Review on 🔌 DataShark PA70025 RJ45 Network Cable Tester Kit - Cable Mapper, Continuity Check - Test Patch Cables or Installed Cable Runs by Mike Starling

I had a problem with the printer periodically disappearing from the home network. After exhausting possible software causes, I began to suspect a hardware problem and purchased this tester largely based on other buyers' reviews of it and similar products. I chose this particular one because the price was reasonable and other reviews didn't criticize it as too 'cheap'. Since my problem was intermittent, it took me a few tries to find the error in action. I started by placing the main unit on the end of the patch cord that connects to the printer and the sub unit on the end of the other patch cord that connects to the switch. It was fine the first time I tried it, but when I took it out and plugged the printer back in, it worked again. The next time the printer disappeared I tried again and found an open connection on the first pin. I have a fairly complex system with built in surge protectors at both ends of the wall feedthrough, so I individually tested every single patch cord and component going from the switch to the printer and finally found the culprit. . It was a commercially available patch cord that worked intermittently if you wiggled one end. Commercially made, this is probably the last thing I would suspect without testers. If I had known they were so cheap I would have bought them a year ago. Not knowing when I'll be able to use it next, I removed the battery before putting it away.