tester to prove cat5 socket is live

Is it possible to make a tester to plug into an ethernet cat5 RJ45 socket
to prove the socket is "live"? (preferably without disrupting the comms of
everyone else on the LAN)?

My work typically provides several data jacks in a meeting room, but only a
few, sometimes none, of them are live & it's not marked.
So I seem to spend 15 mins every meeting trying to find a live socket. My
only way to prove it's live is to plug in my laptop and look for the LED's
on the LAN card to light after it boots. IF not, then shut down laptop & try
rebooting on another socket.*

So can i just make a portable tester with a bit of cat5 cable and , say,
LED's across green and /or orange pairs, so I can find the live socket frst?
(if so what voltage does ethernet work at so I can calculate the resistor
size?)
Or will this disrupt everyone else on the network & get me in big trouble?

cheers


*The laptop logs in to mail etc. at boot up so I can't just boot up and then
keep trying sockets as it'll stay working "offine" afterwards.

keith dulwich writes:
> Is it possible to make a tester to plug into an ethernet cat5 RJ45 socket
> to prove the socket is "live"? (preferably without disrupting the comms of
> everyone else on the LAN)?
>
> So can i just make a portable tester with a bit of cat5 cable and , say,
> LED's across green and /or orange pairs, so I can find the live socket frst?
> (if so what voltage does ethernet work at so I can calculate the resistor
> size?)
> Or will this disrupt everyone else on the network & get me in big trouble?

http://www.flukenetworks.com/us/LAN/...r/Overview.htm

.... but you really won't like the price - about £500

I have no experience with it myself, however.

On Sun, 9 May 2004 19:51:27 +0000 (UTC), in uk.comp.home-networking
"keith dulwich" <(E-Mail Removed)> strung together this:

>Is it possible to make a tester to plug into an ethernet cat5 RJ45 socket
>to prove the socket is "live"? (preferably without disrupting the comms of
>everyone else on the LAN)?
>
Good question, I use a Fluke LanCat tester. They're a bit pricey
though for what you want.

>My work typically provides several data jacks in a meeting room, but only a
>few, sometimes none, of them are live & it's not marked.

I would get a proper data installation engineer to do the work for you
next time, maybe he can label the sockets up as a professional would
do.

>So I seem to spend 15 mins every meeting trying to find a live socket. My
>only way to prove it's live is to plug in my laptop and look for the LED's
>on the LAN card to light after it boots. IF not, then shut down laptop & try
>rebooting on another socket.*
>
A cheap hub, under a tenner. The link light will come on instantly if
the socket is live..

>So can i just make a portable tester with a bit of cat5 cable and , say,
>LED's across green and /or orange pairs, so I can find the live socket frst?
>(if so what voltage does ethernet work at so I can calculate the resistor
>size?)
>Or will this disrupt everyone else on the network & get me in big trouble?
>
>
>*The laptop logs in to mail etc. at boot up so I can't just boot up and then
>keep trying sockets as it'll stay working "offine" afterwards.
>
Can you not just set it to work "online" after you've booted up, or
are logging on to the domain?
--

SJW
A.C.S. Ltd.

Lurch wrote:
> On Sun, 9 May 2004 19:51:27 +0000 (UTC), in uk.comp.home-networking
> "keith dulwich" <(E-Mail Removed)> strung together this:
>
>> Is it possible to make a tester to plug into an ethernet cat5 RJ45
>> socket to prove the socket is "live"? (preferably without disrupting
>> the comms of everyone else on the LAN)?
>>
> Good question, I use a Fluke LanCat tester. They're a bit pricey
> though for what you want.
>
>> My work typically provides several data jacks in a meeting room, but
>> only a few, sometimes none, of them are live & it's not marked.
>
> I would get a proper data installation engineer to do the work for you
> next time, maybe he can label the sockets up as a professional would
> do.

Its very common to have a whole bunch of numbered sockets in a room all of
which run back to a patch panel in the comms room , however not every single
one will be then patched into a switch. Thats nothing to do with the wiring
being done incorrectly.


>> So I seem to spend 15 mins every meeting trying to find a live
>> socket. My only way to prove it's live is to plug in my laptop and
>> look for the LED's on the LAN card to light after it boots. IF not,
>> then shut down laptop & try rebooting on another socket.*
>>
> A cheap hub, under a tenner. The link light will come on instantly if
> the socket is live..


