HDBaseT Link Quality - How & What am I looking at?

To check the link quality of any HDBaseT cable run connected to one of our video matrixes while on site you must first be in admin mode. For details on how to do this check: https://pulseeight.freshdesk.com/a/solutions/articles/30000022813 

Then in "System Health" there is an "Advanced Diagnostics" sections with a "HDBaseT Link Quality" test. Start this test.

This will then bring up the Link Quality test results. There are two drop down menus, the first is the output you are testing the second is the type of test you are doing.

The first test is the "Mean Square Error" test. This test is the ratio (in dB) of the signal power of the 'Good' signal to that of the 'Bad' signal. This is analogue in nature and is directly affected by kinks, termination issues & other cable issues.

As you can see in the Key each Channel has a colour which represents the same coloured twisted pair in the Cat cable. 

All four of these Channels should be within 3dB's of each other, for example; -21dB. -20dB. -21dB & -19dB. Otherwise the cable quality will be marked as "Poor". 

All four of these Channels should also be below the -15dB line. Otherwise the cable quality will be marked as "Poor". 

If a Channel is spiking to 0 or to -40dB or the other above criteria's are broken but then they recover to normal this can still indicate an issue and we will remember this and mark the cable as "Poor". This can explain if your cables meet the above criteria but are still marked as "Poor" due to this spiking only happening after a few hours for a few seconds for example.

The second test is the "Channel Errors" test. This test is a measurement of the number of errors on the channel, for example, packet loss and bit errors. This is digital in nature and is directly affected by the same issues mentioned in the "Mean Square Error" test.

As you can see in the Key each Channel has a colour which represents the same coloured twisted pair in the Cat cable. 

All four of these Channels should be within 3 of each other, for example; 35. 36. 35. 34. Otherwise the cable quality will be marked as "Poor". 

All four of these Channels should also be below the 40 line. Otherwise the cable quality will be marked as "Poor". 

If a Channel is spiking to 0 or to 60 or the other above criteria's are broken but then they recover to normal this can still indicate an issue and we will remember this and mark the cable as "Poor". This can explain if your cables meet the above criteria but are still marked as "Poor" due to this spiking only happening after a few hours for a few seconds for example.

Another way to check the link quality remotely is by logging into your installer account at http://monitoring.pulse-eight.com/. Then you will need to go a product and select the product you want to check.

Then select the output you want to check and under "HDBASET LINK" you will find the test results.