It was not that long ago that our Real World Certifier proved that you didn’t need to
spend your annual budget to give your Cat5/6 cable a quality test. For me, it was another dream come true. When I was a young engineer plying my trade at NASA and Hewlett-Packard, mid-scale computers and home-brew networks were all the rage. It seemed that everybody had their own designs. Test equipment was highly customized… and very expensive. As Apollo was wrapping up and the early designs for the space shuttle were taking shape, the march to miniaturize absolutely everything continued to steamroll forward. Everything got better… computers, communication technology… and inevitably standards started emerging. When I started Byte Brothers in 1986, I dreamed that this technology could be put to work in simple, durable tools that help people do a better job at a lower cost. And that dream was realized with the launch of CTX1600 10 Base-T MultiTester in 1990. This little beauty was an inexpensive, handheld device that could transmit and detect network link pulses. The first of its kind! As our expertise grew and with the input of countless customers, we launched the Real World Certifier in 2004. Two Motorola microprocessors in the palm of your hand, capable of storing 250 test results in flash memory for $595.00! Wow! That is a dream come true.
THE SIMPLE LIFE. These new standards that I mentioned led to a much simpler life. IEEE’s 802.3 standard for networking has made today’s networks almost commodity-like… with interchangeable devices from many vendors. In fact, it wasn’t that long ago when all a CAT5/6 cable had to do was send data on pins 1,2 and receive it on 3,6. Of course the cable had to be of sufficient quality to transmit at the rated speed but, aside from that, life was easy. These simple networks were replicated by the tens of thousands because of the inherent reliability, flexibility and low cost of Ethernet and the CAT5/6 cable. Its popularity and success is truly remarkable.
Then things became more complicated. The realization that only 2 of the 4 pairs of a CAT5/6 cable were being used left the potential use of the 2 free pairs to your imagination. Instantly, phone and FAX lines were connected along with many creative, ad hoc connections.
POPULARITY SOARS. As the reliability and popularity of these networks went up and the cost continued to go down it became obvious that the CAT5/6 cable could function well for a whole new generation of digital devices like VOIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) and digital surveillance cameras. And with these came a new IEEE standard (IEEE 802.3af) that details how the CAT5/6 cable can also provide power to these devices. Imagine that! No longer having to wire an AC socket for each phone and camera that you might connect to the network because the power for the device is on the CAT5/6 cable (this power is termed “Power over Ethernet” or “PoE”).
This sounds well and good until you realize that you are mixing rather high power (48 volts up to 300ma or more) on the same cable that you have low voltage Ethernet devices. The cable can certainly handle it but it does give you reason to pause and pay extra attention to what you are doing. To help keep PoE safe, the IEEE standard has a number of provisions: One is for assuring that the switch that provides the PoE will not provide the power until it sees an appropriate load. But many units in the market today seemingly fail to follow that standard directly. Some always have the 48V switched on. Others seem to trigger with less than ideal provocation. And others work very accurately. Another provision allows the power either to be placed on the cable at the end (“endspan”) or in the middle of the cable (“midspan”). And it defines the cable pairs that should be used depending on which method of power injection that you have chosen for your network.
THE NEW POWER PANEL CAT5/6 DVM. If you are an IT manager or cable installer who has responsibilities to deal with all of this, your favorite tool may well become the Byte Brothers new Power Panel CAT5/6 DVM. The Power Panel continually scans the CAT5/6 looking for network devices and voltages. Once spotted, one of 3 ultrabright LEDs alert you to the presence of either a device or voltage. The Power Panel categorizes the device as either “network”, “phone” or “power” (POE). If, by chance, all types of devices exist, then all the LEDs will light.
This ultrabright LED is all the indication that most users need to verify their cable suspicions but there is plenty else to learn from the Power Panel if you wish. For instance, if it’s a network device you can select the “link” screen and see the capabilities of the device (10, 100, 100, HD, FD) and the pair(s) where transmit pulses exist. If it’s a phone device you can view up to 4 phones including pair and voltage information. And, if it’s a POE device you can view the pairs information, see if it is a midspan or endspan device and determine the voltage.
Plus, there are two buttons on the Power Panel that make the unit what we like to call an “interactive DVM”.
The first button, FORCE LINK, is used to get balky switches to communicate. Some network devices refuse to communicate unless they are asked to communicate…. thus the Force Link button. Press this to establish communication. The second button, TEST POE, is the perfect way to test if the power sending unit is operating correctly. First off, when the POE LED is lit you know a POE voltage is present. And if the voltage is low (approximately 10V), it is what is called a “discovery voltage.” Press the TEST POE button to simulate a device that requires the POE voltage (like a phone or camera) and, if working correctly, the voltage will pop up to 48V. It is a simple and accurate test for POE devices and can save many hours of running around shot gunning such problems.
The Power Panel is available two ways: As a standalone unit (model POE1000) for $159.00 or bundled in the Cable&Power Kit (CPK1000) which includes the popular Real World Certifier for $699.00.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Darrell Igelmund is the Marketing Manager for Byte Brothers in Newcastle ( Seattle) Washington. He has worked with NASA, Hewlett Packard, Honeywell Information Systems, and Datacom Technologies.