Yep.
--
Alex

"We are now up against live, hostile targets"

"So, if Little Red Riding Hood should show up with a bazooka and a bad
attitude, I expect you to chin the bitch! "

www.drzoidberg.co.uk
www.upce.org.uk

On Sun, 9 May 2004 21:31:43 +0100, in uk.comp.home-networking "Dr
Zoidberg" <AlexNOOOO!!!!@drzoidberg.co.uk> strung together this:

>>> My work typically provides several data jacks in a meeting room, but
>>> only a few, sometimes none, of them are live & it's not marked.
>>
>> I would get a proper data installation engineer to do the work for you
>> next time, maybe he can label the sockets up as a professional would
>> do.
>
>Its very common to have a whole bunch of numbered sockets in a room all of
>which run back to a patch panel in the comms room , however not every single
>one will be then patched into a switch. Thats nothing to do with the wiring
>being done incorrectly.
>
I know, I am that aforementioned professional installation engineer. I
never said they should all be live, I said they should all be
numbered.
Although now I reread the OP, I realise I may have misinterpreted as
the points are un-numbered, I realise now that the OP means un-marked
in the sense of active or not. Oops! ;-)
Back to the original question, would it not be easy enough to look in
the cabinet to see which ones are plugged into the switch, or is it
one of those with randomly coloured cables randomly strewn about the
place?
--

SJW
A.C.S. Ltd.

Thanks, I agree it would be more sensible for them to label the sockets to
show which are live, but that's the just way they do things! I suspect the
switch ports get reused to save money.
Wouldn't a small hub still need to be powered up though first? I want to
minimise the amount of time I waste in rooms without any live points.
Can anyone confirm if my idea of just making a box that puts LEDs across
the pairs would work or screw up the LAN?
cheers

On Sun, 9 May 2004 21:46:44 +0000 (UTC), in uk.comp.home-networking
"keith dulwich" <(E-Mail Removed)> strung together this:

>Wouldn't a small hub still need to be powered up though first?

Yes, but it's just a case of plugging in the power and the LAN cable
and that's it, no booting up or anything. Instant illumination, or not
as the case may be! You could even battery power it for testing
purposes, some of the smaller ones use a 5v adapter or similar.
--

SJW
A.C.S. Ltd.

On Sun, 09 May 2004 22:59:45 GMT, (E-Mail Removed)
(Lurch) wrote:

>On Sun, 9 May 2004 21:46:44 +0000 (UTC), in uk.comp.home-networking
>"keith dulwich" <(E-Mail Removed)> strung together this:
>
>>Wouldn't a small hub still need to be powered up though first?
>
>Yes, but it's just a case of plugging in the power and the LAN cable
>and that's it, no booting up or anything. Instant illumination, or not
>as the case may be! You could even battery power it for testing
>purposes, some of the smaller ones use a 5v adapter or similar.

Don't some places use the same cabling for LAN & phone? What happens
if these get misconnected -- 50V of ringtone into a LAN input?

--
Please use the corrected version of the address below for replies.
Replies to the header address will be junked, as will mail from
various domains listed at www.scottsonline.org.uk
regards. Mike Scott Harlow Essex England.(unet -a-t- scottsonline.org.uk)

"keith dulwich" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message news:<c7m8s4$pmo$(E-Mail Removed)>...
> Thanks, I agree it would be more sensible for them to label the sockets to
> show which are live, but that's the just way they do things! I suspect the
> switch ports get reused to save money.
> Wouldn't a small hub still need to be powered up though first? I want to
> minimise the amount of time I waste in rooms without any live points.
> Can anyone confirm if my idea of just making a box that puts LEDs across
> the pairs would work or screw up the LAN?
> cheers

Its a simple bit of "user training" and a few spare patch leads.
all you need to do is leave the lead in the working socket and then
everyone will know its working. This is what we used to do and advised
customers to do. Or install a WAP in the meeting rooms and a wifi card
in laptops. otherwise as allready sugested get a microhub for less
than a tenner.

Ian

Mike Scott <(E-Mail Removed) k> wrote in message news:<(E-Mail Removed)>. ..
> On Sun, 09 May 2004 22:59:45 GMT, (E-Mail Removed)
> (Lurch) wrote:
>
> >On Sun, 9 May 2004 21:46:44 +0000 (UTC), in uk.comp.home-networking
> >"keith dulwich" <(E-Mail Removed)> strung together this:
> >
> >>Wouldn't a small hub still need to be powered up though first?
> >
> >Yes, but it's just a case of plugging in the power and the LAN cable
> >and that's it, no booting up or anything. Instant illumination, or not
> >as the case may be! You could even battery power it for testing
> >purposes, some of the smaller ones use a 5v adapter or similar.
>
> Don't some places use the same cabling for LAN & phone? What happens
> if these get misconnected -- 50V of ringtone into a LAN input?

Almost all offices do as do many homes, but Ringing is approx 85v AC
and it wouldnt damage lan equipment as its on different pairs to the
lan tx/rx and POE, the pair should be N/C on the lan card.

Ian
www.cyber-cottage.co.uk