whyrlpoolwhyrlpool
May 27, 2026, 10:55 AMI am sane and can be trusted in ur noc
Today’s shitpost: USB-c only network switch :3
Replies
May 27, 2026, 11:06 AM@whyrlpool@slime.global awful thank you
May 27, 2026, 11:08 AM@whyrlpool But is it 2.5gb 🤔
- whyrlpoolwhyrlpoolMay 27, 2026, 11:11 AM
@mal ax88179a so nope, only 1gig, plus the switch itself was alarmingly cheap
Quadquad@akko.quad.moeMay 27, 2026, 11:19 AM@whyrlpool I would genuinely need this sometimes. I know so many people who claim to be IT people but who still buy laptops without ethernet ports and might not even own a dongle.
A device like this (perhaps with one adapter removed so there's an RJ45 uplink) would be great for whenever you need to reliably connect those fake enthusiasts to a network, say for a LAN party or similar.
Having the MAC address follow the switch port rather than the device would also allow for some funny business with DHCP reservation and speed limits, such always knowing that "10.0.0.101" is whatever device is connected to port 1 on the switch, while "10.0.0.102" is whatever is connected port 2.- whyrlpoolwhyrlpoolMay 27, 2026, 11:33 AM
@quad well each adapter just has a static mac address so you could use an edgerouterX or similar less-dumb switch/router and set up static leases, and then not populate every port
the adapters were £7-ish each on aliexpress
- Quadquad@akko.quad.moeMay 27, 2026, 11:35 AM@whyrlpool Well yeah, I know how these work. I don't own one of those adapters, but I do own a straight USB-C to RJ45 cable that I use when I need to plug USB-C devices into my network.
I would consider making one of those USB-C switches myself, unfortunately I don't own a 3D printer anymore, and I guess it's not that cost effective anyways when you need to buy an adapter per port.
Maybe one day someone will make an AliExpress version that's more cost effective and compact with all the USB-to-Ethernet chips soldered straight onto the same PCB as the switch chip. - Quadquad@akko.quad.moeMay 27, 2026, 11:38 AM@whyrlpool As long as I'd need to buy all the dongles anyways, I guess I might as well just buy a regular 5-port switch, then buy five more cables similar to this: https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005012135233210.html
- whyrlpoolwhyrlpoolMay 27, 2026, 11:40 AM
@quad yeah, itd be really nice if someone came out with a charger that could do 65-100W per port plus ethernet between them all so you’d only need one cable per laptop, but im just dreaming at this point
- Quadquad@akko.quad.moeMay 27, 2026, 11:42 AM@whyrlpool Well, there's already charging stations with ~4 USB-C ports for charging multiple laptops at once.
I'm sure that sticking a cheap ethernet switch chip in there along with some cheap ethernet adapter chips so it has an internal switch wouldn't be too difficult if someone in china just bothered. 
vivikuriko@wetdry.worldMay 27, 2026, 12:35 PM@whyrlpool does it do POUSB-C+++++? i want to power my 180w work laptop with one cable from the network box
- whyrlpoolwhyrlpoolMay 27, 2026, 1:13 PM
@kuriko if only, id love if the switch did PD3.1EPR and a few other things as well ;;
Alice /^╥˰╥^\CatMaidLeugim@chaos.socialMay 27, 2026, 1:13 PM
penguin42penguin42@mastodon.org.ukMay 27, 2026, 2:19 PM@whyrlpool Yes please! Something that could do fullspeed Thunderbolt 4 on each port, and a few ports would make a nice cluster
- whyrlpoolwhyrlpoolMay 27, 2026, 3:09 PM
@penguin42 fairly sure usb4stream can’t do multiplexing over a single link, would be neat if you could though
- penguin42penguin42@mastodon.org.ukMay 27, 2026, 5:06 PM
@whyrlpool Yeh I'd assume it would need to be a proper switch with deserialisation and buffering and routing and all that fun.
wertzuiwertzu1@mastodon.socialMay 27, 2026, 4:05 PM@whyrlpool "We have the technology"
mirthmirth@mastodon.sdf.orgMay 28, 2026, 3:29 AM@whyrlpool I would pay money if I could get that in a form that could pretend to be high speed Ethernet.
- whyrlpoolwhyrlpoolMay 28, 2026, 10:31 AM
@mirth with a fancier switch you could set it to always negotiate 10/100 if you need “fast” ethernet, currently it just does gigabit
- mirthmirth@mastodon.sdf.orgMay 28, 2026, 2:51 PM
@whyrlpool Oh I want 10Gbps or higher, and so many devices already have that available in their USB interfaces these days just without an easy switch option.
arriearrieseveneight@hachyderm.ioMay 28, 2026, 4:10 AM@whyrlpool this is the future of Technology
LilFluffLilFluff@mastodon.artMay 29, 2026, 3:34 AM@whyrlpool Truthfully I am shocked that as far as I can tell no one has yet to make a combo USB multi-laptop charger & network switch. It would so simplify our laptop carts at work. One cable, boom, network *and* power. You can get laptop docks that will supply a single laptop with power and network (and even monitor connections) over USB-C, so why not a combo power & network switch for the carts?
JulianCalabyjuliancalaby@treehouse.systemsMay 30, 2026, 4:10 AM@whyrlpool Slightly disappointed that the USB-C port that powers it isn't identical to the others and somehow in the middle.