Network Cable Tracing Before Terminating

jellybeard999 · 14 Dec 2010 at 17:38

Does anyone have any tips as to how to trace network cables before terminating?

Say I have two cables going to the same location and a patch panel; how can I identify and label each end before terminating?

benftl · 14 Dec 2010 at 17:42

If you're doing it regularly then buy a cable tone generator / tracer. Cheap enough and does the job with all manner of cables.

jellybeard999 · 14 Dec 2010 at 20:59

I'll only be doing this once.

I'm just trying to avoid having random numbering if possible. I've labelled ie living room in a bunch, but would like to connect them up in some sort of order, so would need to identify which of the 4 I want to terminate, if you know what I mean.

Caged · 14 Dec 2010 at 21:09

Snip the end off a patch cable and twist the two orange wires together (or any two wires). Then use a multimeter to check for continuity between the orange pair at the other end.

jellybeard999 · 14 Dec 2010 at 21:13

Hi caged, that sounds like the ideal solution. Do you have a little more detail re the multimeter testing, I've never used one before

benftl · 14 Dec 2010 at 21:19

Ah yeah, a DMM is a good idea if you have one. They're cheap - you can get them for around a tenner. They have a dial which you'll turn to resistance or continuity / diode testing, put both probes on say orange and orange/white (or any pair) at one end and when you join / break the orange pair on the other end, the DMM will beep and/or show a '0' reading.