Qualification is a new category of testing designed to meet the emerging needs of residential installers who need to document that voice/data/video cabling systems were installed properly, and meet the residential TIA-570B standard for quality. Qualification testers, like Fluke Networks' new CableIQ Residential Qualifier, qualify cabling systems to support network speeds and applications desired by home owners.

This differs from certification testers, like the DTX CableAnalyzer™, which guarantees cabling installations comply with TIA-568B commercial-level performance standards (e.g. Cat 5e/6/other), and analyzes performance parameters like NEXT, RL, ELFEXT, etc. It also differs from basic verification testers, like the MicroScanner™ Pro, which simply verify proper wiremap and continuity.

Qualification testers allow residential installers to test and document that any cabling link will support voice, VoIP, 10/100/1000 Ethernet, or CATV. Results are stored in the test unit, and can be uploaded to a PC, printed out, and provided to builders or home owners. They also have powerful installation verification and troubleshooting capabilities that allow residential installers to replace multiple tools for testing and ID-tagging voice, data, video, audio, and security cabling. Qualification testing allows residential installers to lower their installation costs by significantly reducing expensive callbacks to the job. Professional test reports also eliminate costly and time-consuming workmanship disputes.

To learn more about the difference between qualification and certification, download our free whitepaper.