decent, inexpensive network cable tester/identifier?

[deckeda]

Over the years I've been doing this on a case-by-case basis with one end of the CAT5 plugged into my router or switch and the other into a laptop and verifying link speed --- I make my own cables, some of which are quite long reaching across the house.

With no more than 4 seconds of searching I stumbled on this: http://www.amazon.com/HDE-HDE-H11-Networ...B000P1OA1O Presumably you plug one end of a cable in one of them and use the other part to verify the other end. Know of a better one? Cheap is good --- this is for occasional use at home.

[GGD]

I've been using a tester similar to that for years. I wouldn't make a cable without it anymore.

The only frustrating thing once you know a cable is bad, is guessing which end needs to be re-done, sometimes looking closely with a magnifying glass gives you a clue, other time's you might as well flip a coin.

[deckeda]

I've usually been able to tell by looking. One or two wires typically didn't get pushed far enough in to make contact with the push-down pins.

[GGD]

And BTW: The way you've been testing, you could miss a lot, 10/100 BaseT only need two of the 4 pairs in the Cat5 cable, Gigabit needs all 4, but you might get switched down to the slower speed if the connections are defective in the outer two pairs.

[deckeda]

Right, but the Mac's Network pref lane/Advanced in one of those tabs will show if you're connected to 10- 100- or 1000-baseT.