<div dir="ltr">Thanks for the advice but it won't help in this case because in this particularly enormous and complex client, we only have access to portions of the data. For example, I won't have access to the switch error log nor will I be able to trust it if I'm given that info. On this particular segment, we have about 3000 drops for this project (many more in the building coming online) and we have 100 or so that appear to be autonegotiating improperly and some of those are acting funky. We're trying to rule out (or in) the physical layer on a sample of these before we check on other things. For some of this highly specialized equipment, we've had autonegotation issues that are not physical layer and have resolved those by forcing both ends to the correct speed. We've also had a large number of physical layer issues but, working with the union contractors to check each of the portions of each segment independently will take weeks if not longer and I just can't wait.<div>
<br></div><div>This is a case where I really do need to do some physical layer testing with proper test gear. Some day, if we're talking at a bar, I'll give you the scoop on this but I can't give more details on a public mailing list on the convoluted process I must work within.</div>
<div><br></div><div style>Thanks,</div><div style>Jon</div></div><div class="gmail_extra"><br><br><div class="gmail_quote">On Thu, May 30, 2013 at 10:23 AM, Edward Ned Harvey (bblisa4) <span dir="ltr"><<a href="mailto:bblisa4@nedharvey.com" target="_blank">bblisa4@nedharvey.com</a>></span> wrote:<br>
<blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0 0 0 .8ex;border-left:1px #ccc solid;padding-left:1ex">> From: <a href="mailto:bblisa-bounces@bblisa.org">bblisa-bounces@bblisa.org</a> [mailto:<a href="mailto:bblisa-bounces@bblisa.org">bblisa-bounces@bblisa.org</a>] On<br>
> Behalf Of Jon Young<br>
<div><div class="h5">><br>
> BBLisa,<br>
> Does anyone have or know where I might be able to rent a quality fluke or<br>
> similar cable testing to spot test some questionable Cat6 horizontal runs<br>
> where I don't trust the wiring contractors test reports? I'd need it for a few<br>
> days to a week ASAP. I've bought these before but never needed to rent<br>
> one so I don't know the going rate for rentals or where I might be able to<br>
> rent one locally.<br>
<br>
</div></div>I have a better idea, because I've gone through this a zillion times. If you get a tester, you're going to see the same results the contractor saw. But that doesn't matter, if you plug in a computer and it doesn't work, or it works suboptimally. Test the thing you care about:<br>
<br>
Get two laptops with GB cards, and connect them across that wire. (Obviously you'll have to have some patch cables, and either a switch at one end, or a crossover cable, assign static IP addresses.)<br>
<br>
Make sure they auto-negotiate 1Gbit. Then, push several hundred megabytes across the wire in each direction. Watch the error counter statistics on the network cards at each end. (Easiest if you're using linux). If you get *any* result other than auto-negotiated 1Gbit and a total of *zero* error packets, then there is a wiring fault.<br>
</blockquote></div><br></div>