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| 3.5 |  | Isolating Physical Layer Problems |
| 3.5.2 |  | Tools for the job |

There are two primary categories of physical layer analyzer products.

- Cable testers
- Handheld network testers (hybrid)

Other common tools that are used for trouble shooting at OSI Layers 2 to 7 are Protocol Analyzer and Network Management Tools.

Cable testers are used as much for maintenance as they are for new installations.

Handheld network analyzers were created to bridge the skills gap between the senior network support staff and the Help Desk staff. They generally include the most commonly used features from the other testing tool categories, but do not eliminate the need for these other categories. The focus is to validate or troubleshoot end-to-end connectivity up through OSI Layer 3.

In the interest of restoring network service as quickly as possible, this category is best used as a first-in tool when a problem is reported. While they are often able to help locate and eliminate the source of a network problem, they can be just as effective in quickly eliminating many possible sources of the problem so that the other tools and staff may be deployed more effectively.