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> What I wonder is why they don't come up with a mini-ethernet port format? I suspect that is part of the problem. The plug is just so big - though IMO Thunder
by untog 11y ago
> What I wonder is why they don't come up with a mini-ethernet port format?
I suspect that is part of the problem. The plug is just so big - though IMO Thunderbolt and USB adapters work OK. Realise not everyone thinks this way, though.
> But the main problem of USB adapters is that they don't like being unplugged and plugged back which happens quite frequently
? That's basically what they're designed for.
- cm2187 11y agoMaybe I am unlucky but I tried different adapters. The Apple ethernet adapter is not even plug and play on windows and requires a reboot. But even USB adapters take a while for drivers to load then I had all sort of problems: the connection regularly being recognised as 100Mbit when it should be gigabit or the USB adapter not being recognised after a couple of unplugging without a reboot.
- X-Istence 11y agoThe Apple Thunderbolt Ethernet Adapter is basically a PCIe devices over Thunderbolt. Unless your OS has hot plug PCIe, it's going to require a reboot.
- tracker1 11y agoIIRC, the apple thunderbolt ethernet adapter violates thunderbolt spec and relies on the adapter specific driver for hot-plug when it's supposed to be a generic interface... this is a problem in other OSes running on mac hardware even.
- vardump 11y agoAt least Windows and Linux have supported hot plug PCIe for ages. Although hardware PCIe slot register must support the optional presence detect bits. Also slot capabilities register must report optional hotplug support and surprise removal support. I guess thunderbolt has those features supported by default.
- Eric_WVGG 11y agoHow about a cable that’s USB-C on one side, has the ethernet controller built into the plug (similar to the way a Thunderbolt chip is crammed into the plug), and ethernet on the other end?