multimeters

Multimeters test voltage (both AC and DC), resistance, and continuity. They are the unsung heroes of cabling infrastructures because no other tool can tell you how much voltage is on a line. They are also a great fallback for continuity testing when you don’t have a cable tester handy.



ExAm Tip

There’s an old adage used by carpenters and other craftspeople that goes, “Never buy cheap tools.” Cheap tools save you money at the beginning, but they often break more readily than higher-quality tools and, more importantly, make it harder to get the job done. This adage definitely applies to multimeters! You might be tempted to go for the $10 model that looks pretty much like the $25 model, but chances are the leads will break or the readings will lie on the cheaper model. Buy a decent tool, and you’ll never have to worry about it.

There are other network troubleshooting tools to know about for the exam, such as multimeters or voltage event recorders to monitor voltage. A butt set is used to test telephone lines. System & Network Integrated Polling Software (SNIPS) monitor network activity from a Unix system. And temperature monitors are used to monitor the temperature of computer components.