Cable crimps
Cable crimpers are used to pinch connectors onto a wire. Often used as final step of laying down cable.
Best practices
Get a good crimpter and good electricians scissors Good wire stripper
Note the connector that is appropriate between cat5,6,7 etc.
WiFi analyzer
WiFi analyzers listen to all signals on a wireless network. This may be dedicated hardware or software on a mobile devices that specializes in 802.11 analysis.
Tone generator
Tone generators are used to see where cables go. One side puts an analog sound on the wire, while the inductive probe simply has to be close to the wire to produce a tone.
Punch down tool
Punch down tools are used to punch wires into a block.
When using them, maintain twists and document everything - written docs, tags, and graffiti.
Cable testers
Continuity tests to tell you if pins are connected correctly. However, they can’t tell you if frequencies are wrong with cross-talk, signal loss etc.
Loopback plugs
Useful to test physical ports. They take out a signal from a port and send it back in.
Often used in Serial / RS232 connections (9 or 25 pin).
Taps and port monitors
These are used to intercept network traffic. They can be active or passive taps.
Alternatively we might be able to use a port mirror or SPAN (Switched Port Analyzer), which functions as a software-based tap.