> (I am of course boggled at how the proprietary thing is cheaper than just adding Ethernet full stop.) I think their hope was that if the cord were to be yan

> (I am of course boggled at how the proprietary thing is cheaper than just adding Ethernet full stop.) I think their hope was that if the cord were to be yanked with enough force, it would not damage the expensive dish module and force the customer to mail that whole thing back for repairs. If you yank hard enough on an RJ45 cable, it will probably damage the female jack. That jack is cheap and can be replaced, but not by customers in the field. The dongle doesn't appear to have any kind of retention clip, so it should just yank out without any damage to anything. And if the dongle gets damaged it's cheaper and less expensive to ship overnight than a whole new dish. This is just my theory.