LinkRunner Reviews

We do structured cabling and we use the LinkSprinter to do certified cable runs and for throughput testing through switches.

This simplifies the solutions that we offer by being able to have all the tools available in one small form factor that you can carry around just about anywhere. The LinkRunner has improved our IT functions due to the ease of use, portability of the unit, and its ability to do logging and diagnostic troubleshooting.

Among the features that I've found the most valuable with the G2 is that you can have your results uploaded to the cloud and have them emailed directly to you. That way you can look at the results later on during the day.

Having the results sent directly, via email, from the LinkRunner itself makes it really great for logging different things that you're trying to document within your organization. You can have a paper trail of what your organization has as far as infrastructure goes. Also, when we're trying to diagnose and troubleshoot issues further, outside of the site, we can have visual results of what we tested earlier during the day to help us figure out what's going on with the environment. The auto-saving of the information allows us to streamline our processes and save a bunch of time on troubleshooting and diagnostics.

The LinkRunner, as far as troubleshooting goes, provides very quick and useful diagnostic tools. If you're trying to connect to a switch, it tells you all the information at a moment's notice. It has definitely reduced troubleshooting time inside network cabinets and allows us to get our work done efficiently and effectively. The solution has made our IT staff more productive by saving us time within those IT closets and allowing us to get in and out of the scenarios and get the client back up and running.

Having a unit that can perform all the tasks needed makes the life of an IT professional easier. You have a simple device that is easy to use. The user interface is great, and it has all the streamlined power tools to make an IT professional great at whatever tasks they're trying to accomplish. The ease of use of the LinkRunner G2 means that any IT professional or beginner IT professional would be able to pick it up and use it, 100 percent, without any issues.

The speed in providing results is something that they have done very well with this product. I have no comments as to any ways they could improve it.

Being really nitpicky about the LinkRunner G2, I wish the form factor was a little bit smaller. However, I'm sure that the size of the unit is compromised by the fact that the battery is large. If that were to mean having less battery life, I would not change it.

I am our market relationship manager and I have been using the LinkRunner G2 with LinkSprinter for about two and a half years now.

I have not noticed any issues with the stability of this product. Anytime there has been an update for the LinkRunner, we have always applied it, but we have never had any issues with the stability of the product or battery life.

The technical support is something I have not actually had to use with this product. It is a very straightforward product and requires little to no documentation to use or maintain.

Before we used the LinkRunner we did use some Fluke solutions.

The initial setup was straightforward. The most complicated step, which was not bad at all, was setting it up under a NetAlly account where you can receive your emails. Other than that, it was a straightforward process and it wasn't hard at all.

The only deployment and maintenance time that we have spent on the LinkRunner was the initial setup and time for charging of the unit. There is no other maintenance required.

You get what you pay for whenever you're looking for a network troubleshooting tool. And if you're going to be using it to streamline your processes and cut down on time in the field, you need to choose a product that is going to be easy to use, simple, and something that you can rely on. NetAlly has that.

The cost of the LinkRunner is something that I can justify by it being a simple-to-use unit and something that allows us to perform our job functions quicker and more easily than we have ever done before. So the price is well worth it.

I have not incurred any costs using the NetAlly, other than the purchase of the unit.

We did consider different companies but decided to go with NetAlly for the price and the bang for the buck.

For others who may be interested in the LinkRunner product, you may not use all the features that you have on the LinkRunner units. However, technology is growing every day and you may use them in the future in your IT career.

The biggest lesson that I have learned is that these products are specialized for networking administrators and any IT professional. Not having it in the tool shed was a huge, grave mistake.

We use it for general connectivity issues and trying to determine throughput on fiber and throughput on the wired part of the network. We have a lot of excess network traffic and we are trying to determine if it is inherent to a particular run of fiber or a particular network switch. We've been chasing activity around campus for most of the year, including VLANs and things of that nature. A lot of it was pretty simply explained and it was really easy to see on this device.

The AutoTest feature is really important because it saves time. Instead of chasing something down the old, manual way, with a ping test and a tracer, and a tone-tester loop-back process, AutoTest saves me something like eight to 10 hours every week.

In terms of network validation, and copper and fiber Ethernet configuration, I can't imagine life without LinkRunner devices. The minute I got the 10G, everybody was fighting over it. They had never used such a device before and it was just breathtaking for them to very quickly see the validation you can gain from these devices. Without one, it's a manual process where you're chasing your head in circles.

