Is there a network cable tester device that tests the cables with realistic frequency instead of on/off leds?

Question

I am not looking for a specific product recommendation. I am looking for a category of cable tester devices, so I can do a targeted search.

I have an rj45 cable tester that tests the ethernet cables with on/off switches. I learned that all wires in an ethernet cable can show connected, but the cable cannot sustain the actual frequencies required for gigabit (80 MHz) or 10-gigabit (156.25MHz) senarios.

What is the category name of devices that test ethernet cables with realistic frequencies?

Answer 1

What you're looking for is a cable tester able to certify a cable with the entire test suite. The tests must include crosstalk and detailed frequency measurement.

Basically, there are three classes of testers:

1. just continuity and shorts - 5-100 €
2. additionally wire map (proper pairings), overall length, possibly rough frequency response (cable class) - 200-800 €
3. entire test suite including all the crosstalk variants (NEXT, FEXT, ...), detailed frequency response, between-pair skew etc; this answer (see comment above) goes more into detail - 1,500-10,000 €

For the latter classes, there are (price) differences depending on the highest cable class that can be handled. Older testers can only do Category 5/5e, current ones at least Cat 6 or 6A, and the best ones Cat 8.1 and 8.2.