←back to thread

Ask HN: Why haven't we miniaturized the Ethernet RJ45?

10 points linuxlizard | 1 comments | 15 Oct 24 14:50 UTC | HN request time: 0.204s | source

Why is the Ethernet jack still a huge monstrosity? I see these small boards appearing and the ridiculous sized Ethernet jack looms over the PCB.

https://www.cnx-software.com/2024/10/14/wiznet-w55rp20-evb-pico-board-features-w55rp20-sip-with-w5500-ethernet-controller-and-rp2040-mcu/

We have gone from giant USB-A to the slim USB-C and converters are available. We have mini Display Port and converters are available. Why has no one tried to miniaturize RJ45?

1. runjake ◴[15 Oct 24 18:58 UTC] No.41851924[source]▶
There are various alternatives (I.e. ND9, M12, etc), but they never really gained any traction in the mass market, where it matters.

I work on this stuff all day, every day and I can't tell you why we're still using RJ-45.

I could see FttD (Fiber to the Desktop) happen, but it will swap out these problems with new problems.