Other than the battery not lasting long, it's easy to use.

A feature that I would like to see is the ability to send a tone down the cable. That would be great. I have to use a separate tool for that. If I'm trying to troubleshoot a cable that is not plugged into a network switch, I need the ability to tone.

We were having trouble diagnosing a slowness on our network and using this tool, we weren't able to determine where the problem was. Ultimately, it was that a transceiver was going bad but we couldn't tell because it was still functional. It was slow, and the problem was intermittent, but there was no way to really identify the issue.

Unlike using an application like Wireshark, this device gives us no way to see network packets specifically to look at what's going on. It doesn't have the capability. This means there is no way to determine whether a transceiver is going bad if it's still functional.

Using some of the other tools supplied by the NetAlly support care, that run with LinkRunner, really hurts us because if we have to keep purchasing the product, we can't keep using the full potential of the tool. We can't do full performance testing.

When I test a connection, it doesn't give me a place to name the results. It sends it to the cloud and provides an email about it. Having the ability to attach a name to the data, right from the device, would be helpful.

The learning curve for this tool is pretty steep if you don't know what you're doing. A lot of it for me was on-the-job learning. I read a lot and watched a lot of the videos that are available. However, the videos helped perhaps a quarter compared to what I had to learn myself. There are no specific videos, for example, on how to use telnet or to use it on the device when you're on the network.

I have seen other vendors provide training material in the form of a course, instead of just a set of YouTube videos. They go more in-depth and show you more detail, which would be ideal for this product. As it is now, the videos that they have are pretty general and although they show you some parts of what you can do in the real world, it doesn't show 100% of the features. This is an important thing to add because using it to its full extent can be truly life-changing.

Another complaint that we have about the product is the firmware updates, which have to be done through NetAlly Care specifically. Firmware updates and software upgrades should be included for the life of the device. Alternatively, they should be included for the first three years or even the first year, at a bare minimum. As it is now, you don't even have that. There is really no support in that regard, once you get the tool. Originally, that deterred me. However, I took a risk on the product because I saw that it was being used heavily in the industry, and I'm glad that I did. The support for inclusive firmware updates is the number-one thing that I would change.

I think that the OS could be updated a little bit. It looks like it's running Android Froyo, or perhaps one that is a little more recent.

You're supposed to be able to read the instructions right on the device but the problem is that they are too difficult to see.

It requires an internet connection and if I'm in the field, I either have to make sure that I've purchased a USB separately or have the one that comes with it. Or, I need an internet connection when I might need to be testing it from that point, which is a little bit difficult to do.

They should allow firmware updates even if you don't have an AllyCare contract.

The AutoTest feature has got a bug in previous software. Make sure to run version 2.0.1.3 release-keys, should be available from LinkLive. When you're in the middle of auto testing, if you need to stop it and restart it, you have to swipe down and refresh the screen before you can hit the start or stop again. Update to 2.0.1.3 release-keys.

If you have a Cisco environment or Cisco ecosystem, it does CDP very well. It will tell you the exact port you're plugged into on a Cisco switch. However, if you're using something else, such as Ubiquiti switching, it does not pull the LLDP information. It does not give you any information other than the MAC address of the switch.

It is relatively easy to use, but in terms of the physical form, it is bulky. Being a field engineer, it is not something that you want to carry along with the charger. The charger is almost the same size as the device. They could have done a better job with the form factor and the battery life. They could have made one charger for all of their devices so that you only have to carry one charger, or they should have provided the ability to use a USB or USB-C on all the devices so that you could plug a device up to a laptop for charging.

The 10G one is fine in terms of the speed of the results, but it takes a long time to boot up, whereas you could instantly turn on the old ones. They would be on in a second.

It doesn't turn off automatically, but the toning function goes to sleep. It seems to stop toning after five or six minutes if you don't find the cable. It could be up to ten minutes, but if you don't find the cable that you're trying to tone quick enough, you'll have to go back and restart the tone. So, it doesn't turn itself off, but while toning, it turns itself off.

The polarity on the 10 gigabit SFP port is reversed.

It is a great tool, but in the long-term, they can make its processor more powerful to do more functions. They can upgrade the hardware to make it run faster and more efficiently from the process point of view. That'll be beneficial because the technology is evolving and the network traffic is going higher and higher. We have to leverage better spec products to handle the traffic load.

One of the things I'd like to see in future versions of LinkRunner is a wireless dongle embedded into the product so that I don't need to have a separate wireless dongle. It should be built into that.

In the future, I'd also love to see a GPS module built into it so that I can have my results and my sites linked via a GPS location. I would then know exactly where my guys are deployed and link my test results to my GPS mappings. That'll be a great tool for me.

Being really nitpicky about the LinkRunner G2, I wish the form factor was a little bit smaller. However, I'm sure that the size of the unit is compromised by the fact that the battery is large. If that were to mean having less battery life, I would not change it.

I would like to see better documentation on how to use the unit. I watch a lot of YouTube videos about it, but I'd rather have a paper manual. That would be better instead of flipping through a file.

I wish it would boot a little faster, but then, I'm an impatient kind of person. It takes 20 seconds to boot and if they could cut that, it would be better. Other than that, I struggle to come up with some notable feature that I wish it had

The only thing that comes to mind is that it does take a little while to boot up if it's turned off.

Bluetooth connectivity to a phone/tablet to manipulate if it's toning a line for an Access Point in the rafters and you're 250+ft away and 15" down.  Having to go back up in a lift to use the interface and then go back down again can be cumbersome.

Or something like the remote access that the OneTouch has to access the screen remotely.  That comes in handy.

One area where LinkRunner could be improved is the battery life. Depending on which tests are run, it gets a decent six to eight hours. However, sometimes we need to do back-to-back shifts to meet a deadline, and we need access to an outlet to keep it plugged in and charging. It takes about an hour or two to charge.

I'd also like to see NetAlly add the ability to test 40-gig fiber.

It's a bit bulky. It would be nicer if it were a little bit smaller and packed with all its features. I would also like it if the screen were a bit bigger.

I wish they had software that could create continuous streams of traffic. I'm not sure if that's possible with LinkRunner, but it would be very helpful in some of the test case scenarios that clients are looking for, in regards to the quality of service.

I would like to see automated cloud updates so we can automatically upload test results instead of manually doing it.

Where it does fall short, though, is getting the port numbers off the switch.

Also, for ad hoc additions, moves, and changes of wired connections, it was a bit hard to pick up at first because it's not straightforward how to label each test you are doing on it. There is a section on there where you can add notes to each test, which I discovered later. Having said that, once you get your head around that, it is good.

It's quite easy to use but the interface for the web portal could be made easier.

Also, the battery life is not very good on a LinkRunner G2 at all.

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 would like the ability to save screenshots for the switch and cable test. This will help with referencing the information as we move around the building troubleshooting.

Right now, the process is:

1. Connect an Ethernet cable and select switch.
2. The screen shows information about the switch, VLAN, etc.
3. Unplug the Ethernet cable and all the info is gone.

It would be nice to capture a screen shot for reference later. I don’t need a bunch but at least five; let’s say the previous five are automatically saved.

Same scenario with the cable test. You test a cable with the wire map connectors but you are unable to save the screen.

Right now, I have to take a pic with my phone for reference at a later time.

Power over Ethernet (POE) Switch Port Charging Of Batteries is an area of the product with room for improvement.

• No touch screen
• It doesn't support USB flash storage
• It doesn't support WiFi