Hi

Is there some kind of plug or tester that I can plug into a wall ethernet jack to monitor whether the port is working or not?

Ideally, this would just be a tiny 'nubbin' that plugs into the port and maybe has an LED that shows green for good and red or something for bad or no connection

I know I can plug an ethernet cable into it and then into a computer, etc., but I'm looking for something that can just stay plugged in with a quick glance telling me if the port is working or not

Thanks

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There's a big range depending upon what specifically you want to test.

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Are you trying to test the see if the wires suddenly fail, in which case a cable tester is what you want.

But it sounds more like this is a live Ethernet jack, and you're really wanting to know if whatever equipment is on the other end of the wire (like an Ethernet switch) is "up". And even that might not be what you want, if for example you want to know if there is a connection to a router, LAN, a DHCP server, and WAN connection to the internet.

If it's a live jack and you're confident that the wires are good aren't going to suddenly fail, plugging a cheap Ethernet switch into it should give status lights showing that it's seeing an Ethernet connection from the other end.

Thanks for the replies

What I'm really looking for is something tiny that just stays plugged into the unused jack with a status light telling me whether the jack is working or not

I don't really want something like the first link that was posted nor do I want to have to plug in a switch to see

A brief search online came up with terms like 'loopback tester' and 'sniffer' but I couldn't really tell if this is what I truly am looking for and how they work exactly

Found one that is simple and inexpensive, no nub testers that I know of. It might be possible to wire four LEDs across the pairs to just show activity. Another would be a small hub.

$15 - Triplett Line-Bug 4 Telephone and LAN Line Tester



A cheap ethernet hub would also work, a 4" cable to plug in to the uplink should work (I couldn't verify it has activity LEDs).

$10 - TP-Link 10/100 hub

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Thanks for those links

The first one looks interesting, as I don't believe it requires an external power source like a switch would

Wondering if there's any harm in keeping that plugged into the wall jack at all times except when needing to actually use the port

I do not think the Triplett will do what you want it to do:
[www.triplett.com]

Oops, yeah I think you're right

A bit of a kludge...

If you have PoE at the other end, you can plug in a cheap PoE detector.

[www.amazon.com]

Gigabit PoE injectors start at around $10 bucks.

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Interesting, I do have a 16 port POE switch at the other end, but the ports in question don't terminate into that switch - they just go into my regular switch

Why do you want to monitor a dead port? They don't go bad unless you do something...

Test it when it is installed and it isn't going to randomly go bad.

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C(-)ris
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Just to keep an eye on the network

Could hang a small network switch off of the port.

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pinkoos
Just to keep an eye on the network

I don't get it. Keep an eye on a non active line in a wall? Not trying to be a jerk, I just don't understand what would be accomplished. Best practice is to patch both your switch end and your device end in only when you need to use them.

You don't patch every single port in the building to your switch when you install them. You patch them in as you need to use them, and test if necessary, when patched in.

It would be exceedingly rare to have either a switch port or a wire run randomly go bad.

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C(-)ris
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Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 11/03/2021 09:14PM by C(-)ris.