When it comes to troubleshooting, I don't even know how to measure its value. It gives you the information you need, when you need it, very quickly. When you're dealing with a school, like we are, you don't have a lot of time. When technology breaks, learning stops, and that's the core product. I can't imagine not having something like this to help me and my team track down intermittent issues. The amount of time it saves me on troubleshooting varies but I would estimate it's several hours a week, on average.

The speed of the device means that, for what we're looking for, it usually takes 30 seconds to a minute.

Another benefit is the automatic upload of test results to the Link-Live Cloud Service. Over a period of a month, that feature saves me several hours. I can look back on a particular activity at the time it happened and know what we tested and what we found. It has demonstrated its value that way very easily.

You can very easily see the VLAN structures and which port is involved on the switch. A lot of detailed information comes back.

It's also helpful that I have both my devices connected to email. Every time they're used I get an email that shows me the test results—fail/pass—and the details around it. When I get back, I review where I was and recall all the details without having to scribble them down on a piece of paper.

If the results were not automatically saved to NetAlly’s free Link-Live Cloud Service, it would lose a lot of effectiveness. Without that, you would have to depend on the memory of the device or walk around with a notepad and scribble things down, and hopefully you'd be able to read what you wrote when you got back. Having that automated process is very important, and knowing it is there even made it easier to make the purchase.

Also, being able to do a packet capture is important. 

AutoTest largely gives you a snapshot of what the network is looking like on that particular leg. It helps trace down if we have connectivity. We have a unique setup in the way we structure our VLANs, so it's just important to know which port on a switch is tied to which VLAN structure. When you're out, you're not going to necessarily log in to the switch and automatically start looking. You need to know, "Is this on this VLAN or that VLAN?" Given that they're not necessarily marked clearly, the LinkRunner device makes it a lot easier to really quickly say, "Okay, I need to move this port because this one is dead. Where is another VLAN for it?" You can very quickly determine which of the ports will work.

Also, on very long runs at the end of a building, I am able to do a more in-depth cable test to see if we've got a mismatched pair or a loose wire that needs to be punched down. You can very easily tell when you've got an intermittent connection. 

And, of course, the performance of it is pretty handy too. You can start an analysis of what's going on and look at what outgoing port you're going at.

I've been using LinkRunner for about a year. It was actually the first purchase I made when I got here. I had a couple of LinkRunners, not the 10G but the wired and wireless combined one, the AirCheck G2. I also have that here. I used that at my previous school for a couple of years.

We've never had any issues with the LinkRunner.

I've never had to use their tech support, which is a good thing.

In the school where I'm now working, they didn't have any testing devices before I arrived. They did whatever they could, but there was no intelligent testing available. They would just look at the network activity on a switch, which isn't really helpful at all. 

I went with LinkRunner in my current job because of my prior experience with it. 

Getting it set up was very easy, almost seamless. It was almost plug-and-play. There was just not a lot to it. Within 30 minutes of utilizing it and doing a few tests, you see that it's very user-friendly. Most users adapt to it very quickly and find what they're looking for.

We have seen value from the product from day one. It's worth every dime we paid for it, 100 percent.

The area where the product could be improved is by having a lower cost so that I could have more than one. The price is competitive, but everybody would always like to see the price go down. I'd buy another one if it were cheaper.

We use it to test customers' networks, either fiber or Category 6 cable. We run BERT tests to analyze the fiber or cable.

For example, next week I'll be using it at a customer who is stating that they ran a bunch of data cables and they're hiring us to validate the cables and make sure there are no problems with it. Their IT department is saying when they installed the network, everything slowed down. We'll go in there and use LinkRunner.

The effect on how we work has been huge. It takes the guesswork out of everything. If a customer says that they're having issues with speed and they're blaming it on the cable, we can completely nip that in the bud and show them exactly what the cable and/or fiber is doing. It takes those variables out of the equation, so they can look in other places.

When it comes to troubleshooting, it's excellent. It's great. Although I haven't done that much troubleshooting with it, it takes speculation out of the picture. If there is a bad cable or bad fiber, it will tell you. We can use it to troubleshoot and verify or certify the cable.

LinkRunner has made our networking staff significantly more productive. It cuts down the time they spend, per job, by a couple of hours.

Among the best features are the

• touch screen 
• menus, which are pretty easy
• and the reports, which are great.

