T3 Innovation NP750 Net Prowler Cabling and Advanced Network Tester

I have had the Net Prowler for almost a year now, and have nothing but praise for this device.I am an audio/video, and network professional, installing home theaters, whole home networks, IP cameras, as well as home automation. Most of the time I am on the job alone, and I was looking for any way to speed up my installations. With the Net Prowler, I was able to reduce my overall installation time, eliminate the majority of troubleshooting, and keep myself honest when charging customers for actual (lengths of cable)The Net Prowler uses TDR (time domain reflectometry) to calculate the length of the cable you are attempting to test. TDR transmits a pulse and converts the time interval of reflected signals to distance (or length), based on the VOP (velocity of propagation). VOP is actually a percentage of the speed of light. For the cable length to be accurate, you must have the correct % of VOP for the specific cable you are testing. The best way to calculate the correct VOP value, is to take a premeasured piece of the specific cable you will be testing. The longer the sample, the more accurate the test, but anything longer than 3 feet should suffice. I raise or lower the current value for the VOP within the device, until the cable length on the screen matches my actual measured length. You can then save and name this calibrated test with the name of the specific cable in question. See photo for an illustration. Now I am able to run my cables, terminate them, and connect the Net Prowler to each terminated end, testing for any faults within the cable. During this same step, I also record the length of each cable installed, so that I can charge my customers an honest (cost per feet of cable) based on actual length of cables installed, rather than my best guesstimate. I can also choose to use the numbered ID mappers during this step, to match and map both ends of each cable within the network. The attached photo will show terminated Cat6 keystones, from which cable lengths were calculated by using the Net Prowler.Additionally, by calibrating with my premeasured sample, and using the 82.5% VOP calculation, I was able to measure a leftover roll of 75ohm cable, which came back with a measurement of 79.4'. The actual measured length (with tape measure) was 80.5'. This feature alone is a total life saver. Gone are the days of blindly snaking cable runs, and finding out that you don't have enough left on your roll to complete that last run. No more wasting that last bit of cable on the roll, as you can label the length left on your used roll, and wait for an opportunity to use it on a shorter run.Another very useful option while connecting the Net Prowler to a hub or switch, is to use the Link Light mode to identify a specific port within that specific switch. You can vary the cadence (blinking speed) of the port light, and you will be able to make the identification, by determining which port light matches the exact cadence of your Prowler (see photo for visual). This can help identify a long cable run, and figure out which port the cable is connected to.IP camera installers will find the Net Prowler useful, especially when POE, or (power over Ethernet) is used. POE comes in handy, because both your power supply and your data can travel over the same Cat 6 cable between the IP camera and the POE switch. If you have multiple cameras on one POE switch, or use stranded Cat 5 cable rather than say solid copper Cat 5e or Cat 6, you may have some issues. The Net Prowler has a really useful feature, where you can connect your IP camera's network cable to your Prowler, and actually test the POE switch. The Prowler detects if either POE (max 12.95 watts) or POE+ (max 25.5 watts) is present. If either is detected, the Prowler actually tests the voltage under minimum and maximum current load, and displays the results. The sample test shown in the attached photo is identifying a POE connection with Mode A (using pins 1 and 2 for the positive voltage, and pins 3 and 6 for the negative voltage). POE has a maximum of 12.95 watts and is providing 46.1 volts under minimum load, and 45.1 volts at maximum load. The fact that the voltage is displayed in red, indicate a possible low quality cable such as aluminum clad, or even a long run with a stranded cable versus a solid copper cable. The Prowler also identifies the connection status, as well as the link capability status. In this case, it is connected at 100Base-TX, with a link capability of 1000Base-T.The Net Prowler can also perform DHCP server discovery and DNS discovery. If your network switch supports LLDP (link layer discovery protocol), or CDP (Cisco discovery protocol), the Net Prowler will display the information on the display as well. If your switch supports VLAN (virtual local area network), VLAN subtype and ID will be displayed as well.The Net Prowler also uses Name Directory Service (NDR) to ping and identify the ip address, the mac address, and the name of the devices on the network. This is valuable information when setting up a network, or adding components to an existing network. You can see an example of what a mapped network looks like in one of the attached photos.After using the Net Prowler on a jobsite, and returning back to the office, you can connect the device to your computer, and display all of your saved test data on your computer screen, or even choose to print your test data.Hopefully this review is somewhat helpful to showcase what a great device this is. I have been in this field for over 20 years, and it take a lot to impress me. This device has definitely impressed me, and pays for itself over time.

I was looking at a Fluke and settled on this unit. I say "settle" but in reality this is easier to use and more comprehensive than a Fluke costing twice as much. The ability to map a network really quickly has saved me time on a couple of jobs where customer's didn't keep track of devices. The testing suite is both easy to use and comprehensive.The device seems relatively well built, looks like it can withstand a bit of abuse. Controls are easy to use and the screen is simple and bright. I do have a similar complaint to some reviewers that overusing icons can sometimes be a bit irritating when you have to go figure out what they mean. The menuing isn't perhaps setup the way I would (seems more setup to be visually appealing than to group things in any order that you might use them) -- than being said, it's a tool and it works well. Has let me figure out which jacks are working and not, what lines need to be fixed and where an issue might be.Has saved me gobs of time and in the end, that's what a tool should do.I've owned Flukes before and looked at a comparative Fluke model to this purchase (but more money / less features) and let me save you the time, T3 is pretty awesome.

Well, its worth every penny if you work in a large enterprise network environment. It would certainly be overkill for home/small office use. I work in a 100,000+ user environment, our network is massive and I'd be lost trying to track down VLANs, ports and cable runs without it.I can plug in a jack and learn a lot of the network from this device. Combine something like this with a mapper and you can walk into someone else's network and start to understand things. I'm an individual and I bought it with my own money. A company should be buying these for their techs. You'll get a bit of sticker shock, but a tool like this is just makes a lot of sense. Techs can solve problems faster and be less stressed about troubleshooting a problem. That means they waste a lot less time which is good for the tech and the user waiting for resolution. I guess the buzz word is that it pays for itself. The stress factor is enough for me. I'd like to be able to easily troubleshoot connectivity. I'd like to know what's going on with the wire and what the port is. Unless you built the network yourself odd are you could use help understanding it.

Haven't had a chance to run this though all the paces. But from the few times I've used the NP700 it's performed well and provided the results I was looking for. Nice clear (color) screen, easy to use, easy to get results at a price point much less than the competition. The T3 employees are easy to get a hold of for questions and are a great bunch of people from my pre-sale questions to post-sale. Very satisfied with my purchase.

I'm the technical manager for the entertainment department of one of the largest retirement communities in the country. Network installations and troubleshooting is one of my various duties. For years I have been using "consumer grade" network testers from companies such as Paladin, Klein Tools, etc... While they got the job done for checking continuity, tone generation, etc... I needed more capabilities such as network mapping, PoE testing, DHCP/DNS checks, etc...I had my heart set on a Fluke LinkRunner AT1000 and was going to purchase one until I saw a review of the T3 Innovation Net Prowler NP700. Upon further research I found that the Net Prowler had many more features than the LinkRunner such as port discovery, more remotes (8 versus 6) and more memory to save tests. All this for several hundred dollars less than the Fluke. The Net Prowler is built like a tank and I expect many years of service from it. Customer support at T3 Innovation is top-notch as well. I highly recommend the Net Prowler for all your testing needs!