DIY Ethernet RJ-45 UTP Cable Tester UltraCheap (Wall Mountable)

Hi Guys EnergyTR is Again With you.

 We are going to make DIY RJ45 Cable tester for incredible cheap.As you know cable testers are really expensive insturments and for people who always works with network it is an essential part.
I will try to help you to build one of them with basic electronic ways.

 We will use basic components and methods.The components is going to be easly find in electronic stores.

 Ok Here we go Have Fun.

 Special Thanks For Mrs.Patricia Zugg
 And All Cisco Networking Academy Class & My Classmates
 Greetings From Alaska To TURKEY

Step 1 What we'll need ? Scheme

As i said this DIY project is from very basic components which you can easly find from all electronic store etc.


---How is it work ?----
Basicaly 2 connectors are directly connected to battery and leds but they are not connected to each other so we will use UTP cable as a bridge of RJ45 connectors.So if any of Leds are not working that means our UTP cable is not working properly on that Leds so we can troubleshoot on our cable.

  I will give the list in 2 parts first  is equipments and 2nd is components.


 -----Equipments------
PunchDown tool
Soldering Iron
Solder
Cutter
Screwdriver
Cable Cutter


-----Components-----
LED's x8
UTP Cat5 Cable (20cm)
9v Battery
9v Battery Clip
Wall Mount Box
Cat5 RJ45 Female Jack x2
Resistor 220ohm
Female RJ45 Mount Plate

So now we good to go Lets Begin...

Comments

[HI_Don]

Thanks for this project posting. I took a look at your project and all of the comments from others as well and thought I would take a crack at building it. During the build, I took some liberties to implement a few of the comments as well and the result was a hybrid from your design.

I added some complexity, but hopefully some utility and capacity as well.

My final product was a tester that can test individual lines, can also test when only one end of the cable can be brought to the tester (or tester to it), and can identify if the cable under test is a standard or a cross over cable.

Ending project cost is about $30 so not as inexpensive, but does what the commercial tester I found for $50 does. Like yours, it doesn't do signal quality, for that commercial testers charge about $100. I found it better built (solid) and at least a lot more fun than the cheap (my opinion junk) $15-$20 testers on the market.

check it out at http://www.instructables.com/id/Network-Cable-Tester-CAT56/

Thanks again to energytr for the inspiration.

[HI_Don]

This will work finefor a cross over cable, it is just that once you note a non-conduting path, you have to realize that the LED coresponds to the correct line (LED 1 = pin 1, LED 2 = pin 2 etc.) on only one end of the cable (the end that is plugged into the socket wired to the LED's. The other end of the cable will not be on the same pin because the wires "cross over" to another pin in the other socket. Not hard to figure out. (1 - use a crossover wiring matrix to know the "other" end corresponding wire. or (2- Test the wire once and note the LED that isn't lit, then switch the ends of the cable and note what LED now doesn't light and that will be the other ends corrsponding pin.

Remember the limits of this type of testing. It is for continuity only (tests for open / broken wires in the cabe). It cannot test for shorts (signals that can cross wires because they incorrectly conduct between each other) or for issues of impedence, cross-talk, or other poor signal quality that can effect network performance.

[HI_Don]

But then again, your cheap $10 - $20 purchased testers have the same limits, they are continuity testers. You have to spend closer to $50 or more to get a tester that looks for network performance issues on a cable under test.

[sokamiwohali]

keep in mind this wont work for a X-Over cable cause of how you initially wired the project up...just a thought in hopes of inspiring a way to incorperate an option to test X-Over cables for connectivity.

[energytr]

This is obvious that it you wont get a decision whether the cable straight thru or x-over, But it definelty tests out X-Over Cables as well, in basics despite the fact X-Over cable are Crossed between Tx and RX on both sides still all cables are in use therefore you will be able to understand if led is lighting up or not, And by looking pyhsically, you'll decide if its Correctly Crossed ;) Im sorry that i couldn't Make it perfect but its cheap as it is and im still using this stuff in my Cisco Lab. Thanks for comment =)

[sokamiwohali]

hahaha, woah now i never said that it has to be expensive to be worth making...and something being cheap isnt a bad thing either.

[cgillyard]

Excellent work!

[mvquart]

i like it

[XOIIO]

So the 9 volt drives all the LEDS without a probelm, even though the schematic says 12?

[pratyushmhptr]

Very nice instructable, very neat indeed but what kinda glue is that??

[jim_w2007]

Really great job my friend! 1 question does it really light up all the leds? I only see 1 or 2 on.

[rolocz]

Deja vu! Long ago (almost 10 yr ago), I did a very similar tester, even the box is also blue, I never published it until recently. The biggest difference is that mine got a microcontroller that adds some convenient features but make it harder to build than yours. If you wish to have a look, the link to it is: http://www.eercz.com/en/diy_8051_network_cable_tester 

[vanmankline]

If you have the parts laying around this is a great project.  I get the thrill of making my own gear, but only if the cost is acceptable.  Going to a local home center the faceplate and sockets alone will run about $10 US.  Testers can be found online for less than $5 US.

I'm not knocking the instructable (its nicely made), but just letting those who may be interested in testers that there are cheaper options.

