Toner probe questions

[maelstrom35]

Hello!

I have a few questions regarding toner probes. I've never owned or used one.

Concerning analog toners, can I use an analog toner on a live network?
Or will the probe pick up all signals coming from all active switch ports?
Will I only hear static using an analog probe?

Concerning digital toners, can I use a digital toner on a live network?
Will the probe still only pick up all signals from all active switch ports?

What about power over ethernet? Is there a certain toner I should look for
that won't get fried by PoE? Will other PoE switch ports overpower any signal
sent from a toner? Is it better to turn off PoE on the switch while tracing a cable?

I thank you for any advice.

 

[BuddhaSkoota]

Concerning analog toners, can I use an analog toner on a live network?
Or will the probe pick up all signals coming from all active switch ports?
Will I only hear static using an analog probe?

Generally tone probes work in conjunction with a tone generator. When connected, the tone generator is very likely to disrupt digital service. You may hear a faint hiss from digital signals with an analog probe, but many times the signal is inaudible.

Concerning digital toners, can I use a digital toner on a live network?
Will the probe still only pick up all signals from all active switch ports?

Most of the digital tone probes incorporate a method to digitally test the circuit, and will disrupt service.

What about power over ethernet? Is there a certain toner I should look for
that won't get fried by PoE? Will other PoE switch ports overpower any signal
sent from a toner? Is it better to turn off PoE on the switch while tracing a cable?

Most tone generators can handle a 50VDC battery and 90VAC ring voltage, so PoE voltage shouldn't be a problem, but you should check the specs for the particular tone test set you are considering.

edit to remove code

 

[bill001g]

Standard PoE (Ie 802.3af) does not put the power on the line without the end device requesting it. This is done with a very special resistance value and then there are actual messages sent to determine how much power is needed. So it would be highly unlikely you can connect some random device to a switch port and get it to give you power.

Now if you mean PoE the way the term has been abused there is no clear answer. Many consumer grade cameras and AP do stupid stuff like run 12 volts over the cable and call it PoE.