Yes, it's called a toner. You put one piece on one end of the wire, then go put the other piece on the wires at the other end until you hear an audible tone. That's how you match them up. Label them after you tone them!
this post was submitted on 08 Nov 2024
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Tone chaser def the best here. Harbor freight (if op is USA) has shitty ones for like $10 that do the job fine.
If you can’t get one a multimeter in continuity mode with some long wire works if you’re tracing in one area. If it’s a huge area or across multiple rooms you can put low voltage on pins and use the meter to check for voltage on the other end. Make sure it’s not plugged in though
You're question sounds like you are running the wires. They make numbered stickers specifically for marking long pulls of wire so you don't have to test them. Just wrap a number around both ends and voila. https://www.amazon.com/Gardner-Bender-42-029-Booklet-Identification/dp/B000VZM37C?dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.ovuOUGMUj8C_DNFC00PsO15E6OyQQs4s4YRCRQ5SIvBh8TpdDH5nLU03qL-42bh-oOJCoVFYwVtUPeQlqhKnzvZMXHJ9RhzUumZprTY0Mrg_DQ7DSGe0DRcclV3BjnXeXLgg2Ko7AcPG_HShb6wik2ckoe52dNfzxqzSttiSrLzwENDsAQBJxsJx8g9lw-2GsDbb2IobpirvO78ZRERnIA.ZX5nJbb1fav8j3hRfA9xqgHVaHZf91iFrAY574w2q8k&dib_tag=se&keywords=wire+number+labels&qid=1731039683&sr=8-3
Instead of buying sheets of labels with numbers printed on for $12 you can get an actual label maker for like $15-$40 (or way more depending on how fancy you want to get)
Then you can label the wires with things like “living room cat5” instead of a cryptic “6” that you will forget the meaning of 3 years from now. If you spend a bit more (and maybe the cheap ones can do this, I dunno, I have a $40 one fwiw) you can get label refills that have heatshrink instead of labels. This is SO MUCH better because you can put it on the cable, shrink it, and it stays on forever. Unlike labels, which in my experience fall off when you pull them through walls (or just for no reason at all) 80% of the time. Downside is the heatshrink can’t go over big connectors so if it’s a cable you’re not terminating like hdmi it’s not as viable but for cat5/6 runs, coax, speaker wire, fiber, etc where you’re most likely terminating the cables yourself it’s the best. And even with big goofy hdmi cables you can still just get large heat shrink that has a good shrink ratio and write on it with a sharpie
Very true if you are doing a lot of work like that. I was only suggesting the easiest method for what I assume would be a one time thing.
Maybe not easier, but network cable testers can send a tone through allowing you to plug the sender at a wall jack and use a wand at the terminal end to see which plug is which. The wand picks up an audio tone through the cable.
You’d need one with alligator clips or something rather than just network connections though.
Alternatively a multimeter and just measure for resistance on the cable itself, like at the outer shielding? Never tried, but I think it would work.
I'd just get a couple colors of electrical tape and wrap it around the ends
I just stick a 9v battery on two wires on one end and then test for the voltage with a voltmeter on the other end. If I need to sort out multiple wires, I just feed different low voltages over different wires and test at the other end.
It’s always worked for me :). Wire is wire, as long as you don’t try to run higher wattage over it than it can handle.