In terms of network validation, the tool makes it very easy to run a test.

The AutoTest feature makes it easy for you on both ends. It's an excellent feature, especially if you're by yourself. You plug one end in and you hit AutoTest. It sits and waits for you to plug in the other end and it starts testing. It's also helpful when you're with a second person. Once the second guy goes to the next jack or the next fiber, you hit AutoTest and then that guy plugs it in and it tests. It saves a lot of time and gives you a lot of information, depending on what you're testing.

The speed at which it provides results is excellent. It's extremely fast and efficient. It's not a time-waster.

I also love NetAlly’s free Link-Live Cloud Service where the test results are automatically saved. It's like a backup. It's always there. Later, you can get on your computer and get the results, and you can print them out. It's much easier than transferring the data from the unit to a thumb drive or connecting it to a computer. It makes things more efficient and easier.

I would like to see better documentation on how to use the unit. I watch a lot of YouTube videos about it, but I'd rather have a paper manual. That would be better instead of flipping through a file.

I've been using LinkRunner for over a year and a half.

This is my second unit. I had issues with the first one, it just wouldn't turn on.o they sent me a new one. Since then, everything has been fine.

The tech support is great. If you're not familiar with any of the types of tests, you call tech support and they'll walk you through them. They'll ask you, "What do you want to do?" When you tell them, they say, "Oh, go here, here, here," and you're testing away.

You can call their support anytime and someone will answer. They're very knowledgeable and will help you. We use the tech support for education about the unit. If someone forgets how to do something, they're able to call and support will walk them right through it.

Positive

I used a Fluke in the past, and then it became part of the independent company called NetAlly. I still use the Fluke product to this day. The LinkRunner 10G has many more functions than the Fluke LinkRunner. We switched to stay up with the times.

There was no setup. I was able to use it straight out of the box.

It's a little bit tough getting used to at first, but once you get the hang of it, and once you start using it more, like anything, it gets easier. The difficult part, at first, is knowing where to find each test and how to use the tests. 

There's a lot more that I still need to learn about it. I've had it for over a year and a half and there is still a ton I can learn. It just takes time. Right now there isn't a lot of time during the day to sit down and play with it. Once you do learn something, it takes a while to retain it. But there are now certain tasks that I constantly use it for and I have them down pat.

Compared to what I paid for it, it's paid for itself three times over. It's just a great tool. I was getting value from it almost immediately, and definitely within the first three months.

The first time we used it to test things for a customer who was having problems, it turned out it wasn't the cable, it paid for itself right there. It validated the investment on the spot.

It's worth every dime. It's a valuable tool in our toolbox. All our customers are impressed when we pull it out. We use it and give them the results.

It's expensive but you definitely get what you pay for. I would buy another one if I had to.

We use it as much as possible. It's brought out to validate any type of cabling. It's a great tool. NetAlly is a great company, from my local rep to tech support.

I work for a college and we have mostly been using it on campus, whenever we've been adding fiber optic links between switches or routers, to identify paths and determine if they're plugging into the intended switch and port, before we plug it in with the actual switch.

The other use case is that we're starting to do troubleshooting with LinkRunner but we haven't done a lot of that yet. If we're seeing errors on a link, we're trying to use it to identify the source or the severity of them using something that is not part of our switching structure. Having something that's a separate standard or measuring device is very appealing.

Given that some of the kinds of links that we need to do on campus are going from building to building, sometimes that can be tricky if you're doing it by yourself. With LinkRunner it is much more practical to do that as one person, without having another at the end or in between. I have been able to pretty confidently evaluate the link all the way, at every step in the process, rather than plugging it in at the end and looking at the switches to see what the status is. 

In addition, with the AutoTest feature, it's good to have the PoE validation or reporting, as well as the detailed LLDP information at the same time. And it provides ping-level information to both local and remote websites. That information is pretty significant because we have a variety of APs with differing power requirements, and a variety of switches with differing levels of PoEs. I anticipate that we'll be able to use this to more readily identify if we've got the proper power when we're installing some of the newer, more power-hungry APs.

In general, I like the idea of the Link-Live Cloud Service a lot. That was something I'm not even sure I knew about beforehand. I may have read about it in the sheets, but hadn't looked at it in any detail at all. It should help save time because I know I don't have to worry about the results on the tester itself. I know that they're going to be on the cloud and I'll get notifications about them too.

