[CS-FSLUG] Ethernet Testing

[Timothy Butler]

Hi, Tim,

> A cat5 cable does not have "grounding" the same way that an "Cable-TV" cable has.  So that should not enter into this.  You should be able to ignore the grounding light.

	Yes, I thought so... it is the only light that doesn't light up. The tester only tests RJ-45 and RJ-11. Does RJ-11 have grounding then, I guess? Or perhaps RJ-45 carrying PoE?

> If you have issues with cable-length, fluorescent lights giving noise, buried electrical cables giving noise, etc.  All of those should give you "errors" on the device interface statistics.  It should not change the status of the connection light.  Unless the voltage drop is so huge across your cable that your device cannot sense the other end, it should connect.

	And that is what puzzles me. I don't think my little battery-powered tester would be particularly powerful, so I can't imagine that it can get a signal across and a real network connection can't. 

> 
> The first test should be to take the two devices and plug them straight into each-other with a short cable that your tester says has the same pinout as your long cable.

	I'll do that ASAP.

	Best,
		Tim