Softing NetXpert XG, Manual

Page 1: ...itnetworks softing com XG 1 itnetworks softing com XG itnetworks softing com MANUAL ...

Page 2: ... device 7 Automatic shutdown 7 Touchscreen 8 NetXpert XG Active Remote device 9 SYSTEM SETTINGS 10 IP Settings 10 Wi Fi 12 Language 14 Date Time 14 Energy 15 Standards 16 More Options 16 Reports 17 Firmware 18 Hardware 19 About Us 19 Licensing 20 CABLE TEST 21 Projects Reports 23 Cable Type 24 Cable Labeling 26 Cable Test 27 Set Reference 28 ...

Page 3: ...te 35 LLDP CDP 36 VLAN 37 TOOLS 38 Wiremap Margin 38 Port Discovery 39 Individual BERT test 40 Tone Generator 41 Link Light 42 FILE MANAGEMENT 43 MAINTENANCE 44 RJ45 socket 44 Battery 44 Cleaning 45 Storage 45 SPECIFICATIONS 46 FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS 47 CUSTOMER SERVICE 49 GUARANTY STATEMENT 50 ...

Page 4: ...so performs evaluations of the delay skew These provide information about differences in the signal propagation delay of the individual wire pairs With continuity testing the NetXpert XG checks for interruptions short circuits swaps split pair errors and high impedance errors The NetXpert XG determines the exact distance to points of error and the entire cable length Equipped with a number of acti...

Page 5: ...ctives Information for disposal Warning To prevent fire and electric shock or personal injury Do not open the housing there are no parts in the device that can be serviced by the user Do not modify the tester Do not use the tester if damaged Perform a visual inspection of the tester before each use The tester is not suitable for connection to live telephone inputs systems or devices including ISDN...

Page 6: ... C T I O N On Off button Display Vents RJ45 test and measurement port Connection for charger Micro USB port Status LEDs SFP and SFP port for connecting standard SFPs RJ45 test and measurement port Connection for charger Micro USB port Main device Active Remote ...

Page 7: ...ff the NetXpert XG Automatic shutdown The NetXpert XG automatically goes to sleep to conserve battery power if there is no input or activity on the device see chapter Energy for automatic shutdown of the display and the device OFF The NetXpert XG is switched off The NetXpert XG is running on battery power and is sufficiently charged GREEN LIGHT STEADY The NetXpert XG is charging power supply plugg...

Page 8: ...reen The necessary functions are available here via icons depending on the menu As soon as a text field is activated by tapping a keyboard appears at the bottom of the screen to make the necessary entries The type of keyboard depends on the respective requirements of the input field Figure 3 Keyboard displayed after activating a text box I N T R O D U C T I O N ...

Page 9: ... that the NetXpert XG is charged via an external power supply CSV Displayed results are exported to a CSV file PDF Displayed results are exported to a PDF file NetXpert XG Active Remote device Pressing the Status button checks the charge level of the Active Remote battery to get the last test result Pressing the Test button starts a qualification test from the Active Remote I N T R O D U C T I O N...

Page 10: ...ifications DHCP Static IP In NetXpert XG s IP setup network tests can be configured so a DHCP or a fixed IP address is used The setting can also be made so that a DNS assigned by a DHCP server or a fixed DNS IP address is used Pressing Network Test Screen takes you directly to the operating menu of the active tests SYSTEM SETTINGS ...

Page 11: ...for fiber optic testing at 1 Gigabit Ethernet via optional SFP module 10GbE bay for fiber optic testing at 10 Gigabit Ethernet via optional SFP module after this selection the device boots into a special mode WiFi connection to the network is established via WLAN See next page WiFi Scan for settings This window provides additional device information for incorporation into an active network MAC add...

Page 12: ...splay of found SSIDs The following are displayed The name of the network its signal strength and encryption methods Figure 7 Selection of the WiFi network and connection entering the password Selection of the WiFi network with which the connection is to be made with password entry if required The password display can be selected S Y S T E M S E T T I N G S ...