One of the most valuable features may seem really small, but it's really helpful. The LLDP decoding is better than on some of the other devices that we've used. Specifically, it goes beyond the minimum of the LLDP data to decode, and it shows the LLDP port descriptions. That makes it vastly simpler to identify which port you're connecting to on a switch that's patched back to some other building, rather than having to figure out an SNMP index or something else.

Its ability to simplify network validation and configuration of fiber Ethernet networks has been very good. It has certainly helped anytime we've been doing something where we wanted to evaluate it beforehand.

On the troubleshooting side, from what I've seen, I think the Link-Live is going to be a big plus with the automatic storing of data on the cloud. I expect to have to take fewer pictures of my tester to record something. And while I haven't used it at all, I'm expecting to like the LAN BERT function for more extensive troubleshooting or validation of a link at higher levels.

It's also pretty easy to use, at least when it comes to the primary functions. I haven't used the most advanced parts yet, but I was certainly able to make use of the basic features relatively quickly. For instance, the AutoTest, was literally a matter of plugging it in and pushing "AutoTest." I was able to evaluate the information that it gave back.

The speed at which it provides results is very good. It seems very quick.

The only thing that comes to mind is that it does take a little while to boot up if it's turned off.

We got LinkRunner in the fall of 2021, so we have had it for about four months.

It has primarily been me using it in my role as network administrator, being involved in physically adding links in different places. What I expect we'll be doing in the relatively near future is to have the couple of people who also do physical port activations and switch installs make use of it in the same way I do.

I haven't noticed any stability problems on the unit.

We got it for 10-Gb links and below. There will certainly be a point where we want to do 40-Gb links, but I realize that that's a big jump from where this device is. And it has already made a big jump, going from 1-Gb links to 10. We're satisfied with that for now.

I haven't used their technical support, although there was one strange issue. The case that it's in has a Velcro strap, and the stitching that held the Velcro on was defective. It was coming undone. I went through customer support and identified that by answering an email and uploading a photo. It was a pretty painless process and, relatively quickly, they sent a replacement case for it.

Positive

I've used another NetAlly product, but it is a lower-level product. I also used an older Fluke model. I haven't used a newer Fluke device.

The key thing we were looking at in switching to LinkRunner was the higher speeds that are available. The 10-Gb capability was a real plus. It's also newer and much more modern.

When I look at its cost versus its ability to save time or solve problems faster, it's good. I'm perfectly happy with it.

It's an expensive device. Don't expect it to be cheap. But the pricing is good. It certainly seemed in line with anything else I was looking at at the time.

The range of NetAlly devices that I saw at the time gave me confidence that I could pick from other devices if I was looking for something with different capabilities at a different price point. But my first priority was the 10-Gb capability, and this was the first in their product line that did that.

I was looking around generally, so I probably ran across some others. But the NetAlly products seemed to have extra features like the test accessory, which is the remote iPerf server. That's a nice, handy thing to be able to plug in somewhere.

I expect the LAN BERT function will take some time to learn because I haven't used that yet. I need to read a little bit more about it, and I need to pair it with another device.

In terms of maintenance, it doesn't require any, as far as I know.

I haven't used those advanced features yet, but from everything I've seen, it's a 10 out of 10. I haven't come across anything that's been disappointing. It has been able to do the things that I've tried to do with it.

I work for one of the biggest port operators in the United Kingdom. I'm a network analyst/engineer, and I use the LinkRunner on a daily basis to check network connectivity from areas around where I work or from the switches in the LAN room, whether it's to check VLAN info to determine if the port is live, or end-to-end testing of the cables.

The end-to-end testing of cables [is a benefit] when you're working on a campus-wide network and you want to detect if there's a fault. If you're working on the OSI layers, and you're starting right down at the bottom on the physical layer, it can rule out if there's an issue with that quite fast, and save a lot of time being wasted trying to troubleshoot things with IP addresses et cetera, when it's detected a problem with the cables being crossed or unterminated.

The most valuable feature is the end-to-end testing with the "dart," as they call it, where you can test for faults in the cable or if they've been terminated properly.

Its ability to simplify network validation and configuration of copper and fiber Ethernet networks is good. The checking of the termination on copper is good. I haven't used it much for fiber, to be honest, but I use it to locate physical problems with a cable. It's very good because it also gives you the distance, which wires are crossed, and which ones are damaged.

Troubleshooting with it is also good, with physical faults on a cable. It is good as well for VLAN information and IP information.

