From the course: CompTIA Network+ (N10-009) Cert Prep

Using a toner and probe

From the course: CompTIA Network+ (N10-009) Cert Prep

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Using a toner and probe

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- I installed this power outlet and this RJ-45 connection about a year ago. The idea here is I'm going to plug a projector in up here, and the projector's going to be network aware. It's going to be really cool. Now, I'm getting ready to install the projector, but I got a problem. And the problem is, is I forgot where this connection goes into my patch panel over in my equipment room. So in order to figure out which connection in my patch panel corresponds to this wall outlet, I've got to use this little guy. This is a fox and a hound. Fox and hound are registered trademarks of triplet corporation. So the more generic term is a tone generator and a tone probe. The idea is simple. This guy creates a tone, and then this guy, (generator beeping) as you get close to whoever he's connected to, then generates that tone so you can find cables. Now this has an RJ-11 connection on it, and it actually, for the record, RJ-11s snap into RJ-45s just fine. Isn't that cool? They just snap into the center like that. And what I can do is I can run back with this tone probe back to my patch panel and figure out where he's connected. Okay, so here I am at my little home patch panel. So this is a little patch panel. I installed this when I was setting up all my wired networking. What? You don't have a wired network in your house? Come on. Anyway, so now I'm going to use my tone probe and I'm going to just punch it into this big cluster of cables here. Now you'll notice that I've actually unplugged the switch, and the reason I unplugged it, is because the network activity will make a lot of interference and make it hard to hear this thing. So I've gone ahead and unplugged it. So I'm just going to hold the button down. (probe buzzing) All right, so I can actually trace it down to an individual cable, but what I need is to know exactly which outlet it is. So... (probe buzzing) Perfect. So it's the second outlet. So what I'm going to need to do now is I don't want to do this again, so I'm going to write "home theater" right on the label of the patch panel to make sure I don't have to go through this rigmarole again. But that's what a tone probe and a tone generator are all about. They're designed to help you find cables when you forget to label and you've got nothing but a big pile, these guys can be your best friend.

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