Page 13: ...tive network tests are available The selection as test interface is made in the IP Settings menu VNC host functionality is available via the Enable VNC button It can be used for remote control of device functions or as a screen display aid for presentations or to create screenshots Disconnect WiFi turns off the connection to the network and starts a new scan S Y S T E M S E T T I N G S ...

Page 14: ...uage also changes the keyboards accordingly Date Time Figure 10 Date and time Set the current time and date You can also set whether the time should be displayed in 12 or 24 hour format and the date in the usual formats This date will be applied to the test protocols and should match the actual test date S Y S T E M S E T T I N G S ...

Page 15: ...een brightness and the time until standby auto switch off To do so move the brightness slider to the left right or change the time until standby and auto switch off when not in use Reactivation from standby is then possible at any time using the On Off button or by tapping the screen of the NetXpert XG S Y S T E M S E T T I N G S ...

Page 16: ...ther to display the length in meters or feet The NetXpert XG supports the two cabling standards Select TIA568A or TIA568B This affects the representations of the cabling image More Options Pressing this button will take you to the second page of the System Settings screen S Y S T E M S E T T I N G S ...

Page 17: ...r company logo to the device and tap on Import Logo This opens a file browser where you can navigate to your logo file on the USB stick and select the logo Your logo will be displayed automatically in the lower right part of the screen This is used to check whether the dimensions and quality of the logo meet the requirements The logo will be printed on your reports as a company logo as it is displ...

Page 18: ...are for troubleshooting purposes or contain simple free performance enhancements They are freely available through the Softing website and are offered at regular intervals itnetworks softing com xgfirmware To install an update save the downloaded file to a USB stick and connect it to the NetXpert XG From this menu screen you can then select and install the update file Follow the instructions on th...

Page 19: ...e internal temperatures are output and the battery charge level is displayed in detail If optical transceivers are plugged in they will also be read out The 10G SFP information is only available in 10G operating mode About Us Figure 16 Softing contact information This menu screen lists the worldwide contact information of Softing IT Networks in case you need product support or have other requests ...

Page 20: ...Xpert 2 5 5G Qualification up to 5Gbit s NetXpert 10G Qualification up to 10Gbit s To perform a license upgrade you only need a corresponding number of so called step up licenses It does not matter which license your NetXpert XG currently has The purchase of a step up license extends the functionality of the device by one step up Any installed licenses or the performance range are displayed in the...

Page 21: ...o be tested On the right side is the test result of the selected cable on the left A qualification test can be started directly via the Test button Projects Reports Create a new project and enter specifications such as customer name or location After completion or during the project the report creation is also started here Cable Type Configure the test parameters for the tests to be performed here...

Page 22: ...e so as not to distort the length of the cable to be tested Add new cable Delete cable and test Edit cable name Label and attributes such as building floor room etc can be customized Start Test Repeat test No new test is created the existing one is overwritten C A B L E T E S T Retest ...

Page 23: ...pens a new window in which you can enter the name and location for the current project With Save Project you can save changed project details The existing project name is retained Using Save as Project makes it possible to save an existing project under a new name for example after adjusting detailed information Load Project opens the file manager and allows you to load existing projects or label ...

Page 24: ...t parameters The menu screen is divided into three main sections On the left are the already implemented templates for the creation of test standards These serve as the basis for your own test configurations and extend to include self created test specifications External test standards can also be imported At the top right you can find the details of the test standard currently used that is assign...

Page 25: ...ct the orientation crossed or even and number of wire pairs Error messages are issued as soon as the tested cable deviates from the setting as long as Ignore X over is not selected here This typical sequence results from the options above for creating a new test standard Select a suitable template from the list on the left The choices made should be as close as possible to the requirements to mini...

Page 26: ...eld and tap on the button to the left A corresponding variable is inserted in the name field at the top In the background the resulting cable name with the previously created and activated test standard can be seen in the Current Type field is combined as the test standard and freely definable designation Different test standards can also be used when creating cable names Change Cable Type jumps b...