[cowen]

I have a 8 wire that tests each wire one at a time and indicates mismatched wire patterns. 1-8

I also have a 4 pair tester that indicates at a pair level 1,2     3,6     4,5     7,8

Then there is the Fluke, this will show me the entire wire map and where the break in the wire is at in the cable. (with in a foot)

Nicely done though for some one that just needs to make sure the patch cord is good.

[Pukinpr]

 If you wanted to put in an on/off switch, so you would have to take the battery out after every use, what side would it be on red or black?

[energytr]

You wont need any kind of on/off switch. Thats Because the is no current between + and - sides of the battery unless you plug your RJ-45 Cable to test. This box basically works the idea of completing the circuit with ethernet cable or the cable you would like to test.I mean your on/off switch is your cable..

[Pukinpr]

 sorry, just a noob question... thanks. can't wait to try this out.

[abadfart]

your should  make one that has a terminator so you can test wall jacks  

[entity0731]

 Wow, I would like to say, you did a great job. It is a simple design and to the point. 

[calaman25]

Men i like to tell you .....great job

[XenoMorphPT]

DIY supreme!!!!!

Great adition! Brilliant Project!!!!

[nh4x4Jeep]

I built one of these a long time ago when I wired my house with CAT 5 cable.  It works great!  Now the prices have dropped significantly on the commercial versions as jenkich wrote.  It does; however, make a GREAT 1st time DIY project for someone who wants to learn about soldering, schematics, etc..  Or someone who can't get it online...

But, I did mainly want to comment that the idea for the case in BRILLIANT!  :-D 

I wish I had built mine this way, and it has inspired me to think about other projects that might be built this way (cheaply).

Thanks for sharing!!!

[metalman84405]

The build was quick and easy.  I ended up adding labels to each LED to differentiate the pin connections.

Thanks for the Instructable

[DraakUSA]

Keep in mind this only tests if voltage reaches the LEDs.  It does not check for shorted wires, or swapped wires.  You should include either an 8 position rotary, or 8 pole dip switch, so that you can test each wire individually.  You cannot tell the difference between a regular cable and a crossover cable with this tester.  Good instructions though.

[Vgy]

Hi,

thank you for these instructions.
But - important! - you got the resistor value wrong!

The value is stated as "220 K", but you most probably meant "220 Ohms".
If we assume a standard yellow LED with a max. allowable current of 30mA, I would calculate the resistor value for the worst case (only one LED works and carries the whole current) as:

9V - 2V / 0,03A = 233 Ohms (220 Ohms would most probably be OK in this case, although slightly over absolute max. ratings).

[skrubol]

Also, you should probably use 1 resistor per LED, or else the LED's will not be the same brightness depending upon how many work.  It's bad practice in general to run LED's in parallel without their own current limiting resistor.

[energytr]

That is correct they cant be same brightness but i didnt wanna use each diffrent resistor because more complicated . not problem but i tried to do as easy as i can

[energytr]

Thank you VGY i just realized.Thanks for your help and appoligies for my fault.

[laurentio86]

 Good job, but i'm not a battery-friend so why don't build anoter version powerd by an USB connector?
If you are testing an ethernet cable probably you have a pc nearby; it can be an idea. :)

[energytr]

The idea which i want to do is being portable.so if we use usb that wont be portable so its good idea but we need to spend time on that

[HHOmaker]

Great instructable, thanks for sharing

[sturmey]

I like this idea, but #crashwg is right, I think a switch to test each wire individualy would be useful. I've had trouble with network cables in the past that were terminated incorrectly. Yes, they were made by me.

I think a sp8t rotary switch would be a great addition to the power input side. it wouldn't take that much longer to test, but it would show more of what's going on. I'll have to try this.

[Derin]

It is really nice to see other Turkish people on this site. Türkçe unuttunuz mu :D

[energytr]

Ayip ettin turkceyi hic unuturmuyuz :)

[energytr]

I just added Scheme for people who wants.Sorry for doing that late but i thought i explained all steps clearly.

[tellmenolies39]

You seem to have left out how to connect the 2nd RJ45. Step 6 shows the 1st RJ45, and suddenly the 2nd RJ45 appears in Step 7, with no mention of how to wire it up. Did I miss something? It was a bit difficult to understand.

This method requires both ends of the cable to come together to connect to two RJ45s in the faceplate. But there are times when you can't bring both ends together (like when the cable is coming from outside your house to inside your house).

I would rather use a separate (passive) RJ45 that can be attached to one end of the cable (like outside at an antenna). The passive RJ45 would connect each wire to its return wire to check continuity at the active RJ45 tester end.

[energytr]

if you read all passage you will see i talk about it.Which is ; i said


*We are done with first connector.


   REMINDER : You will need the same thing 2 times so to other connector you may continue the ways again.


so please before punish read whole passage :)

Sincereley,

[jenkinch]

Nice work but for what you spent on it you could have just got one of these. They test Rj-11 and Rj-45.
www.focalprice.com/CN034S/RJ45_RJ11_Network_Cable_Tester_Leather_Bag_GP_9V_1604S_6F22_Super_Cell.html

[crashwg]

This kind of tester will certainly let you know if any of the wires are broken but says nothing for if the cable is terminated correctly.

[Lrodriguezny]

i have a few questions.

can you give the specs of your build.

Mostly the Rated value of the LED (Each)
Rated Value of the Resistor.

Great Build by the Way.

AWESOME.