Testing Copper Ports
The Copper Ports page displays the results of integrated cable tests performed on copper cables by the Virtual Cable Tester (VCT).
VCT performs two types of tests:
- Time Domain Reflectometry (TDR) technology tests the quality and characteristics of a copper cable attached to a port. Cables of up to 140 meters long can be tested. These results are displayed in the Test Results block of the Copper Test page.
- DSP-based tests are performed on active GE links to measure cable length. These results are displayed in the Advanced Information block of the Copper Test page.
Preconditions to Running the Copper Port Test
Before running the test, do the following:
Use a CAT5 data cable to run all cable testing (VCT).
CAUTION When a port is tested, it is set to the Down state and communications are interrupted. After the test, the port returns to the Up state. It is not recommended that you run the copper port test on a port you are using to run the web-based switch configuration utility, because communications with that device are disrupted.
To test copper cables attached to ports:
- Click Administration > Diagnostics > Copper Test. The Copper Test page opens.
- Select the port on which to run the test.
- Click Copper Test.
- When the message is displayed, click OK to confirm that the link can go down or Cancel to abort the test.
The following fields are displayed in the Test Results block:
If the port being tested is a Giga port, the Advanced Information block displays the following information (it is refreshed each time you enter the page):
- Pair--Cable wire pair being tested.
- Status--Wire pair status. Red indicates fault and Green indicates status OK.
- Channel--Cable channel indicating whether the wires are straight or cross-over.
- Polarity--Indicates if automatic polarity detection and correction has been activated for the wire pair.
- Pair Skew--Difference in delay between wire pairs.
NOTE TDR tests cannot be performed when the port speed is 10Mbit/Sec.