Introduction
The REAL WORLD CERTIFIER* (RWC1000K) is promoted as a cheap alternative to the DSP-4300 & DTX CableAnalyzer certification tools.
The RWC1000K is a qualification tester, not a certification tester.
RWC1000K does not meet the minimum requirements of:
- ANSI/TIA/EIA-568-B or ISO/IEC 11801:2002 cabling standards
- cabling vendors for system warranties.
It is therefore not a certification tool and should not be compared with the DSP-4300 & DTX CableAnalyzer.
A qualification tester must test be able to test all of the parameters defined by IEEE802.3 1000BASE-T.
CableIQ qualifies all parameters for 1000BASE-T. RCW1000K does not. 
1) 1000BASE-T (Gigabit Ethernet) Required Measurements
IEE 802.3:2002 The transmission parameters of the link segment include insertion loss, delay parameters, characteristic impedance, NEXT loss, ELFEXT loss, and return loss.
RWC1000K does not measure return loss. Is return loss important? Yes, that is why category 5 could not be guaranteed to support 1000BASE-T. TIA/EIA-TSB-95 was issued covering the additional required parameters of ELFEXT, PSELFEXT and return loss. This TSB was incorporated into the IEEE 2803.3ab 1000BASE-T specification. The IEEE is a body of both active equipment (hubs/switches) and cabling vendors.
2) Autotest Times
CableIQ qualifies the link up to 1000BASE-T in 6 seconds. Assigning an autotest time to the RWC1000K is difficult because the test is carried out in two parts. The remote end is left open and the test run. This takes around 30 seconds. You then have to go to the other end and plug in the remote to complete the test. Then return to the main unit to view the result.
3) Remote Adapters
CableIQ has 6 optional remote adapters which do not have to be plugged in half way through the test,
You can test up to 7 links in one trip. (Back to table)
4) Diagnostics
CableIQ can locate the distance to NEXT and return loss faults as well as opens, shorts and split pairs. RWC1000K can only identify distance to opens and shorts. Our RWC1000K failed to detect a split pair. We placed a 7 ft split pair patch cable in the beginning of a marginal 60 ft category 5e link. The CableIQ, DSP-4300, OMNIScanner2 and DTX-1800 CableAnalyzer correctly failed the link; the RWC1000K passed the link for 1000BASE-T.
 
CableIQ RWC1000K
5) Saving Reports
Both CableIQ and RWC1000K can save 250 test reports. CableIQ comes with its own standalone PC Software. Results are downloaded quickly via the USB port. For the RWC1000K, the user is provided with a Microsoft Excel spreadsheet that has built-in macros to download the test reports via a serial port. You will need Microsoft Excel to download test reports from the RWC1000K.
6) Certifying Patch Cords
The RWC1000K came with two short category 5e rated patch cords. Out of curiosity, we tested them using the DTX-1800 CableAnalyzer and DTX-PCU6 Patch Cord Adapters. The two patch cords failed the TIA/EIA requirements for category 5e patch cords:
 
With these technical points in mind, now ask for a demonstration of the product. The CableIQ is faster and contains diagnostic tools that provide the location of failures in a cabling system for Return Loss AND NEXT. And, the tests are carried out in 6 seconds.
CableIQ Features: - Qualifies - Sees if your existing cabling has the bandwidth to support voice, 10/100, VoIP or Gigabit Ethernet
- Troubleshoots - shows why existing cabling cannot support the network's bandwidth requirement (e.g. crosstalk at 11 meters)
- Discovers - detects what's at the end of any cable and displays device configuration (speed/duplex/pairing)
- Identifies unused switch ports that can be reallocated
- Graphically maps wiring configuration and shows distance to faults with Intelligent Wire Map Tests
- All copper cabling media: twisted-pair, coax, and audio cabling
*REAL WORLD CERTIFIER is a trademark of ByteBrothers Inc. |