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Network troubleshooting toolkit

Our free software tools tell you which layer is broken. This is the physical gear we reach for to fix it — picked in three tiers so you can match your budget.

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Bargain get-it-done · Intermediate prosumer / IT generalist · Pro daily-driver for techs

Cable tester

Settles a Layer 1 argument instantly: plug both ends in and it confirms all 8 wires are connected in the right order.

Bargain Basic RJ45 continuity tester — main unit + remote, pass/fail per wire. Find it →
Intermediate Klein Scout Pro 3 — tester + tone, length, port location. Find it →
Pro Fluke Networks MicroScanner / NetAlly — distance-to-fault, PoE, switch detect. Find it →

Tone generator & probe

Traces one cable out of a bundle: clip the tone on one end, wave the probe over the bunch, the right cable beeps.

Bargain Generic tone & probe kit — fine for occasional tracing. Find it →
Intermediate Klein Tools tone & probe — louder, better tip, cable test built in. Find it →
Pro Fluke Networks IntelliTone Pro 200 — digital tone, ignores noise on live cable. Find it →

Patch cables

A shocking number of "slow internet" and random-drop tickets are a cheap or damaged cable. Keep known-good ones to swap and rule Layer 1 out.

Bargain Cat6, pure copper — avoid copper-clad aluminium; snagless boots. Find it →
Intermediate Cat6a, assorted lengths — headroom for 10G and longer runs. Find it →
Pro Cat6a shielded (STP) — for noisy/industrial or PoE-dense runs. Find it →

USB-to-Ethernet adapter

Rules a laptop's flaky built-in NIC or Wi-Fi out of the picture — and gets a wired link on a device with no port.

Bargain USB 3.0 Gigabit (Realtek) — cheap, works everywhere. Find it →
Intermediate USB-C 2.5GbE — matches modern routers/NAS. Find it →
Pro Thunderbolt / USB-C 10GbE — Sonnet, QNAP for full-speed testing. Find it →

Wi-Fi analyzer

Most Wi-Fi pain is interference and channel overlap, not weak signal. An analyzer shows which channels are crowded so you can move to a clear one.

Bargain A phone app — WiFiman or WiFi Analyzer. Free.
Intermediate NetSpot / Acrylic — heat-mapping and survey software. USB options →
Pro Ekahau / NetAlly AirCheck — RF spectrum + survey for installers. Find it →

PoE tester

For cameras, APs and phones powered over Ethernet — confirms power is actually on the line, separating a power problem from a network one.

Bargain Inline PoE detector — quick "is there power?" check. Find it →
Intermediate PoE tester w/ voltage + class — readout of volts and PoE class. Find it →
Pro 802.3bt PoE++ tester — for high-power APs/PTZ cameras (up to 90W). Find it →

Crimper & connectors

Make a cable to length instead of fighting a too-short one. Pass-through plugs make a clean crimp almost foolproof.

Bargain Ratcheting RJ45 crimp kit — crimper, stripper, a bag of plugs. Find it →
Intermediate Pass-through crimper + plugs — wires poke through, trim flush. Find it →
Pro Klein pass-through + certified plugs — consistent crimps all day. Find it →

The software half of the kit is free

These fix the wire. Acutis Go watches the rest — and tells you in 60 seconds whether a problem is the cable, the network, DNS, or your own machine, so you know which tool to reach for.

Get Acutis Go — free

Start diagnosing: The OSI troubleshooting series · Layer 1 (Physical) · Free network tools