The AutoTest feature is the one I use the most. It will provide me with the VLAN that's being presented, the switch hostname. It didn't use to provide the actual port number, which sometimes is imperative if you're trying to troubleshoot something. It will do an IP test, so it will tell you the default gateway address and the IP address it's getting. And it will do a few tests where it goes out to Google, so you can see if it can get to the actual outside public network. And that all gets uploaded to the portal, which you can access through a PC when you get back to your main office.

That Auto Test information is essential because I go to a lot of remote sites. You want to leave knowing that all that info, the comprehensive information, is uploaded back to the portal. You don't want to get back and find there are bits missing.

The fact that results are automatically saved to NetAlly's Link-Live cloud service is very important because if there are a few of us with LinkRunners, and we're assessing the network connectivity at different areas within the campus, we can have them all uploaded and it's all stored centrally. And we can access other people's results as well. Definitely [it's important] instead of trying to get that info at a later date, it's all there within minutes. The automatic uploading of test results definitely saves time and helps with the management of test results.

It's reduced troubleshooting time by about 20 percent because of the features I've mentioned [like] the centrally uploaded data, and because of the scope of things, it can look into like DHCP, IP connectivity, VLANs being presented, and physical issues on a port.

Where it does fall short, though, is getting the port numbers off the switch.

Also, for ad hoc additions, moves, and changes of wired connections, it was a bit hard to pick up at first because it's not straightforward how to label each test you are doing on it. There is a section on there where you can add notes to each test, which I discovered later. Having said that, once you get your head around that, it is good.

It's quite easy to use but the interface for the web portal could be made easier.

Also, the battery life is not very good on a LinkRunner G2 at all.

I've used it for the last five or six years.

Performance-wise it is good, apart from the battery. The battery indicator icon might say there's a third of a battery-full on there, but then you do an AutoTest, it looks good, you're trying to upload it, and bang, it disappears.

It is limited because of the battery life. And in fact, at Networkshop in 2017, I spoke to a LinkRunner member of staff and I explained the issue with the battery. They said that I needed to buy a better LinkRunner, a more advanced model, which I thought was a bit strange because even after having it for a few weeks, the battery would just die on you.

I don't use it extensively. There are a lot of features on it that I don't use, like the web browser. I usually just use the port testing, the AutoTest, and the dart with the end-to-end cable testing. I'm satisfied with the way things are.

The company decided to go with LinkRunner's NETSCOUT, as opposed to Fluke, for some reason. It might have been the price. I don't know because I'm not involved with the purchase of them.

Setup of the LinkRunner G2 is quite straightforward and it's also straightforward if you have one transferred over to you from another department, or another user leaves and you take that on. It was just [a matter of] taking the device off that name and putting it under your own. You got a code sent through and then it was just a case of putting your email address in and then accessing the portal again.

It takes half an hour, if that.

LinkRunner G2 has made our networking staff more productive, but we were using Flukes before that and Flukes had higher battery life. I'd be lying if I didn't say that hasn't caused issues.

Once it's on, it's fast at providing results, but it does take a while to power up and get established.

Make sure you learn how to put notes onto each AutoTest you do so that you can decipher what's what when they're in the uploaded portal. And also keep an eye on the battery as soon as you get it, and if it starts failing, contact their support. I feel that the battery on mine, and on others in the workplace, was substandard.

I give it a five out of 10. If it weren't for the battery, it would probably get a 10 out of 10. But because of the battery, it's infuriating and it's not reliable.

I mostly use LinkRunner for the auto-test LAN option. We use it to diagnose wall plates, test cable lengths, and perform simple captures and pings. 

I carry the unit in my tool bag, and I am the only person who uses it. One of the other team members has the same title as me, does the same basic tasks, and carries the same tools. The other person who uses this is the department director. He's the supervisor, so he makes decisions, but he also does hands-on repair work.

LinkRunner makes troubleshooting faster. I can get information with LinkRunner that would otherwise require me to log into the switch itself. It allows me to access the information without going through any security hoops to log into the switch or having an actual laptop with me. When it tells me something, it's right, and I trust the information that it gives me. I don't have to question it or double-check anything.

I can't say that it has made us more productive. It's like asking a carpenter if a hammer makes him more productive. He needs the hammer, or he's not going to be useful. I need one of these for my day-to-day activities.

