Fluke LinkIQ Field Test and Review

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⏱️ Timestamps ⏱️
00:00 Fluke LinkIQ Cable Features & Testing
05:24 What Comes in the Kit
06:06 Testing Cables
07:16 Testing Switches & POE
12:20 Fluke LinkIQ Tone Generator

#Fluke #CableTesting #LowVoltage

[sheldonfrey]

I shelled out for this Link IQ earlier this year. I bought the Kit version with the additional ID units. The best laugh I had happened one day when another tech began to give me s*** for using such an expensive meter when he could do his job with a $15 unit. Less than 5 minutes later he came back hat in hand asking if I could locate where his break was. It's expensive, but mine has been rock solid. Also, I have the Brother label printer as well. I recommend it as well. Doesn't matter how well you do your cabling, if your labels are bad your work is bad.

[Czyzyk]

Vlan and all other information from LLDP works fine on Dell N series and S-Series also tested on some Tp-link switches with this Fluke if someone asking. Awesome device

[grahamjkeddie]

I have issues with LLDP with my NetAlly Aircheck. Sometimes it comes right away, other times a second test is required (HP switches). Maybe something to do with the LLDP timers? Cisco switches work every time with CDP.
Also I have an old trusty LinkIQ gen 1. Had it for many years, it's worth every penny and paid for itself in months. Faster issue resolution with cable breaks and other faults. Reduced down time means reduction of lost revenue.

[dariantel]

nice, i am still using an older smaller fluke and i do love them, just works. this product i would probably only buy if i did larger and frequent wiring jobs. right tool for the right job.

[sambarrett]

I had something similar the other day. We put a temporary AP out, someone unplugged it and plugged it back in wrong. Not sure exactly what happened but when I got there the ap was in the wrong outlet and the console port on the AP. Turns out it has completely destroyed the port, link runner won't pick it up at all, not even for data only. So useful.

[Heizenberg]

I had the opportunity to use a fluke certifier for an install a while ago. I almost wish I hadn't, because fluke is definitely getting 5000 of my hard earned dollars in the (far off) future. The bummer was learning that a cable can be ran and terminated correctly but still fail with a certifier. In my case it was most likely due to high temperatures in the warehouse ceiling where it was ran through. Insertion loss was out of spec, like you would normally expect when a run was too long or poorly terminated. But, as I found out, the higher the ambient temperature is the shorter the maximum length can be. I managed to cut the run down to around 260 feet before I couldn't take out any more slack, but it was still just barely out out a spec. Ended up needing to run fiber instead.

[AintBigAintClever]

We might be purchasing one of these soon for work. Our 652 CableMeter is 26 years old and I've had to repair it twice (the first time was filmed for YouTube) because it triggers PoE delivery, but as it's older than PoE itself it tends to fry logic ICs when that happens.
Keep it away from PoE and it's still a brilliant piece of kit. It paid for itself way back when we had BNC cabling, the ability to show distance-to-fault was an absolute godsend when tracing rogue joints.

Our OneTouch II let the magic smoke out a few weeks ago so that's had to be binned (I tried fixing it but it just let out even more smoke).

[garyadams]

Nice gear. Fluke bought Microtest a company that made this gear, here in Frederick Maryland, back in the '90s. Had one of their(Microtest) cable testers wre super products.

[brodur]

If you're only working with gigabit, the LRAT 2000 is pretty great. Does most of the LLDP and cable length stuff that Tom mentioned in the first few minutes. Doesn't test cables for rated speeds though.

[techreviewsau]

Was lucky to pick up on of these last week (as new, in mint condition with even the plastic screen cover still on and pristine) for basically half-price and also luckily just after Fluke released a free v1.1 firmware update last month that finally identifies the Network Port and shows an assigned IP Address that the device is given from DHCP, and also finally ping an IP Address that you can assign in the Settings. (Maybe the previous owner got rid of it because it couldn't do this on v1.0...?)

You're right about the strange thing with this and UniFi devices - it will finally show LLDP information about UniFi devices now (v1.0 wouldn't do this for me), but it still won't show the VLAN number or the actual UniFi device's IP Address. The LinkIQ did actually prove to be worthwhile as it identified at a Site for me straight away a faulty connection at the RJ45 wall socket on line 1, when my other (cheaper) tester said everything was fine (although I was getting some intermittent packet losses from the connected PC). Furthermore, I could prove this to my Boss by saving a report on the LinkIQ about the Port before and after. I guess the ability to test the cable using wavelengths instead of data packets helped in showing right away where the fault was.

Expensive (even at half-price)...? Hell yeah, but it's already saving me time in troubleshooting faults at Sites (on my own by the way - which is even harder - the Boss won't let me have an offsider with me), so I'd say it's a good investment at the moment.

[VideoBite]

yea it is Cable IQ + color screen. But cable IQ is certifier + has ability to live cable - not one shot test. So you can wiggle the cable and make sure you have good RJ45 connector.

[dono]

The LinkIQ most likely uses a combination of CDP, LLDP, and SNMP to identify the VLAN. Not all switches have the same functionality and this can also be disabled, so you cannot expect to always to be able to retrieve it.

[vissago]

countdown til someone figures out how to patch that things firmware with a rickroll :D

[OldePhart]

I have this and a LanIQ and used them both. Vlan ID is interesting isn't it how sometimes it works and other times no. Even seen it do both on the same switch and port at different times.

[thatdrh]

Will you be testing the LIQ- DUO now that fluke announced it? Curious of its limitations with wifi 7 before I pull the trigger.

[hbirtt]

Unify is probably not properly implementing LLDP. All of that information should come in a single packet. LLDP doesn't send the different pieces of information separately.
Also, it's "cute" that they play different toner tones and all, but only the Intellitone is useful. The others have gaps that are long enough to cause you to miss your port if you are moving the wand too fast. Still a huge Fluke fan, but that bothers me a little.

[WillDelish]

I reaaallly wished I had a fluke on some past jobs. I worked on huge $$ installs (I was confirming install was done right) and could never get a person brave enough to purchase one. I almost bought one out of pocket just to have, but now I got different position

[connclissmann]

I love good tools but the price seemed eye-watering! You would need a *lot* of use to justify that kit (or be spending other people's money).

[Saturn]

I wish they had a cheaper unit where I could do Ethernet and Fiber testing. I don't really understand the certification and other things. As a home user, I just wanna see if they're working and if there's anything I should be concerned about. I don't need to certify, I just need to rerun a drop if I did it poorly or messed up the keystone crimps. I'd definitely pay for that.

[StanVoro]

is there any cheaper alternatives? just need to test up to 1gb lines not 10