Tool to physically test ethernet cable with two network cards? [closed]
We're building ethernet cable or a non-profit community computer lab. We test them with a cheapie cable tester, which I believes simple checks the electrical connection of each wire. We're having some problems with the networking ( pings are variably iffy ) , and we'd like to test the cables more thoroughly -- but of course, we can't afford a better tester.
Is there were some program that could use network cards on two computers to do more sophisticated testing of a network cable, on the physical layer?
No, generally speaking, you're not going to find applications that are worthwhile to test a cable using two PC's.
You really need a dedicated cat5/5e/6 cable tester. Decent cable testers can easily be in the $2k+ range depending on what type of testing you require, ie certification, crosstalk, near end, far end, alien, etc.
Either buy off the shelf premade cables or double check how you are making your cables
So many people make the mistake when making ethernet cables that they ignore the COLORS and stripes on each wire. This matters. You need to get both PINNING and PAIRING correct.
Pinning means 1-1, 2-2, 3-3, etc... or maybe 1-3, 2-6, 3-1, 6-2 for 10/100m crossover.
Gigabit copper is even more demanding.
PAIRING, on the other hand make sure that PINS 1 & 2 are a pair (meaning if pin 1 is orange, pin 2 is orange/white stripe), 3 & 6, 4 & 5, and 7 & 8.
99% of the most common mistake take 1 & 2 as a pair, and 3 & 4 as a pair. YOU WILL DEFINITELY HAVE PROBLEMS if you do this. Just look at one of the cable and read off your colors. If you have the same color wire on 3 and 4(say green and green/white), you know you've screwed up.
Another tip, when making cables make sure that when you look through the front of the connector you can see the shiny copper tips of the cable. This will tell you the individual wires are fully seated and ready for crimping.
HTH
This isn't exactly what you're looking for, but to test cables in the past, I've just patched two computers directly together and fired up Iperf to make sure I'm getting something close to the expected bandwidth between the two systems. While running the test, I'll sometimes move the cable around a bit to make sure that the ends are terminated securely.