Page 27: ...ew test from here and see the results of the already completed tests After pressing the Test button a full test run with the selected cable name is performed The next free cable is always selected from the list or a new one is added below Alternatively an arbitrary cable name can be selected if a run from top to bottom is not possible With the Retest button you can repeat a test run without changi...

Page 28: ...th of the test cables and have the device automatically deduct it from the total length of the cable Figure 24 Setting reference with or without test cords Tests can be carried out on lines with or without the use of test cables depending on the termination of the transmission line If a distance for the direct connection is terminated with RJ45 plugs only a referencing of the internal line paths i...

Page 29: ...fine and save the length of the test cable The test cables are only connected to the main device and were previously connected with a coupler The open end is not connected to the end device Use Set Reference to start the determination of the capacity which will later be subtracted from the total measured value The referencing procedure should be repeated when changing the test cables Figure 25 Tes...

Page 30: ...ifferent Ethernet speeds are supported NetXpert 1G Article number 226554 100 Megabit and 1 Gigabit Ethernet NetXpert 2 5 5G Article number 226553 100 Megabit und 1 2 5 5 Gigabit Ethernet NetXpert 10G Article number 226552 100 Megabit und 1 2 5 5 10 Gigabit Ethernet A license key allows a subsequent upgrade for all models up to 10 Gigabit Ethernet The device is connected either via the RJ45 copper ...

Page 31: ...enu bar If a connection is made the symbol stops flashing and the respective connection details are displayed Figure 27 Link Status wired connection left or via WiFi right DHCP Here you can request a DHCP server located in the network to send network data and assign an IP address After tapping on the Start Test button a DHCP Request is sent Figure 28 DHCP test The information received from the DHC...

Page 32: ...ork the NetXpert XG does not increase the network load However less detailed information about the participants is available The NetXpert XG outputs the MAC IPv4 and IPv6 addresses of each station found as well as the DNS Domain Name System and NetBIOS Network Basic Input Output System name Each device is assigned to a device type There are 5 groups Router switch printers servers and hosts The Net...

Page 33: ...ction via Add to Ping List Clear can be used to delete the entire list of found network stations and a new search can be triggered via Start Test The list of found stations can also be saved directly in PDF and CSV format Figure 30 Network detection list display with duplicate IP address N E T W O R K T E S T S ...

Page 34: ...ortest longest and average response time of the counterpart The addresses in the list are either entered manually via the Add button or created as a takeover from the previous network detection process Both internal addresses and external domain names can be entered Ping destinations can be edited via Edit and deleted from the list via Remove The list of the ping results can also be saved directly...

Page 35: ...able with IP address and the resulting delay is shown Figure 32 Traceroute Depending on the route traveled a corresponding number of gateways is listed Three data packets are sent and the corresponding response times are listed The destination to which the route should be determined can be entered or changed using the Edit Target button The list of the hops can also be saved directly in PDF and CS...

Page 36: ...ts such as routers or managed switches can send LLDP or CDP telegrams at regular intervals This data is used for network management and gives status information about the components Each device is displayed on a separate page The arrow keys can be used to scroll when multiple telegrams have been received from different devices The information obtained can be saved directly in PDF format LLDP CDP N...

Page 37: ...e forwarded to it Using a monitoring port on a managed switch is therefore recommended Otherwise depending on the configuration of the switch it may happen that no telegrams marked with VLAN ID are forwarded to the NetXpert XG and thus no detection can take place The VLAN information is output in three columns ID number of the VLAN DEI Drop Eligible Indicator indicates that frames can be dropped i...

Page 38: ...r the correct transmission rate please select the appropriate value of the desired data rate For the most accurate length determination the NVP or pF m value of the cable to be tested is required again It is possible to activate an endurance test so the Test button does not have to be pressed before every run The device updates the display at very short intervals This facilitates troubleshooting a...

Page 39: ...he other possible speeds of this port The device performs a PoE evaluation on the port which can also be called up as a single function Run PoE only selection The operating mode and polarity are determined the underlying standard and the performance class are evaluated and above all the voltage drop with and without load is tested to ensure that not only is PoE voltage applied but also that power ...

