why haven't ethernet connectors changed?

Bret Clark bclark at spectraaccess.com
Thu Dec 20 19:24:20 UTC 2012


Sort of like saying why haven't we changed from RJ-48's for phones...old 
habits die hard I guess! For the most part the RJ-45 connector is pretty 
sturdy...remember those silly dongle cables that were used for pc-card 
Ethernet adapters in laptops...those things would last about a month 
before dying!

As for the Raspiberry PI (I own one) it was silly to even put Ethernet 
on that instead of wi-fi, especially for the educational market that the 
PI was initially developed for; what classroom has Ethernet running to 
every desk especially in poor nations where copper theft is rampart!

On 12/20/2012 01:40 PM, Howard C. Berkowitz wrote:
> On 12/20/2012 1:20 PM, Michael Thomas wrote:
>> I was looking at a Raspberry Pi board and was struck with how large
>> the ethernet
>> connector is in comparison to the board as a whole. It strikes me:
>> ethernet
>> connectors haven't changed that I'm aware in pretty much 25 years.
>> Every other
>> cable has changed several times in that time frame. I imaging that if
>> anybody
>> cared, ethernet cables could be many times smaller. Looking at wiring
>> closets,
>> etc, it seems like it might be a big win for density too.
>>
>> So why, oh why, nanog the omniscient do we still use rj45's?
>>
>> Mike
>>
>>
> Seen an AUI or vampire tap recently?  Vampires made a certain amount of
> sense, but the AUI connector seemed to have little purpose other than
> recycling weak metal from Coors beer cans.  IIRC, the inventor apologized.
>





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