Tone testing before every job, took me 7 years to start

I used to just walk in and run the line, figure the cable was fine. After a house in Bakersfield where the previous guy left a kinked drop that passed every test except the 3 GHz sweep, I started checking tone on every single outlet first. It takes 2 minutes and catches stuff you'd never see otherwise. Anyone else had a hidden kink show up on a rework?

1 comments

1 Comment

ruby49423h ago

That 3 GHz sweep is exactly why I started carrying a TDR in my van for rework calls. I had a job in Fresno where the drop looked perfect, no kinks or bends, but the modem kept dropping upstream channels. Tone said the line was good, but the TDR showed a reflection at about 40 feet out. Turned out the old drop was pinched behind a staple under the siding, not even visible from the outside. Now I run tone first, then TDR if anything feels even slightly off, every single time.