Network Cable Tester

This is an automatic Cat6 / Cat5 network cable tester designed using NE555 timer and 4017 decade counters. This unit test all 8 wire lines of twisted pair network cable and indicate pass/fail status with single LED. We design this unit to test network connectivity issues in Cat6 / Cat5 cable systems and it is capable to check both crossover and straight-through type network cables. The recommended way to construct this circuit is on PCB. Both Master and Salve units need to be build on two separate boards. To perform test one end of the network cable must connected to the Master unit and other end need to be connected to the Slave unit. After connecting both Master and Slave units press "*START-TEST*" (S1) button to perform the test. Status of the cable is indicated through LED2 (*PASS* indicator). Test time of this unit can adjust by varying values of R1, R2 and C1.