Page 40: ...ds reference Required Bit Error Rate in standards reference Test time for 10 confidence level Test time for 63 confidence level Test time for 95 confidence level Confidence level with 10 second test time 1G IEEE Std 802 3ab 10 10 1 second 10 seconds 30 seconds 63 0 2 5G IEEE Std 802 3bz 10 12 42 seconds 6 minutes 38 seconds 19 minutes 58 seconds 2 5 5G IEEE Std 802 3bz 10 12 21 seconds 3 minutes 1...

Page 41: ...which pairs of wires the tone should be output The individual pairs can be signaled either selectively or all pairs at the same time You can change the tone with the arrow buttons There is a choice of high and low tones and combined signals that simplify localization of the port you are looking for Tap on Test to start tone generation The tone is output until it is turned off by pressing the Test ...

Page 42: ...nnected port on a switch NetXpert XG can flash the Link LED on the switch port Figure 39 Link Light Flashing The connected switch port is detected by a slowly flashing Link LED 0 5Hz Select the desired flashing frequency and tap on Test N E T W O R K T E S T S ...

Page 43: ...the internal and the external file structure e g of an attached USB memory The left side always shows the internal memory When connected the content of an external memory is displayed on the right You can use the buttons at the bottom of the screen to enter a New Dir and Delete and Rename files and directories You can also copy files and directories from left to right and vice versa You can use th...

Page 44: ...uses a lithium ion battery To charge the battery connect the charger to the charging socket on the side of the tester and connect the charger to the power source The battery of the NetXpert XG cannot be serviced by the operator In the event you need to remove the battery loosen the screws on the back of the NetXpert XG and disconnect the cables from the battery Be sure to disconnect any cables tha...

Page 45: ...herwise it may damage the device and cause personal injury Do not use harsh or abrasive cleaners or solvents STORAGE When not in use store the NetXpert XG in the supplied protective case The NetXpert XG must not be exposed to high temperatures over 80 C or moisture See the temperature limits in the Specifications section M A I N T E N A N C E ...

Page 46: ... 1Gbit s 6 hours typical Connections Shielded RJ45 socket 8 contacts SFP port SFP port Interfaces Micro USB Altitude Up to approx 3 000m Temperatures During operation 10 to 60 C Storage 30 to 70 C When charging 10 C to 40 C Permissible humidity 10 to 90 non condensing Housing Impact resistant plastic with rubber coating Dimensions 245x177x73mm main device 130x177x55mm Active Remote Weight 1 2kg ma...

Page 47: ... uses a TDR to determine the distance to short circuits Q How do I get a firmware update for my NetXpert XG A Go to the Download Center at itnetworks softing com downloads to access updates for the NetXpert XG or go directly to itnetworks softing com xgfirmware Q Why do I not get a DHCP result in the link status test or network test A There may be different reasons why the NetXpert XG is not assig...

Page 48: ...E PoE and PoE PoE mode and min max voltages under load Q Why is the length wrong and all my outlets show split pair errors A This problem is common when laying cables on the distribution panel Some distribution panels loop the signals through boards that have LEDs for example to display traffic or built in noise canceling These features change the cable properties and thus influence the test resul...

Page 49: ...itnetworks softing com XG 49 For technical information see itnetworks softing com If you would like to contact our customer service send an e mail to support itnetworks softing com CUSTOMER SERVICE ...

Page 50: ...s Agreement Devices damaged by negligence accident or improper use or devices modified or repaired by an unauthorized workshop are excluded from the guarantee To return a product to Softing IT Networks GmbH the buyer needs a Return Authorization Number RMA from customer service which is available at 49 89 4565660 The RMA number must be clearly visible on the shipping document Claims for defects ac...

Page 51: ...031 china sales itnetworks softing com EMEA Germany Softing IT Networks GmbH Haar 49 89 45 656 660 info itnetworks softing com France Softing SARL Créteil Ile de France 33 1 45172805 info france softing com Italy Softing Italia Srl Cesano Boscone Milan 39 02 4505171 info softingitalia it Austria Buxbaum Automation GmbH Eisenstadt 43 2682 7045 60 office myautomation at For technical information and...