The auto-test feature is vital and does 90 percent of what I need on its own. It's fast and I can get there in just a few clicks. It does a good job and tells me everything I need to know. LinkRunner works pretty quickly and always seems to be accurate. 

I like that the auto-test is customizable, so I can set up different auto-test profiles depending on the scenario I'm going into. I often want to know the port of the switch I'm connected to. I also want to test how fast I get DHCP. I also use the auto test for power requirements, so I know how much power is coming through the line.

I love the Link-Live Cloud Service. I try to make sure that it gets plugged into an actual network from time to time so those updates show up. I often forward results to my team to let someone else look at them and give me their assessment. It's a huge benefit that saves me time by giving information to my colleagues.

It's handy that LinkRunner has the user manual built into it. You often need to use this tool to look up an answer when a network isn't available.

LinkRunner is moderately challenging to use. The auto test is excellent, but all the other features require you to spend time reading the manual. It's not as intuitive as it could be. What you need to do or what it's trying to tell you is not very obvious.

It runs tests quickly, but it takes a while to boot up. It's somewhat disappointing that LinkRunner takes some time to turn on. When I arrive in the space, I usually spend the first two minutes waiting.

My older LinkRunner unit was faster, but it broke, and that's why I got this new one. I prefer the old one. This one starts pretty slowly, and you always have to turn it off because the battery drains quickly. You can never leave it on for any length of time. You always need to turn it off. Otherwise, it'll be dead in a few hours.

It has a USB you can use to add a WIFI card, but the WIFI card that NetAlly recommends causes it to crash constantly. I can't use it often because it just crashes. It also seems to make the product hot when I try to use it. The USB port doesn't allow you to fully insert the USB WIFI adapter either. It's sticking out in a way that makes me worry I'm going to break it if I don't remove the adapter constantly.

The USB port needs to be roomier so you can fully seat something into it. It would be nice if it actually had a small WIFI adapter built into it because the one they recommend installing is problematic.

I've been using LinkRunner for two years.

It's never crashed on me except for when I used the recommended WIFI adapter. It doesn't seem buggy or has any freak-outs. It's relatively stable.

I appreciate that it has an SFP. The closest thing to scalability is that it does normal copper RJ45, but it also takes an SFP to do a 10G connection. One reason we chose this model is that it has the SFP that can do 10G.

I've never contacted NetAlly support before, but I appreciate that they send me an email when there's a software update. The manual is pretty well done, so I've never needed to call support or check support web pages.

I used LinkRunner AT 1000 before. I switched because the old one stopped functioning. I believe the ethernet port on it was physically broken. 

Setting up LinkRunner was straightforward, and it only takes a few minutes. There isn't much to set up. You pretty much just turn it on. I took it out of the box and turned it on. I didn't need to talk to anyone or call support. I turned it on, read the manual a little bit, and that was it.

I don't know if ROI really applies here. It's just a tool that I need to have, so I'm going to have some version of it no matter what.

The price was fine. You pay for the unit, and there are no licensing or maintenance fees. 

I shopped for it and chose the model. I mostly looked at other NetAlly products because I don't think there was a comparable product from any other vendor. 
I selected this model because of the 10G connection, but I also considered a more wireless-focused LinkRunner product. It was something in the AT 1000 or AT 2000 series. I don't remember the differences between them, but I picked this one specifically because of the 10G functionality.

I rate LinkRunner a seven out of ten. It has good value for the price. The battery is disappointing, so I can't rank it higher. Before buying LinkRunner, I recommend thinking about how long you need to go without being able to charge it. 

You will be disappointed if you're in the field for eight hours daily, expecting this product to be on six or seven of those hours. It's not going to last. If you want to use WIFI at all, choose a different model. Don't try to install a WIFI card in this one.

You also need to read the manual. They're not all the same. So even if you own multiple LinkRunner products, they're not very identical, and you should learn the differences between them.

My company has been spinning up a lot of offices, so we use LinkRunner to verify that the copper and fiber cables are installed correctly and will meet multi-gig needs. We also use it for general troubleshooting that occurs with the various built-in tests. We have two devices shared by four or five junior and senior network engineers.

LinkRunner makes the configuration of the copper and fiber Ethernet networks a lot simpler. The kit comes with modules that you can plug in, so it will do pair matching and everything else on the screen. We can ensure that everything has been terminated properly.

