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PCMCIA-based Network Diagnostic Tool?
bluelip asks: "Do any cards PCMCIA cards exist that will function as a network diagnostic/certification tool? Our Lancat and Microtest/Compas devices are aging and need to be replaced. It would be ideal to have a card we could plug into our laptop or Zaurus to use as a replacement for our bulky devices. I have seen this, but it doesn't contain all of the functionality we need. I would like the card to be able to determine hardware facts such as line length, what type of device is on the remote end (workstation or switch), next, crossed wires, etc. Another benefit would be if it functions like a normal NIC so we can use the same card for arpwatch, ethereal, and other tools. Does such a beast exist?"
I forgot to mention that our laptops primarily run GNU/Linux.
Yep, I never spell check.
More incorrect spellings can be found he
Dear Slashdot
I am looking for a magic bullet. My old bullets are looking a bit tarnished, so they have to go. It needs to be a type 4 bullet so it will fit in our latest toy guns, and also be a type 2 so it will work in our newest Z-type toy guns. It would be nice if it did the job of every other type of bullet we use currently. We have found this completely unrelated bullet that works on a completely different & incompatible brand of gun that doesn't even use the same gun powder, perhaps that will help.
Oh yeah and it needs to run on GNU/XFree/KDE/Gnome/{Diety/Religion}/Linux.
Are you a magician?
PS. Please don;t take too much offence at this, it was meant in jest. Good luck.
When connected to a copper media network, the OptiView Analyzer will automatically perform a cable test and provide you with the cable length into any attached device, including a live switch or hub port. Select the Twisted-Pair Detail Screen and see:
* Cable Wire Pair
* Impedance
* Length to End
* Length to Reflection
* Status
* Anomalies (shorts, opens and split pairs)
* Receive Pair
* Transmit Pair
* Receive Voltage
* Polarity
"I assumed blithely that there were no elves out there in the darkness"
that fluke thing does a lot of stuff, but it isn't quite what you asked for. sorry.
"I assumed blithely that there were no elves out there in the darkness"
Maybe I completely misunderstand the question, and pardon me if I do, but:
Just install any widely supported NIC along with a number of open source Network Analysis & Diagnosis Tools and your good to go.
The laptop will afford you a lot more flexibilty than a built-for-the-purpose tool.
The tools that you describe as being past their prime are Time Domain Reflectometers(TDR). They measure the difference in time between when a signal is sent and when the signal returns after being reflected by the cut end or a kink in the wire. They are then able to calculate the length of a cable or the location of a break and so forth. They are extremely sensitive (though we bang them around quite a bit, don't we?) and highly specialized. This means that they cost a fair bit of money.
NIC cards are simply radio tranceivers that you plug into the wire. They aren't terribly sensitive and are usually cheap. They are designed and built to perform baseband signaling and little else.
NICs in general, are incapable of performing the functions that TDRs perform. While such a beast could be built, the cost would be astonishingly high, especially in a PCMCIA form factor.
There are very few companies that would build such a device, with Fluke being regarded as the best. But, presently none of them manufacture one. The fact that such a card would only be used in a very small niche market and would cost an arm, a leg and a first born means that they are highly unlikely to build one, any time soon.
I'm afraid that your search will be futile. I'd recommend budgeting for a Fluke LANMeter. You'll ever be sorry for buying the best.
PCMCIA TDR is here, but it's an AOL members page, not a real commercial site, so I'm suspicious that it's vapor. I'd expect a company that tooled up for a PCMCIA TDR to be able to afford a real site. It's also not a NIC.
It's the second link on googling
pcmcia time domain reflectometer -optical
http://members.aol.com/tdrcard/home.html
Assembly is the reverse of disassembly.
...PCMCIA diagnoses you!
There are already devices out there that replace a scope, that you can connect to a laptop. Too big to be PCMCIA, but not that large and can connect in via USB/Serial/Parallel interfaces.
I would guess that a PCMCIA sized device combining a pulse generator with a fast A/D would be difficult, but something a little larger would be possible.
A Fluke LANmeter is nice but not at all cheap. It is also well built like their multimeters and can take a certain amount of abuse.
See my journal, I write things there
On the plus side, the Fluke MicroScanner Pro does everything you describe and is under $400, based on a quick pricegrabber query.
It's much smaller than the tools you currently have and built by one of the best in the business.
A cheap microtest scanner ( mine was under 500 ) will do your distance check/etc..
Then a cheap ( 500 dollar ) laptop can do your sniffing/etc..
Both fit in a nice small case, for a grand.
---- Booth was a patriot ----
The Wittig Technologies Multiscope mentions LAN test ability. The low-end member of this family, the osziFOX, does have a Linux interface -- I don't know what kind of apps fit the Multiscopes. Serial port...that can run through PCMCIA.