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frontpagetunabreath posted Today 08:56 AM
frontpagetunabreath posted Today 08:56 AM

Klein Tools VDV526-100 Network LAN Cable Tester

$21

$33

36% off
Amazon
11 Comments 4,620 Views
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Deal Details
Amazon has Klein Tools VDV526-100 Network LAN Cable Tester for $21. Shipping is free for Prime Members or on $35+.

Thanks to Community Member tunabreath for sharing this deal.

Features:
  • Cable tester with single button testing of RJ11, RJ12 and RJ45 terminated voice and data cables
  • Tests CAT3, CAT5e and CAT6/6A cables
  • Fast LED responses indicate cable status (Pass, Miswire, Open-Fault, Short-Fault, and Shield)
  • Test remote stores securely in tester body
  • Compact tester easily fits in your pocket
  • Auto Power-off feature to conserve battery life (9V included)
  • Low battery indicator

Editor's Notes

Written by powerfuldoppler | Staff
  • About this deal:
    • Our research indicates that this offer is $8 lower (27% savings) than the next best available price from a reputable merchant with prices starting from $29
  • About this product:
    • Rating of 4.7 from over 2400 customer reviews.
  • About this store:

Original Post

Written by tunabreath
Product Info
Community Notes
About the Poster
Deal Details
Product Info
Community Notes
About the Poster
Amazon has Klein Tools VDV526-100 Network LAN Cable Tester for $21. Shipping is free for Prime Members or on $35+.

Thanks to Community Member tunabreath for sharing this deal.

Features:
  • Cable tester with single button testing of RJ11, RJ12 and RJ45 terminated voice and data cables
  • Tests CAT3, CAT5e and CAT6/6A cables
  • Fast LED responses indicate cable status (Pass, Miswire, Open-Fault, Short-Fault, and Shield)
  • Test remote stores securely in tester body
  • Compact tester easily fits in your pocket
  • Auto Power-off feature to conserve battery life (9V included)
  • Low battery indicator

Editor's Notes

Written by powerfuldoppler | Staff
  • About this deal:
    • Our research indicates that this offer is $8 lower (27% savings) than the next best available price from a reputable merchant with prices starting from $29
  • About this product:
    • Rating of 4.7 from over 2400 customer reviews.
  • About this store:

Original Post

Written by tunabreath

Community Voting

Deal Score
+45
Good Deal
Get Deal at Amazon

Price Intelligence

Model: Klein Tools VDV526-100 Network LAN Cable Tester, VDV Tester, LAN Explorer with Remote

Deal History 

Sale Price
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$21
  • Today

Current Prices

Sort: Lowest to Highest | Last Updated 4/13/2026, 10:49 PM
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The Home Depot$29

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Top Comments

vid1900
2789 Posts
1580 Reputation
You'll want this when 5gig Fiber comes through your neighborhood and you are wondering why some of your household's drops are stuck on 10/100

Some cheap CAT wire that was apparently run in the early 2000s was only 2 pair inside the jacket. This will quickly sniff those out of your network.

11 Comments

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Today 02:02 PM
282 Posts
Joined Feb 2013
WineWomenSongToday 02:02 PM
282 Posts
So it's a continuity tester?
Pro
Today 02:02 PM
2,789 Posts
Joined Sep 2016
vid1900
Pro
Today 02:02 PM
2,789 Posts

Our community has rated this post as helpful. If you agree, why not thank vid1900

You'll want this when 5gig Fiber comes through your neighborhood and you are wondering why some of your household's drops are stuck on 10/100

Some cheap CAT wire that was apparently run in the early 2000s was only 2 pair inside the jacket. This will quickly sniff those out of your network.
2
1
Today 02:54 PM
6,429 Posts
Joined Jul 2010
vo_danhToday 02:54 PM
6,429 Posts
I bought this back in early March for this price so not really a deal, however, I had been using the basic tester that would cycle through each line. Two things that made me want to upgrade to this was, it was faster, one good indicator instead of waiting for it to cycle. It could detect shorts the normal ones didn't seem to be able to. One downside is I was using the older type to be a continuity detector, I could crimp my own leads with one alligator clip and confirm continuity from a breaker to an outlet.
1
Pro
Today 03:15 PM
1,798 Posts
Joined Sep 2014
bootymonger
Pro
Today 03:15 PM
1,798 Posts
Yeah, camel implies it's been mostly this price since Feb. or $22.50 a few months before.
Today 03:28 PM
4,379 Posts
Joined Jul 2012
desynergyToday 03:28 PM
4,379 Posts
Quote from vid1900 :
You'll want this when 5gig Fiber comes through your neighborhood and you are wondering why some of your household's drops are stuck on 10/100