It also uploads to NetAlly's cloud, creating a record of all the tests that have been run. We can easily see when something new is tested by a technician in the field and add the test to the documentation. We know when something has been added and whether it meets the installation requirements. This is crucial for us and it's easy to access the data after it uploads. We can sign into the cloud, or it'll email us the results after each test.

The client integration is a huge time saver. Older products from this vendor required us to hook our device to our laptop via USB and manually transfer. At the end of the day, everything is automatically uploaded to the cloud. We're getting the testing done faster, which saves us at least a day per location.

I like that LinkRunner is an all-in-one device with a touchscreen interface. I don't have to pair it with a phone or anything else to get the full functionality. The built-in tests are one of the most significant advantages. It will pull an IP, ping the gateway, ping out to the Intra, and report everything on the screen. It will tell me when a test completes or fails and why.

We don't have to worry about carrying multiple devices. When we’re going into a situation to deploy or troubleshoot, we don't want to take a whole bag of stuff. This comes with a little strap so we can wear it on our hips.

AutoTest is another feature we use. It provides a power rating and does the basics post on IP. It has thresholds to tell me if a DHCP request takes longer than expected or the DNS takes longer to resolve something based on thresholds we've set. AutoTest is critical for troubleshooting because it helps diagnose network issues. If it's an issue with a DNS server or DHB server, then it is not traditionally a network issue.

Overall, it's easy to use. When I hand it to junior technicians, they can figure it out in a few minutes and test whatever they need. The results display quickly after the initial boot and testing. The unit also has a built-in camera, so we can snap pictures of the wall plates and other field items when we're troubleshooting or looking at a new install.

One area where LinkRunner could be improved is the battery life. Depending on which tests are run, it gets a decent six to eight hours. However, sometimes we need to do back-to-back shifts to meet a deadline, and we need access to an outlet to keep it plugged in and charging. It takes about an hour or two to charge.

I'd also like to see NetAlly add the ability to test 40-gig fiber.

We've been using LinkRunner for about a year.

The OS is pretty stable. I think we've only had one crash, and that may just be because Android OS is running multiple test apps at once. We don't always remember to close them, so it's running a lot in the background. The device itself is sturdy, but I've only used it with a protective case, so I don't know how well it would handle a drop without it.

We were using a different NetAlly device previously. It was a LinkSprinter. We switched to LinkRunner because it does 10-gig fiber and 2.5-gig copper. LinkRunner also has cable mapping built into it. 

LinkRunner is a single device, which is an advantage over LinkSprinter. We don't have to pair it with our phone to get the features. With LinkSprinter, we plug it in, and it does the AutoTest. We must pair it to our phones to launch additional tests. We don't have to worry about keeping our phone connected, so it's more convenient.

There is some setup, but it's relatively straightforward. You need to register the device on the portal if you want the results emailed. You go put in the last eight digits of the MAC address for the device and connect to the network. It talks to the cloud, and the cloud is listening to that MAC address.

NetAlly does that for most of their tools, so it's the same portal if you have multiple NetAlly products. If you already have an account set up, you only need to add the new device to the portal. 

I can't give a dollar amount, but anything that saves time is worth the investment. It pays for itself if we look at our usage throughout the year and the time saved.

The price was fair. We bought LinkRunner with a bundle. One of the bundles came with the wireless tester as well as a bunch of other modules and adapters.

We took a cursory look at other solutions to see what's out there. LinkRunner seemed to be the most straightforward and feature-rich option. I can't recall the name of the other vendor, but it was a much larger device. LinkRunner fits in your hand. The other device is more of a tablet with modules and everything else. It was more unwieldy.

I rate LinkRunner ten out of ten. Even though it has some room for improvement, it's still the most feature-rich solution out of all the ones I've used.

When I moved into my current job, I got my manager to get one mainly to do 10-GB network testing for our upcoming products.

We use it every day now. The rest of the guys in my team use it for network discovery a lot, such as for making sure that most of our devices that run 10-GB are getting proper throughput around the network. We also use it for bandwidth checking.

Our company manufactures a lot of AV equipment and there are network ports available on them. We use the tool to set up the network for a particular device or product that we're about to release.

Before I joined the company and introduced the product to my manager, we were running around tracing cables and guessing what port or what VLAN is in that particular port in the field patch. With LinkRunner, we can just plug it into the port and it detects which VLAN and how much power it's outputting and what port on the switch we're plugged into for that field patch. It's made things a lot easier in terms of troubleshooting clients' networks.

