-: In this video, I want to show you how to test the network. 2 2
Now, when we created a cable, I showed you this device, 3 3
which is known as a cable tester. 4 4
In this video, though, 5 5
I want to show you a little bit of an extension 6 6
on a cable tester known as a fox and a hound. 7 7
So I'm going to get rid of this one for us 8 8
'cause we don't need that. 9 9
And instead, we're going to focus on this device right here. 10 10
Now, like the cable tester I showed you before, 11 11
you can actually pull this apart into two pieces. 12 12
So in this case, I'm just going to slide it apart 13 13
and you see, I now have two pieces. 14 14
Now the good thing about this is it does have 15 15
a cable tester built in. 16 16
And you can see that down here at the bottom 17 17
where it'll test pins one through eight, and over here, 18 18
we can test pins one through eight. 19 19
So if I want to use that functionality, 20 20
I'll simply take a patch cable 21 21
and I would be able to plug it in to both sides, 22 22
just like this and then we'll be able to run it 23 23
by doing a test. 24 24
And you can see here, the lights are lighting up 25 25
as they're changing, one two three four five six seven eight 26 26
and continue to go through it over and over and over again. 27 27
But that's not the special thing about a fox and a hound. 28 28
Really, it comes down to this piece right here, 29 29
which is called a probe, a fox and the hound 30 30
is also known as a toner probe. 31 31
Now, when you're dealing with a toner probe, 32 32
what it allows you to do is plug in one end 33 33
to a network jack, and then use this metal tip 34 34
to touch cables along your distribution path 35 35
or your patch panel or your switch 36 36
and it will make a noise when it finds the right cable. 37 37
Now, let me show you how this works 38 38
and it'll make a lot more sense. 39 39
First, I'm going to show you here in my studio 40 40
and then we're going to go and do it on my live network. 41 41
So what we're going to do is I'm going to take this patch cable 42 42
and I'm going to connect this sender, 43 43
it's going to send the noise, and I'm going to plug it in. 44 44
Now, once I plug that in, 45 45
I need to plug this into a network somewhere. 46 46
So I'm going to take our old fashioned jack that we used, 47 47
that we created, and I'm going to plug it in there. 48 48
Now, once I do that, I'm going to have this set to scan. 49 49
Now, by setting this to scan, 50 50
it's sending out a signal through this cable 51 51
to the other end of this, wherever it connects to. 52 52
Now, I'm going to go and put that down for a second. 53 53
And as you can see, this cable really doesn't go anywhere, 54 54
it's just going into my hand. 55 55
But if I take this other device 56 56
and I turn it on, you're going to be able to hear 57 57
that little beeping noise, right? 58 58
As I get closer to the cable, 59 59
(toner probe beeping) 60 60
it gets louder and that's the whole point of this. 61 61
If I have a bundle of wires I can touch that cable 62 62
and know exactly which cable it is that I'm touching 63 63
and that tells me this is connected to that network jack. 64 64
Why would you use a toner probe? 65 65
Well, because a lot of networks you go and work in, 66 66
they didn't do a good job of documenting it. 67 67
They didn't label which room or which port it was. 68 68
And by using this toner probe, 69 69
I can figure out exactly which port is tied 70 70
to which part of the patch panel 71 71
by tracing it throughout all of the walls 72 72
because in most places, the walls are drywalled, 73 73
and you're not going to be able to get to those cables. 74 74
But by going through where the cables start and end, 75 75
the office jack and the patch panel, 76 76
I can identify it and relabel the network. 77 77
So, what I'm going to do is I'm going to set up my scanner on 78 78
and push that signal out from one of the network jacks 79 79
in my office. 80 80
And I'm going to go back to our patch panel 81 81
and we're going to figure out exactly 82 82
which port it's tied into, 83 83
because we're going to be able to use this toner probe 84 84
to figure that out. 85 85
So, I'm back in the server room now. 86 86
I had my production assistant, Jay run out 87 87
and plug it into one of the ports in the office 88 88
and he hasn't even told me where. 89 89
but we're going to figure it out because we're going to use 90 90
our handy-dandy toner probe. 91 91
So I'm going to do that, I'm going to turn it on 92 92
and as I go through, I'm just going to start on the patch panel 93 93
and figure out where it is. 94 94
So that one's not it, that one's not it. 95 95
Number three, number four, number five, 96 96
it's getting noisier. 97 97
(toner probe beeping) 98 98
I think it's number six. 99 99
Number seven is a little less, eight less, nine less 100 100
and so you could see it went away. 101 101
So obviously it's number six. 102 102
So if I look up here at number six and I use my little 103 103
flashlight, it tells me that is in the break room. 104 104
So Jay had gone and unplugged, 105 105
apparently our wireless network in the break room 106 106
and decided to plug that in and that's great. 107 107
So now we know where it is. 108 108
And so if people are going, 109 109
"Hey, the wireless network's not working," 110 110
we can figure out why, 111 111
because maybe he went and cut the network wire someplace 112 112
between here and there. 113 113
We'd be able to figure that out as well 114 114
but we wouldn't be able to figure it out here 115 115
because if there's a cut in between, 116 116
we're going to have to backtrack. 117 117
And so we can start looking what's before the patch panel. 118 118
And in my case, we look up 119 119
and there's actually going to be wires coming in the ceiling. 120 120
So Jay, if you can move the camera over here, 121 121
we're going to show these blue wires. 122 122
All right, so you can see these blue wires. 123 123
And again, so if I start out over here, 124 124
these are actually cable TV, 125 125
that's not where we're sending the signal. 126 126
But I do hear a little bit of noise 127 127
and that's because these blue wires behind it 128 128
are our cat five cables. 129 129
And so if I go over here and put my thing in, 130 130
the one I'm touching is not it, 131 131
but as I go through, I can poke until I hit the right wire. 132 132
(toner probe beeping) 133 133
And I found it. 134 134
So now I can take that particular wire 135 135
and I know that it's getting a signal at least to there, 136 136
and I can trace that wire down using my toner probe 137 137
until I find where the break in the wire is. 138 138
This is a way that you can troubleshoot your networks. 139 139
And that's why using these toner probes is so important 140 140
and a good understanding of these. 141 141
On the exam, if you hear fox and hound or toner probe, 142 142
think about using it on your cable distribution network 143 143
to find breaks in the wire 144 144
or do identify and document your network.