New cable tester provides a simple, cost-effective solution for everyday network performance testing

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Issue Date: 21st March 2006

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Global manufacturer and supplier of advanced cable testing and certification equipment, IDEAL INDUSTRIES, has launched its new SIGNALTEK™ cable performance tester. SIGNALTEK™ can be used by datacomm installers, electrical contractors and the IT/network manager to prove that installed cabling can support voice, video and data applications such as Gigabit Ethernet.

IDEAL’s SIGNALTEK™ is a reliable, feature-rich, handheld cable tester with a user-friendly graphical interface. It offers true Gigabit performance testing by transmitting 10/100/1000 Mbps Ethernet packets and measuring errors on the link in accordance with the IEEE 802.3ab Gigabit Ethernet standard. This simple ‘pass/fail’ test determines within seconds whether or not the installed cable can support applications such as Ethernet or Gigabit Ethernet. The tester also supports Bit Error Rate Testing (BERT) for VoIP, data and video over-IP applications.

SIGNALTEK™ features an integrated time domain reflectometer (TDR) which accurately measures cable length and aides finding faults such as shorts, split pairs and opens. It can test various cables types including, twisted pair data, coax, telephone, security alarm and audio cables.

In addition to a ‘snapshot’ performance test, SIGNALTEK™ can be configured to run for several minutes or even hours at a time to stress test the link for dropped packets. This monitoring mode allows SIGNALTEK™ to be used in place of traditional monitoring tools that can cost thousands of pounds to deploy. It can also inform technicians what device is at the end of a cable run, such as its own remote handset, a live network device or an open link. SIGNALTEK’s intelligent autotest function then performs the correct test suite based on the links current configuration.

“Unlike a certification tester, SIGNALTEK™ does not certify installations to EIA/TIA or ISO/IEC standards such as Cat5e/Class D or Cat 6/Class E so currently can’t be used to validate a manufacturer’s warranty. Instead it provides a simple pass/fail test to qualify a network’s ability to run certain applications such as Gigabit Ethernet by testing to the appropriate IEEE standard,” explains Tony Kumeta, Business Manager, IDEAL INDUSTRIES. “SIGNALTEK™ is an ideal, cost-effective alternative for contractors working on smaller installations where certification is not required or demanded by the customer. It is also perfect for IT/Network Managers looking to prove that their own constantly changing network is functioning optimally after moves, adds and changes, or prior to a cabling upgrade.”

Kumeta continues: “While no qualifier can take the place of a high-end cable certifier like our LANTEK® range, SIGNALTEK™ is an excellent solution for everyday networking performance testing.”

Thousands of test results can be stored on SIGNALTEK’s 32MB internal memory. When transferred via USB to a PC, it is easy to generate pass/fail reports of link performance in accordance with IEEE 802.3ab standards.

IDEAL’s SIGNALTEK is priced at only £895.00 excl. VAT (€1395.00). For more information please visit www.idealindustries.co.uk, email Ideal_UK@idealindustries.com or call 01925 444446.

For further information contact:

IDEAL Industries ( UK ) Ltd.
Mrs. Kathrine Jensen
225 Europa Boulevard, Gemini Business Park, Warrington, Cheshire WA5 7TN, England
Tel : +44-1925-444446 Fax: +44-1925-445501
email: kathrine.jensen@idealindustries.com
Web: www.idealindustries.com

IDEAL Industries GmbH
Mrs. Dagmar Hampel
Gutenbergstr. 10, 85737 Ismaning, GERMANY
Tel : +49-89-99686-261 Fax : +9-89-99686-111
email: dagmar.hampel@idealindustries.com
Web: www.idealindustries.com

Editorial Contact Freshwater Technology