Technology

What an Ethernet Cable Tester Tells You

A basic Ethernet cable tester checks whether the conductors in a network cable reach the corresponding pins at the other end. That makes it useful after crimping a connector or when a cable seems dead and you want to find an open, short, reversal, or obvious wiring mistake.

A simple continuity-style tester does not prove that a cable can sustain a particular network speed under load. It answers the more basic question first: is the cable wired correctly from end to end?