As our world becomes increasingly dependent on technologies of various types, some systems have become so complex that they can be hard for the average end user to fully utilize and control.

As our industry continues to march toward the interconnectivity of various IP, analog and other types of devices, there is a universal need for testing devices that will ensure connectivity, power consumption and other metrics that will determine whether a device will function and how it will work.

About five months ago I was taking out the trash to the alley cans behind the bunker in Bucktown when I spied a telephone company truck with a big roll of cable mounted on the back. I walked over and took a quick glance at the cable, which indicated that the cable was 144-count singlemode fiber optics.

As innovations such as facial recognition, wide dynamic range, and multi-megapixel images continue to be developed by our industry’s IP camera manufacturers, the issue of the maximum length of UTP Cat5e/6 that can be installed to meet the EIA/TIA standard of 100 meters (328 feet) remains unchanged.

Unless you’ve been living under a connectivity rock for the past two years, you have noticed the explosive growth in the use of fiber optics for a wide variety of communication needs.