Fiber Optic Forum

Copperconnection Wrote:What's the difference between cable qualification and certification?
The qualification tester will verify functionality of the cable but will not test the performance of the cable. A certification tester is much more detailed and can provide results that can be provided as proof that it will perform as the specifications list. Many contractors will certify the cabling on an installation, save the test results on a CDROM and turn it over to the customer. This is also useful if the manufacturer is contacted when problems arise and their products are under warranty.

Qualification is a new category of testing designed to meet the emerging needs of residential installers who need to document that voice/data/video cabling systems were installed properly, and meet the residential TIA-570B standard for quality. Qualification testers, qualify cabling systems to support network speeds and applications desired by homeowners.
This differs from certification testers, which guarantees cabling installations comply with TIA-568B commercial-level performance standards (e.g. Cat 5e/6/other), and analyzes performance parameters. It also differs from basic verification testers, which simply verify proper wiremap and continuity.
Qualification testers allow residential installers to test and document that any cabling link will support voice, VoIP, 10/100/1000 Ethernet, or CATV. Results are stored in the test unit, and can be uploaded to a PC, printed out, and provided to builders or homeowners. They also have powerful installation verification and troubleshooting capabilities that allow residential installers to replace multiple tools for testing and ID-tagging voice, data, video, audio, and security cabling. Qualification testing allows residential installers to lower their installation costs by significantly reducing expensive callbacks to the job. Professional test reports also eliminate costly and time-consuming workmanship disputes.
* www.fiberinstrumentsales.com search for Copper Test Equipment*
Catalog pages 109-111