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.
It helps me because I don’t have to call another technician.
I have been using it for about two years.
Deployment was very easy. I did not even need a manual.
I never had any stability issues.
I have not encountered any scalability issues.
I rate customer service 80/100.
Technical Support:I rate technical support 80/100.
Initial setup was very easy.
An in-house team implemented it but I use it for my work.
We have achieved an ROI of 90%.
It is very expensive.
Want to save time and money? This is the tool. The autotest feature tests servers such as DHCP and DNS. This helps identify why a device is not getting an IP address as well. One time a device wasn't getting an IP. Come to find it the there was no available IP in the subnet range.