Appropriate Networking Tools( Comptia Objective 2.8)

Question 1

What is a cable cutter?

Answer 1

• A Cable cutter is the first tool you should have in your tool kit.
• Used to make clean cuts on the end of a network cable scizzors will not do
• These can also be Cut pliers.

Question 2

What is a cable stripper?

Answer 2

• Also known as a wire stripper this tool is used to strip a portion of the plastic jacket off the cable exposing the individual wires inside.

Question 3

What is a Punchdown Tool and what is it used for?

Answer 3

• This device punches the individual wires inside an ethernet cable down into the 110 Block IDC clips of an RJ45 jack and the patch panel.
• The actual punching down of the wires is the termination.

Question 4

What is a cable tester and what is it used for?

Answer 4

• Tests cables for continuity
• not usually used for frequency testing.
• Can identify missing pins or crossed wires. Also known as a patch cable tester can also be a device which has two RJ45 jacks which you plug the two ends of a patch cable into and then press the button to make sure each wire makes a proper connection and has continuity.
• Can also be a device that has a LAN testing unit that you can plug into a port on a patch panel and a terminator that you plug into the other end of the cable in the corresponding RJ45 jack or vice versa.

Question 5

what is a tone generator and probe kit and what is it used for?

Answer 5

• Also known as a fox and hound comprised of two parts a tone generating device which connects to one end of a network cable and then other being a probe which can detect the tone anywhere along the cable length and at termination point.
• Only tests one pair of the wires unlike a proper cable tester.

Question 6

What is a loopback plug and what is it used for?

Answer 6

• This is used to diagnose network issues related to a port on a switch and determine which port on a switch a RJ45 jack is wired to.
• You plug the loopback plug into an RJ45 jack on the wall and it bounces the signal back down the cable to the switch, lighting up the port on the switch which it’s connected to.
• Is also used to test a Network adapter on a PC and find out if TCP/IP is functioning properly. This is done by plugging the loopback plug into the RJ45 port on the PC going into cmd and the ping the IP address of the local system.

Question 7

What is a Wi-Fi analyzer and what is it used for?

Answer 7

• Is a tool that can identify wireless networks on a 2.4ghz or 5ghz frequency. Shows things such as channels used by neighboring wireless networks and show any overlapping that might be occurring between them.
• Also shows the signal strength of access points.

Question 8

What can a multimeter be used for?

Answer 8

• Used to check continuity say of a AC power outlet or 12V power supply
• Can also be used to verify voltage of a 3.3Volt CMOS battery.
• Can also be used to check cable continuity, fuse status as well as wiremapping by connecting internal cables inside a network cable on one end to other cables on the other end and see if there if there is continuity,.