As a computer network administrator or computer technician that is in charge of providing the availability of the network resources, having computer networking tools is very essential in case of networking connectivity problems disrupt the network resources.
Generally when you encounter network connectivity problem, the first time you check the connectivity issues using “ipconfig /all” command to review the computer IP address, and “ping” command to check the connectivity to the other nodes, or “tracert” command etc. See also network troubleshooting. Those command tools are very easy to use and invaluable tools to start troubleshooting network problems you must use. But it is quite often that you come to a conclusion that you have cut cables issues that cause network problem. Therefore, having computer networking tools with you is very essential to help you troubleshoot the problems, the tools for computer technician.
There are various types of computer technician tools you can use such as the tools to detect the cut cables or the LAN tester, the crimping tools and more. The following are some of computer networking tools you can use to help you troubleshoot network connectivity problems and cable run installation.
LAN Tester
Even though wireless networking today becomes the trend, but you will not get rid of LAN cabling at all. Computer networking is combination of wired and wireless network; you still require cabling system which mostly uses UTP Ethernet cable with RJ-45 plugs. The easiest way to troubleshoot cut cable is by replacing the suspected cable with a new one. This is easy if you have only two or more computers in the same room with less than 5 meter length of the UTP cable, but in industrial environment you will be dealing with large networking environment consist of many buildings. That’s why you require LAN tester as one of computer networking tools which must always be available for computer networking technician. One of LAN tester you can consider is StarTech.com LANTESTPRO Professional.
StarTech.com LANTESTPRO Professional is one of computer technician tools to test networking cables with four RJ-45 remote loopback plugs. Each of the remote loopback plugs has unique identification number to help you identify the cable easily.
If you need to test several cables, you can put a loopback plug on the end of each cable run and you can test at the other end and you can provide a proper identification each of the cable. With well managed cable identification, you can easily troubleshoot the cut cable in the future easily.
Features:
- You can easily test several cable runs with four remote locator plugs
- Includes LCD display to show you the continuity, the shorts, opens and pin assignment mismatches
- You can read the pin mapping of the cable under testing
- Identify 8 different cabling schemes and you can use one user-defined scheme
Crimping Tool
Another computer technician tools you require is the crimping tool. In large networking environment where running large number of long UTP cables from one building to another, the crimping device helps you very much. You need to crimp each of the cable run with correct pin assignment into the RJ-45 plug firmly. When all the cabling system has been done completely and you prove that all the cables work properly, you might think that you don’t need that Crimping device anymore. You still need it to help you fix cut cable later in case of accidently cut by user due to untidy cable, or the rat cut it. Or in some cases you need to re-crimp the RJ-45 plug to firm the pins. It’s frequently happened that you can fix the UTP cable in problems by re-crimping the RJ-45 plug firmly. Or in some cases you need to replace the RJ-45 plug. You will not run another long cable if you can replace the plug to back in business; will you.
There are various types of crimping tools available in the market you can purchase and one of them is Paladin Tools All-in-One Crimper. It provides multi function cutting, stripping and crimping and supports RJ-45, RJ-11/12 and RJ-22 plugs.
Impact Punch Down Tool
Another computer networking tools you probably require is Impact Punch Down tools. It is part of telecommunication work which is used to insert the wire into the connector or patch panel. In large installation of networking cables, you should distribute the UTP cables via a patch panel with well-managed identification numbers. Generally you require both impact punch down and LAN tester tools together in running bulk of network cables via patch panels.
By Ki Grinsing
See also:
- Computer network diagram – a general guide in computer network diagram and connection
- Computer network infrastructure – A computer network infrastructure is a set of physical and logical components
- Network security software – a better level of network security protection
- Server redundancy and clustering technology
- Symantec Backup Exec 2010 | Server Backup Software
Recent Comments