic.
Verification vs. Qualification vs. Certification
When testing a network connection, there are 3 levels of testings:
- Verification
- Qualification
- Certification
Verification: “Is this cable connected correctly?”
Majority of network tester you see on Amazon falls under this category. Even though the price of MicroScanner PoE ($608) are substantially higher than those typically seen on amazon, this is still verification tool.
The tools fall under this category may be capable of:
- Cable Connectivity Test
- Determine the Cable Length
- PoE Test
- Trace Cable
Qualification: “Can this cable support my desired network technology?”
Qualification tools help to troubleshoot cable bandwidth e.g. 100Mbps vs. Gigabit speed. From the Fluke, CableIQ tester corresponds to this.
The tools under this category are capable of:
- Cable Performance/speed/bandwidth test
Certification: “Does this cable comply with cabling standards?”
This is a tool used at the manufacture level to ensure new cabling fully meets the requirements of cabling standards e.g. Cat 5e vs. Cat 6. Even if someone has unlimited amount of money, I do not see any reason to have this in home.
Microscanner PoE
Ease of Use
This tool is easy to use once you learn what/how it work. However, the included manual is only for starting guide. For the detail, you need to go to their official site and download (here).
In fact, I have initially question if my product was defective. For example, I saw 10, 100, 1000 display were cycling, so I was thinking perhaps the device was scanning to resolve capability fo the network. But as it turned out, it simply indicates these are all available speed advertised on the switch (see below).
Another is when cable diagram is displayed I noticed there were disconnects on the cables, so I thought they could indicated discontinuity on the cable but it turned out they are just how they display. The real discontinuity shows on the right bottom individual wire diagram.
Functionality
Cable Connectivity test
Ethernet Cables have multiple pairs of wires twisted together. So the tool ensures each pairs are properly connected to each end is essentially tested. One may have disconnected wire, crossed i.e. improperly connected wire such as wire 1 connected to wire 5 on the other end etc. are detected.
I’ve intentionally cut one of eight wire at the cable jack and this was properly detected.
Cable Length test
This is a handy function. It calculates/estimate the cable length. When I connected 1ft or 3ft patch cables, it correctly identified the length. The longer runs appear relatively correct. Interestingly, this tool identifies individual pair length, and they can be a few feet difference, which I assume is a real difference given some pairs are twisted much less than the other pairs.
Cable Detection
The tool can send a tone to connected cable and with a separate tool, the tone can be detected i.e. if we are confused which port on network rack/patch panel connects to which room, this tool comes in handy.
I have not be able to test this functionality as I do not have the probe.
PoE test
PoE means power over the ethernet. Once you start using a device that is PoE capable, you realize how convenient this feature is. Basically, the ethernet cable supplies power along the data to a device through the single ethernet cable. I use this for all my access points. Obviously, you need a switch that supplies power i.e. PoE capable switch on one end.
PoE have different standard based on amount of power it can provide. This device gives amount of power supplied and class grading. This functionality is based on what is being provided rather than what the cable is capable of i.e. on the same cable if I switch from a port with PoE to PoE+ (higher voltage), the reading will change.
Switch Speed Capability Test!!
Based on the description above, I have misinterpreted this tools is capable of network speed/bandwidth test i.e. whether my pathway can do 1G vs. 5G vs. 10G.
However, this tool only tests what Switch is advertising independent of what the cables in the pathway is capable of. I have tested on my newly installed 130+ ft pathway where I placed one Cat 5e cable on one end. Based on my understanding, this should result in overall network capability to reduce to 1 Gbps if not at least down to 5Gbps. Yet, this device kept showing 10G.
this tool only tests what Switch is advertising independent of what the cables in the pathway is capable of.
Now the real issue here is that this pathway only performs at 100Mbps, and even though I got 1 Gbps occasionally, the line never goes anything above 1 Gbps. Another line I am seeing issue also only does 5 Gbps, but this device shows 10G on its screen. Again, this is expected/intended by the tool as it only shows what speed link is advertised on the switch side rather than actual capability of the link.
