Faults along a transmission pathway of a cell tower disrupt or prevent the cell tower from connecting user equipment (UE) to a cellular network. A cell tower monitoring and diagnostic system identify faults that occur along the transmission pathway and provide information regarding the faults to a network management center. The cell tower monitoring and diagnostic system can include multiple monitoring devices that are electrically coupled to portions of the transmission pathway. Each of the monitoring devices outputs an inquiry signal along the portion of the transmission pathway and receives a response signal in return. Each of the monitoring devices generates and transmits an output based on the response signal. A base station analyzes or evaluates the outputs from the monitoring devices to identify a fault on the transmission pathway. The base station can also determine the location and type of the fault based on the output.