BOOGIIO Wire Tester RJ45 RJ11 Cable Tracker Line Finder Multifunction Wire Tracker Ethernet LAN Network Cat5 Cat6 with Earphone for Cable Collation, Network Maintenance Collation, Telephone Line Test

I tossed this orange handheld into my networking bag for a week and used it on a mix of small office and home jobs. The BOOGIIO wire tracker isn’t a premium tone-and-probe, but it has a couple of surprises that make it more useful than its price would suggest—and a few quirks you’ll want to work around.

What it is and what you get

This is a two-piece kit: an emitter (tone generator and cable tester) and a probe (receiver). Both take a 9V battery, and none are included. The kit ships with an RJ45 patch lead, an RJ11 clip adapter with small alligator clips, a basic pair of earphones, and a simple storage box that’s more “keeps everything together” than a rugged case.

The emitter handles basic network cable tests (open, short, miswire, reverse) and can identify telephone line polarity (tip/ring). The probe has an RJ45 jack for direct pickup and a metal tip for inductive tracing, plus a volume knob that also affects sensitivity. There’s a small LED flashlight built in, which I actually used more than I expected in dim wiring closets.

One caveat up front: the probe lacks an RJ11 port. You can still trace telephone pairs via the clips or the emitter’s RJ11, but if you’re used to clicking an RJ11 straight into the wand, you’ll miss that.

Setup and usability

Powering up is straightforward: a simple on/off on the probe and a mode switch on the emitter (SCAN for tone, other positions for test functions). I like having a latching power switch on the probe; no need to keep a button depressed while you’re fishing for a cable behind a rack.

The earphone jack is a nice touch for noisy spaces. Plugging in the included buds reduces the racket while keeping sensitivity high. Be aware the volume knob doubles as the sensitivity control: more volume equals more pickup. That’s common on budget probes but worth noting if you’re trying to rely on the LED cue only—turning volume down also dials sensitivity down.

Ergonomically, the plastic housings feel light-duty. Nothing snapped or flexed on me, but the finish and switches aren’t confidence-inspiring in the way a pro-grade tracer is. The alligator clips are small and springy; they work, but I had to strip back or secure stranded conductors to get a reliable bite.

Tracing performance

Here’s where the BOOGIIO wire tracker surprised me: the tone generator is hot. It puts a loud signal on a cable, and the probe picks it up easily at a patch panel or wall jack. On a 100-foot Cat5e run, I had no trouble identifying the target port quickly. In open walls—think thermostat cabling or speaker runs with power removed—the inductive tip found the route through studs clearly enough to decide where to cut.

The louder tone is a blessing and a curse. It makes identification easy at the far end, but it also bleeds into adjacent conductors. On a dense patch panel, you’ll hear the signal across multiple ports, especially if the bundle is tightly zip-tied. With the sensitivity turned down and by tipping the probe at different angles (interestingly, the strongest pickup is near the base of the metal tip, not the point), I could narrow to the correct port reliably. In big bundles, though, you may need to isolate the cable, unplug the far end, or step away from the cross-connect by a few inches to cut down crosstalk and confirm the hit.

BOOGIIO claims it can trace on connected, operating Ethernet links. In practice, I was able to locate several drops while they were still patched into a live switch, but it’s less clean than tracing an isolated cable. Expect more bleed and occasional false positives in those scenarios; if it’s mission-critical, unplug one side and tone clean.

For electrical or speaker wires, the alligator clips work fine—as long as the circuit is powered off. The probe will happily sing on energized lines right up to the moment you damage the tool; don’t do that. When I needed to trace a speaker cable behind a media cabinet, clipping to two conductors instead of one improved the pickup noticeably.

Cable testing

The cable test mode is basic but useful. It maps continuity for pins 1–8 and the shield on Ethernet. It flags opens, shorts, miswires, and reversals clearly enough to diagnose why a drop isn’t linking. It won’t report length or split pairs like a certification tester, but for day-to-day “is this cable good?” checks, it’s quick and effective.

Telephone testing is similarly simple. The emitter will identify line polarity (tip/ring) and detect presence of line voltage. If you still maintain POTS or legacy key systems, that’s handy for sanity-checking jacks during service calls.

Audio, LED, and headphones

The probe speaker is loud when sensitivity is up—sometimes too loud in tight spaces. The earphones tame that nicely, and I used them often. The LED indicator is tied to sensitivity, so don’t expect a silent visual-only trace unless you plug in headphones and turn the knob up to keep the LED responsive. A dedicated visual mode would have been nice, but this workaround does the job.

Battery life

Running the emitter hot and the probe loud eats 9V batteries faster than gentler kits. Over a long day of tracing and testing, I chewed through a fresh alkaline in the emitter. Keep spares in your bag or use rechargeable 9Vs if you trace frequently. The upside of that power appetite is the stronger tone and easier identification; it’s a tradeoff.

Build quality and durability

This is clearly a budget tool. The plastics are thin, the clip lead is the weakest link, and the manual is a rough translation. None of that stopped me from getting work done, but if you throw tools into a truck every day or need drop-proof, rainproof gear, this isn’t it. The storage box keeps everything together, though it’s not a protective case.

Tips for better results

• Isolate one end when possible. Unplugging from the switch reduces crosstalk dramatically.
• Start with lower sensitivity at patch panels, then increase as needed.
• Angle the probe and sweep slowly—listen for the point where the tone peaks (near the base of the tip).
• Clip to two conductors on non-Ethernet cables for a stronger signal.
• Use the headphones in loud spaces and to keep sensitivity high without blasting your ears.

What it’s good for

• Quickly identifying unknown Ethernet drops at the panel or jack
• Basic continuity and wiring checks on Cat5e/Cat6
• Tracing low-voltage cables (thermostat, speaker) with power off
• Verifying telephone line presence and polarity
• Occasional troubleshooting in IT closets and home/small office networks

What it’s not

• A certification tool or a length-measuring TDR
• A heavy-duty tracer for large, tightly bundled data centers
• A field-hardened, weatherproof kit

The bottom line

The BOOGIIO wire tracker punches above its price in tone strength and usability. It finds cables fast, the built-in network tests cover the basics, and the headphones/volume combo is genuinely helpful on the job. Its weaknesses—crosstalk in dense bundles, light-duty clips and housing, and brisk battery consumption—are real, but manageable if you adjust your technique and carry spare 9Vs.

Recommendation: I recommend this tool for technicians, IT generalists, and DIYers who need a capable, inexpensive tracer and basic cable tester for occasional to moderate use. It’s a time-saver for identifying drops and hunting faults in small to mid-size installs. If you’re tracing dense bundles daily, need rock-solid isolation in noisy environments, or want pro-grade durability, invest in a higher-end tone-and-probe set. For everyone else, this is a practical, budget-friendly addition to the kit.