NetAlly LRAT-1000 LinkRunner AT Copper Ethernet Network r

I purchased this product to disagnose network issues at customer sites. I have ran every one of my cables and installed all the switches and firewalls/routers so I know mine are correct as i have tested each cable as I completed them, but at a customer site I have no idea what has or has not been done.I opened the product and started using it after the recommended 4 hour battery charge. With a basic knowledge of networks and cabling it is very easy to use and does not require much documentation (in fact I have not even reviewed the documentation outside of the basic info on charging the battery). I tested it on my DHCP network and it was able to obtain an IP and DNS along with routing out correctly and I was even able to do simple "ping" type performance tests to sites I entered into the unit. I also tested it on my non-DHCP network and after entering the IP address, subnet, gateway and DNS's it also was able to connect and route and perform the same tests. The most impressive thing to me is it can determine within a few inches the length of the ethernet cable (I use CAT5 RJ45) and even has a feature that you can determine where the cable is connected on a specific switch or hub. This is done through the included tone probe and then a nifty feature that, once you have located the cable bundle going into the switch or hub via the probe you can put the unit in a mode that flashes the Link, 10/100/1000 and on some switches the full/col light all together. This makes it very easy to determine which port the cable is connected to. You can then place the Wireview Cable ID connector(includes 6 of these in the extended kit that I purchased) on that end of the cable and then place the main unit in cable disagnose mode and it will even tell you if your pin outs from end to end or correct or which ones are dead or crossed. It also determins the connect speed of the cable/switch 10, 100 or 1000. I wish these were around 10+ years ago when I wasn running cables and crimping ends.It is pretty pricy, but with a few uses and the time savings it will more than pay for itself and considering you can do most of the basic cable, switch, routing and performance diagnostics, you can save yourself a ton of money over having a networking company come in and diagnose your issues on your network. Again you do need a basic knowledge of cabling and networks to use the product sucessfully.I would recommend this to anyone that has the basic knowledge of networks and cabling as a great time saver in diagnosing issues unless you have personally ran all of your cables and tested them when you installed them and they have never been touched, pulled on or accidentally cut at your site (like this doesn't happen regularly in the real world).Another great product from Fluke.

Purchase had two separate choices and I thought I purchased with the fluke probe. I never use more than 1 remote. Buttons seem old fashioned but it’s much faster than the android version. Leaving the unit and link live takes some time. Pro: Time saver! Verifies a dead line (port not patched in). Getting port number in seconds without tone & probe is amazing. Let’s you see speed settings for mismatch issues. Verifies SMTP & IP internet connections in seconds. Con: I know it’s not a certifier but Cable test does not verify speed as I had hoped while testing new crimped RJ45’s.

The LRAT-2000-KIT provides almost everything (see below) needed to diagnose cabling and detect network configuration issues with copper or fiber runs. The LinkRunner AT unit has a dedicated 10/100/1000 copper port, a copper loopback port (for pair testing), and a modular SFP port that can be used for either fiber or copper transceivers. The one gotcha with this kit is that it does not include a fiber SFP so if your workload includes fiber link checking, you may want to acquire an SFP from vendors such as CXtec (Cisco-compatible at a fraction of the cost of OEM).In terms of functionality, the LinkRunner AT can detect incorrect pairs and display what is wired incorrectly just like any network tester on the market does. Once Layer 1 is up, you are presented with link speed, duplex mode, switch port name (from either STP or CDP), VLAN ID, PoE port data, 802.11x parameters as well as any DHCP offers presented to the unit. Once the unit has an IP address, it can run an arsenal of user-configurable test including DNS lookups, Pings, HTTP queries or TCP sessions on any port.What this all translates to is, it's possible to test cabling, switching and routing at a specific jack all in one go without ever pulling out a laptop. This makes this kit indispensable for LAN admins, LAN techs, field techs or anyone having to jack equipment at a multitude of sites with varying levels of on-site support. This gear can finally give onsite personnel an immediate answer to the old "did the wiring guy punch and crimp this run correctly?", and the "did the network guys put this on the correct VLAN?" and the "did this site's firewall guys remember to open up port X?" in just a few seconds. Bravo Fluke Networks, well played.

If you have managed network switches that support LLDP (Link-Layer Discovery Protocol) or CDP (Cisco Discovery Protocol), this device will trace back and tell you what switchport a network wall port goes to. It will also tell you whether a network cable is good (without a terminator on the other end) and how long a cable run is. If you have to pick up the pieces of networks that others left in shambles due to lousy documentation or crappy cabling, this device is for you; it will cut the time of testing in half.Notes:-The LinkRunner works as a tone generator as well. You should probably purchase an Intellitoner Pro 200 to go with this for when you need to tone cables or switchports.-The higher-end LinkRunner AT 2000 also does fiber, and some PoE tests, and comes with a rechargeable battery pack, which is insanely expensive as an add-on and is hard to find. If you do not need to test fiber, and are okay with using alkaline batteries, the AT 1000 will be fine for you.-I have a couple of stacked Dell switches linked via fiber to another Dell switch where this tester traces back to the fiber uplink of the main switch rather than to the Cat5 ports of the stack. Unfortunately, Dell doesn't want to help me without their ProSupport, so I'm stuck there. This could be a Dell issue or a Fluke issue; I'm subtracting one star for it.

Works great. Wish i saw this was batteries rather than lithium chargeable.