Summary
You need network tools, and you need to know how to use them. And as I said, you can get your hands on many of them for free; so download them and use them as soon as possible to get the experience you’ll need to pass the CompTIA Network+ exam.
This chapter covered network scanners, including packet sniffers, IDS and IPS software, and port scanners. I also covered hardware tools, which are rarely free. The good news is that you don’t need many of them yourself, but the company that owns all the equipment definitely does. Even though I’ve used all of the tools I talked about in this chapter, I don’t own most of them personally—only the ones that are free or relatively inexpensive.
In the hardware tools section, I covered cable testers, analyzers, certifiers, TDR/OTDRs, and other critical tools that help you test the cables and devices in your network, monitor them, and keep them up and running smoothly.
