Cable Tester

[Lewis Murray]

What is the Best recommended Cable Tester?

Can the Fluke DTX1800 be used as a definitive tester and Certify  HDBaseT Cabling?

[HDBaseT AllianceHDBaseT Alliance]

Hello,

Any tester for cat cables will work for HDBaseT.  Fluke is definitely a good option in this respect!

[Andy Bennett]

The videos in the HDBaseT expert section reference cable testers that can specifically test the HDBaseT link.  Can you please elaborate on this?  Is there a list of such products?

Finally, what criteria would be most critical to test (i.e. what tests should be completed)?  Testing a network cable for 1000 Mbps vs. 1 Gbps vs. 10 Gbps is different.  What tests would be most beneficial to predict HDBaseT performance?

[HDBaseT AllianceHDBaseT Alliance]

Any tester that test Cat cables will work with HDBaseT – there is nothing specific about HDBaseT in terms of testing cables.  HDBaseT was designed to work with Cat5e or above cables that have been certified according to the TIA standards.  Of course, higher grade cables will provide you with better performance (and the same is true for shielded ones).  But you should have no problem with regular cables.  The Fluke is a good option to test for cable (the tester provides the parameters it tests for), and Quantum Data offers testing of the application itself (ie, it will transmit video over your link to test the whole system).  Most cable manufacturers will stand behind their certified cables and guarantee performance, so you shouldn’t have to worry there.  Hope this helps.

[HDBaseT AllianceHDBaseT Alliance]

As the need from the market arose,  several Alliance members have designed testers specifically for HDBaseT installations.

A simple google search for “HDBaseT tester” will result in several testers designed to test HDBaseT end-to-end, using the HDBaseT link protocol.

These testers provide in depth analysis and reports on the HDBaseT link.

[Daniel ShwartzbergHDBaseT Alliance]

Hi everyone,

I just wanted to be sure that everything is clear on this topic.

There are testers for category cables which use Ethernet as the test protocol. They send Ethernet packets across the cable, and so are optimized for testing the performance of the cable for Ethernet installations.

But the HDBaseT protocol differs from Ethernet. For example, while Ethernet is a symmetrical link (e.g. 10Gb/s in both directions), HDBaseT is asymmetrical (Spec 2.0 is 8Gb/s in the main direction and up to 300Mb/s in the return direction). And there are many other differences between how HDBaseT works and how Ethernet works. So if you take an Ethernet tester to check a cable being fitted in an HDBaseT installation, it will only give you a limited insight into how the cable will perform when running HDBaseT data packets. It will certainly identify very obvious defects in the cable (such as open wires or shorts), but will not be able to fully certify the cable for HDBaseT operation.

To get a full understanding of the quality of an HDBaseT installation, you need to use  an HDBaseT tester. As written in the previous post, there are a number of testers on the market specifically designed for testing cabling for HDBaseT installations. For example, companies like MSolutions, Quantum Data and Astrodesign offer HDBaseT test equipment. Please refer to their websites to find out which tester best meets your requirements.

Hope all is clear now!

Daniel

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