It has reduced troubleshooting time immensely. The guys have more confidence when they troubleshoot things now. They don't have to go back to their desks and log in to the switch and check. They can just bring that device to the port and check what VLAN and which port switch number it is. Having this tool and information easily obtainable is a key component for day-to-day troubleshooting.

The fact that test results are automatically saved to NetAlly’s free Link-Live Cloud Service enables remote users like me to see things from the office. If I get one of my guys to go and have a look at a port or to check something, I don't have to go with them. I have a look at the information remotely. That's very useful for us.

And we use the Cloud Service even more for archiving. Our office is more like a campus. People come and go. Being able to configure and check ports, and then archive that particular port in Link-Live is very useful for us. We can go back and say, "Okay. That port used to be that." It's like a change-control. It's good to have that functionality so that we can go back and look at how a port was configured back then.

The most valuable features are the 

• AutoTest for the network
• port testing
• network test performance.

AutoTest is very helpful. It's very streamlined and it's very easy to set up and very easy to identify what we want to achieve. It's probably the feature we use the most. It provides us with LLTD, which is very useful. It helps us to discover devices from the other side. If they have link layer discovery protocol or CDP enabled, we can actually check the device that we're plugged into, as well as the port and tag; the Layer 2 information. 

That is very useful for us because we always have labs testing new products that we are about to release. The ability to record the results from the AutoTest, such as what interface speed it's negotiating, and the PoE on that port, helps us when releasing new products, as a part of our lab networks.

And when it comes to documenting ad hoc additions, moves, and changes of wired ethernet connections, it works very well. We can organize the results by folders, so we can see what's been changed over a certain amount of time. That's really good.

It's also amazing when it comes to troubleshooting. It's really helpful for us, especially if we're identifying a 10-GB network, or whatever our product is negotiating. We're very happy with it.

As for its ease of use, the apps are very well-designed. They're very easy to use and understand.

I'm also pretty impressed with LinkRunner's speed in providing results. As long as it's connected to the internet or WiFi, it's pretty quick in uploading the results to the cloud.

And the Link-Live website is pretty easy to use. You can create folders and tag them. It's very, very well-designed.

It's a bit bulky. It would be nicer if it were a little bit smaller and packed with all its features. I would also like it if the screen were a bit bigger.

I've been using NetAlly since it was called NETSCOUT, when I was with a previous company a long time ago. I've been using the LinkRunner 10-GB for almost six months.

It's very stable. I haven't seen it crash or had any issues with lockup or freezing of the unit.

If we want to go further, it's going to be a bit more expensive. Cost is the factor when it comes to adding to our use. For us, it's not that scalable as a result, but it's a good tool for us to have even just one of. I would like to have more of them. Some of our new products will be moving into a space where we need to start using more network-capable devices such as the LinkRunner.

At the moment there are five of us using it in the roles of desktop support, systems engineer, me as network engineer, another guy who looks after the Cloud Services, and my manager.

I have not used their technical support.

The documentation on the Link-Live support is pretty straightforward. It's a bit confusing sometimes but it's not too bad for figuring out where to go if you need support.

Neutral

We evaluated other options but because I had used this product at a previous job that made it a lot easier for me to show the rest of the team how to use it. 

I looked at Axence NetTools but it was not as feature-rich as LinkRunner.

The initial setup is pretty straightforward. This is my second NetAlly product, so it was a lot easier for me to set it up.

We purchased it through a reseller and the experience was great. He invited me over to his office and showed me all the NetAlly products. I told him my use case scenarios and he gave me an idea of which NetAlly product we could use. That was very helpful.

We see return on our investment because we can test 10-GB throughput. That is helpful already because it's hard to find a solution that can do 10-GBtesting with a touch and portable device, one that we can carry everywhere we go.

The pricing and the support licensing is not that complicated. Just make sure you talk to your reseller about how many years you're buying, in connection with your Link-Live account or your AllyCare Premium Support Services. You have to be aware of that.

We did purchase a WiFi dongle so that we can connect it to WiFi.

I would buy another one if I had a chance but they're too expensive. If they made it a bit cheaper, I think a lot of network engineers and network administrators would immediately jump onto it. At the moment, they're just using whatever open-source product they can to do pretty much what LinkRunner can do.

You get what you pay for.

So far, we're loving it. It's a good product. Don't hesitate to buy one if you have the budget.