Won’t Catch All Defect
This is perhaps the worst part, especially with someone having mentality that with premium price paid, it catches all sorts of cable defect. Let me tell a real world example of my own. After struggling to get 10G on the recently installed 4 new lines, I have requested cable replacement but TrueCable also offered to test the cable I had. They actually have the Fluke Certification tool. Here is the test result by it.
1. TIA Cat6 Permanent Link (jack to jack) – a relatively restrictive test
According to the Fluke Certified Technician
2. TIA Cat6 Channel (RJ45 to RJ45 plug) – a relatively permissive test
3. 5GBASE-T Application Protocol test (RJ45 to RJ45 plug) – a very permissive test, just to see if the cable works at all
Despite Certification Test failed this cable completely, the MicroScanner PoE did not detect any issue with the cable. I can/should accept the tester not perhaps testing bandwidth as I may have misread the description and nobody else does it but paying essentially 10-60x more money than regular connectivity tester, I would expect the MicroScanner PoE to catch at least some issue, may be not actual detail. Especially, this particular cable apparently failed the test that is categorizing as “just to see if the cable works at all” type test.
Despite Certification Test failed this cable completely, the MicroScanner PoE did not detect any issue with the cable.
Comparison
Vs. MicroScanner 2
The primary competitor is Fluke’s own device, MicroScanner. Following is a summary table comparing the two units by Fluke themselves.
I went for PoE version because of NGBase-T and 10GBase-T support; however, as I mentioned about it is simply what switch is advertising rather than actual capability of the pathway itself.
For those, looking for PoE capability, this tool may be handy as it does measure actual power delivered. With PoE has multiple protocol and some are at higher voltage, this PoE version supporting higher voltage standard PoE+ (802.3at) and PoE++ (802.3bt) may be helpful confirming needing voltages are indeed received at the wall jack.
Vs. Klein Tools VDV501
On my Amazon search, I see device like Klein Tools VDV501 with 4.6 stars by 600+ ratings. This tool has multiple versions depending on what additional parts to be included.
Based on the site description, this tool should be able to test connectivity, cable length, and also ability to do cable tracing with tone signal send to the cable. However, this tool does not have PoE nor Switch advertising speed. The cost is far cheaper.
Vs. NOYAFA Network Cable Tester, AT278
On the spec, this tool looks pretty good. This is capable of:
- Connectivity
- Cable Length
- PoE including voltage
- Ping
Ping functionality is an interesting as I don’t see other products having this. However, practically, Ping can give latency info and network connectivity but not able to give actual throughput. This also does not have switch advertising info.
Overall
Fluke MicroScanner PoE certainly performs what it claims to perform. Main advantages this tool have over the cheap under $10 network tester I have are that this tool is capable of measuring cable length, PoE testing, and potential cable tracing with optional tool. While being able to measure the cable length is one of the main feature I was looking for, the main reason I’ve decided to pay the premium was to see bandwidth capacity. This is because if it is just for the cable length, I could have got MicroScanner 2 for $100 cheaper or other brands for even cheaper. While there is no other device that is capable of performing speed/bandwidth test that is under the price of MicroScanner PoE, this was a bit disappointment.
For what I want to do, I need to consider looking for Cable Qualification Tester device; however, I do not think there is any product exist on the market in the reasonable price range. Even Fluke Qualification Tester, CIQ100 is only capable of testing up to 1Gbps but not 10G despite it costs $1200.
However, the worst part is I have experienced in the first hand that this tester does not catch a bad cable that failed all 3 tests on Fluke Certification tester.
For majority of home user, this is not necessary and to the point, I see as a waste of money. Then for those of us who wants to know really why is cable not performing at its expected quality, despite paying 10-50 times more, this tester may not catch even what’s consider “really bad cable” by their certification tool standard. The only reason this may be of value compared to other tools are Cable Length and PoE testing. However, for these purpose we can save money by purchasing something else.
Reference:
Fluke Networks MicroScanner™ PoE Cable Verifier
Pros
- Gold Standard for Network Testing Tool
- Cable Length Measurement
- PoE Testing include up to 802.3bt
Cons
- Expensive
- No true bandwidth/speed test
- Won't catch all cable defect