Some cheap CAT wire that was apparently run in the early 2000s was only 2 pair inside the jacket. This will quickly sniff those out of your network.
That's a problem now with 1Gb installations. And it's a pretty common problem, though it seems it starts in homes built in the mid 90's when broadband was majorly rolling out. The best ones are the ones that the builders ran the ethernet cable and the electric cable together through the walls.
Last edited by desynergy April 14, 2026 at 08:31 AM.
Pro
Today 03:36 PM
1,721 Posts
Joined Feb 2009
CrazyGoat
Pro
Today 03:36 PM
1,721 Posts
I used to want one, but frankly - on the RARE occasion I mis-crimp an Ethernet cable - I just replace one end and test again.
The real tester I'd want/actually get use from are the super expensive ones that can show the twisted pairs out of order (or specific conductors which are at fault) between ends. I have had one defective run of cat5e which had a break in the length of the cable that it would have detected.
Today 03:39 PM
543 Posts
Joined Dec 2003
apurvabToday 03:39 PM
543 Posts
Quote from vid1900 :
You'll want this when 5gig Fiber comes through your neighborhood and you are wondering why some of your household's drops are stuck on 10/100Some cheap CAT wire that was apparently run in the early 2000s was only 2 pair inside the jacket. This will quickly sniff those out of your network.
Conversely, many homes from that era have Cat5 for their telephone wiring, which can pretty easily be required to 1gb home wired networking. Pretty awesome if you have that
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Today 04:01 PM
1,442 Posts
Joined Apr 2004
ThinksterToday 04:01 PM
1,442 Posts
Quote from desynergy :

That's a problem now with 1Gb installations. And it's a pretty common problem, though it seems it starts in homes built in the mid 90's when broadband was majorly rolling out. The best ones are the ones that the builders ran the ethernet cable and the electric cable together through the walls.
Unless the builder/electrician is an IT Person and specializes in low voltage, then most will have no clue as to how to properly run CAT5 or CAT6 let alone terminate it properly..
Today 04:59 PM
676 Posts
Joined Mar 2004
wyldtekToday 04:59 PM
676 Posts
Quote from vid1900 :
You'll want this when 5gig Fiber comes through your neighborhood and you are wondering why some of your household's drops are stuck on 10/100

Some cheap CAT wire that was apparently run in the early 2000s was only 2 pair inside the jacket. This will quickly sniff those out of your network.
Good idea. Was trying to find a reason to justify this to myself Smilie
Today 06:39 PM
6,343 Posts
Joined Aug 2010
gamingdroidToday 06:39 PM
6,343 Posts
Quote from vid1900 :
You'll want this when 5gig Fiber comes through your neighborhood and you are wondering why some of your household's drops are stuck on 10/100

Some cheap CAT wire that was apparently run in the early 2000s was only 2 pair inside the jacket. This will quickly sniff those out of your network.
Those are phone wires. An ancient technology rarely used in current times. 😜🤣
Today 06:44 PM
1,093 Posts
Joined Jul 2008
valleypoboyToday 06:44 PM
1,093 Posts
IT guy here. Lots of curious info in this thread.
About this product:
Not a bad tool but IMHO most home owners and DIY'ers that won't be doing this for a living would likely be better served by something cheaper like this: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08RNDBQRX. It also shows a breakdown of EACH wire, so more feature for less $. I have about a 1/2 dozen of this type I've been using for 10+ years, pretty sure I got them on clearance from monoprice for under $5 each.
On the flip side, if you're an up and coming IT person or you're that guy/gal that everyone calls for IT problems you should consider a tool that will do more. Something like: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B084LKVBM5 will cost you a little more but adds several more useful features such as tone generating. Nothing worse than showing up to someone's office that has 20 unlabeled network connections and you need to figure out the one that's bad.

On the subject of 2 pair ethernet? There was a standard WAY back in the early 90s (is anyone old enough to remember that long ago?) called CAT3. It was 2 pair, just like phone cable, but shielded and twisted, i think, i forget the exact details, feel free to google it, but I think it was designed for 10mbps, but often capable of 100mbps. As for homes running it or even CAT5, sure some may have. It's very doubtful that any rando home would do it though. Home builders use the CHEAPEST everything to pad their bottom line and the expense of swapping super cheap phone line up to CAT3 or 5 or in today's world 5e or 6 would probably be at least a couple thousand $ difference. Though, I did work for a family in a ~2million $ custom built 3500sq foot home once and the owner told me the builder used CAT5 for all the phone lines so he would have "network" when he wanted it. I took a look and the builder ran the CAT5 cables just like phone lines, all went to the box outside all twisted together in standard phone line box. Also there wasn't enough slack in the lines to pull them out and terminate them into network keystones. Probably could have been done, but sure as heck wasn't "ready".

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