Eulogy For EJ

General
1

The ethernet jack may be dwindling in home use, but it has a long way to go before it is put out to pasture, if one takes note of the gazillion ethernet cables and ports in a Google data center and elsewhere.

2

The iMac pro has 10GB ethernet.

My home appears to have the wiring for ethernet but I haven't been able to make it work. Might need to look into it now that we have a 5K Mac in the house.

3

If it goes, I'll be sorry to see it go. But then I was sorry to see RS232 ports go away, too-- and PCMCIA.

  1. cables are far more robust than wireless options.
  2. On the scale of connectors that cost 5 cents (in bulk), it's a good connector. The design criteria of that series of connectors was the most robust connector (RJ11) that could be designed at a price point & assembly cost. (Unfortunately, it's frequently used in applications that should favor robustness over robust-for-5cents.)
  3. The prevalence of the connector for ethernet use has driven down the manufacturing costs for all users of RJ45 connectors & associated hardware, & CAT cable in other applications.
4

There are inexpensive master/remote testers that work pretty well-- they test continuity and wiring, but not the actual capacity to carry data. (So can't tell if non-data cable was used.)
I have this one, which is available under many labels from different sources:
https://www.amazon.com/Zoostliss-Network-Cable-Tester-Networking/dp/B06XZYXN63/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1512769116&sr=8-3&keywords=rj45+tester

5

I've only been fiddling around with PCs and whatnot for about seven years now, but in that short time I've managed to create a couple of disorderly rooms that look like a poor person's nano data center. The less cables and wires the better I say, but most tech devices still require a power source wire, HDMI cable, etc. Home power plug adapters have helped to reduce my need for long ethernet cables. Talking about this and looking at my spaghetti mess of wires makes me wonder why I started this thread. Oh well. love the tech stuff anyways. Just wish robust stuff looked a tad better.

6

Plain & simple IMO:
I'll take wired over wireless ANY day !!