Help identifying weird ethernet port??

[TheBahrbarian]

So in my university dorms each room has a connection for wired internet access, but the issue is all across campus the school uses these weird connectors that I have never seen before, nor can I find anything about them online. They are not standard RJ45 connectors. The IT department simply tells us that the only place you can get cables for internet is the school store. And of course they sell the cables in the store that fit these for the great price of $42 for a 10ft cable which is absolutely ridiculous. I was hoping someone might be able to identify the port they use so maybe I could try and find a cheap cable elsewhere? I'd really rather not cough up the cash to the school store but my desktop doesn't have a wifi card so if I can't find another option I may just have to.

 

The school refers to the special cable as an "ALL-LAN Cable", not sure if that helps at all but simple google searches return nothing. I've posted a picture of the connector below (its the leftmost connector). If more pictures or a clearer one would help let me know.

[.Apex.]

6 minutes ago, TheBahrbarian said:

The school refers to the special cable as an "ALL-LAN Cable", not sure if that helps at all but simple google searches return nothing. I've posted a picture of the connector below (its the leftmost connector). If more pictures or a clearer one would help let me know.

Can you post a clearer close up of the connector? (a lot closer)

[Windows7ge]

Looks proprietary. Not only that but it looks VERY old based on the wear on it.

 

Not gonna lie if my campus did something control freak like this I wouldn't be beyond removing that face-plate and wiring in my own Cat5e/Cat6 keystone jack just for the semester then fixing it at the end. I expect it's standard Cat5e/Cat6 cable behind that plate.

 

If you don't like that idea removing the faceplate may reveal a sticker or injection molded model number on the side of the connector. That will tell you if it is any kind of standard connector and if you can order the male half of it online.

[TheBahrbarian]

2 minutes ago, Windows7ge said:

Looks proprietary. Not only that but it looks VERY old based on the wear on it.

 

Not gonna lie if my campus did something control freak like this I wouldn't be beyond removing that face-plate and wiring in my own Cat5e/Cat6 keystone jack just for the semester then fixing it at the end. I expect it's standard Cat5e/Cat6 cable behind that plate.

 

If you don't like that idea removing the faceplate may reveal a sticker or injection molded model number on the side of the connector. That will tell you if it is any kind of standard connector and if you can order the male half of it online.

Yeah its honestly really annoying they get away with shit like this. A select few buildings on campus have standard connectors, but even some of the really news ones use these. When I get a chance I will grab a clearer picture for you guys and I will take the faceplate off to investigate.

[Windows7ge]

5 hours ago, TheBahrbarian said:

I will take the faceplate off to investigate.

I am mildly amused by this:

 

College: Lets gouge our students who live on campus by making the Ethernet ports proprietary forcing them to buy our adapters (or persuade them to use Wi-Fi! (because it's easier to control their access - Security reasons)

 

also College: *Secures faceplates with what look to be standard flat-head screws*

 

...logic...freaking brilliant...10/10 would hire their IT/Security team.

[.Apex.]

2 minutes ago, TheBahrbarian said:

Yeah its honestly really annoying they get away with shit like this. A select few buildings on campus have standard connectors, but even some of the really news ones use these. When I get a chance I will grab a clearer picture for you guys and I will take the faceplate off to investigate.

Is that supposed to be 1 port or 2 ports? if it's 2 ports then a single port has 4 pins which is limited to 100Mbps, it's important to know what to search for.

[TheBahrbarian]

1 hour ago, _Syn_ said:

Is that supposed to be 1 port or 2 ports? if it's 2 ports then a single port has 4 pins which is limited to 100Mbps, it's important to know what to search for.

No its a single port. And we do have gigabit internet here so I guess if I can say one positive thing its that its quality internet.

[.Apex.]

32 minutes ago, TheBahrbarian said:

No its a single port. And we do have gigabit internet here so I guess if I can say one positive thing its that its quality internet.

What an inefficient design for an 8-pin port, it might help to know what ISP is used to provide internet since they're the only ones I can think of that would leverage and be able to produce this kind of proprietary port, but the port looks expensive to make I don't understand why they would go about it like this if it is indeed proprietary, unless maybe the connector itself is all plastic and cheap to produce and the port is just an outright payment and it would be worth it in the long run to resell those cables at a higher value, at least it does look robust so there's that going for it.

[beersykins]

That looks pretty similar to a Siemon/TERA connector, but also somewhat different, without any other context I would assume they installed those just to be a pain in the ass.  The keystone jack on the back likely has the same normal punchdown as a 'RJ45' connector.

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TERA

[TheBahrbarian]

@_Syn_Ok so I was able to acquire a cable through other means instead of purchasing one, so I can at least use the internet now. But that doesn't stop my curiosity of what the hell these ports are. I took a picture of the "weird" side of the cable. Additionally, the text printed on the side of the cable itself reads: "E132276-A (UL) CM 75 4PR 24AWG     CSA LL64151-A CMG FT4 CAT .5E PATCH CORD --- FTP 350MHZ"

[.Apex.]

4 hours ago, TheBahrbarian said:

"E132276-A (UL) CM 75 4PR 24AWG     CSA LL64151-A CMG FT4 CAT .5E PATCH CORD --- FTP 350MHZ"

Okay that does not look cheap, what the fuck is that..

 

Those part numbers are for the CAT 5E standard (wire) and not the connector itself.

[TheBahrbarian]

9 hours ago, _Syn_ said:

Okay that does not look cheap, what the fuck is that..

 

Those part numbers are for the CAT 5E standard (wire) and not the connector itself.

I checked out what @beersykinsmentioned about the Siemon Tera connector. It honestly looks like that. From what I can tell with my limited networking experience it's a 4-channel version of that connector (and since they advertise 2-channel versions right on their website I presume its possible). It also looks like its two 2-channel connector bodies press-fit together when you look at the picture since you can see the seam going down the middle.

 

Either way all I have to do now is see if I can get my hands on them for any less than what the store sells them for here. Who knows, maybe I could make some side cash re-selling them to other students? Haha. 

[schizznick]

The closest I have been able to find is the old IBM token ring connector. 

[mtz_federico]

Is it weird port to ethernet or is there something else in between (like a chip)?

[TheBahrbarian]

33 minutes ago, mtz_federico said:

Is it weird port to ethernet or is there something else in between (like a chip)?

No it's weird port to ethernet. There's a regular rj45 style connection on the other end, otherwise I wouldn't be able to plug it into my PC

[Eledore]

On 1/29/2020 at 6:02 PM, schizznick said:

The closest I have been able to find is the old IBM token ring connector. 
<Snip>

Nailed it.

These are  'Boy George connectors'. 

What schizznick shows is a common 4Pin+2ground 10mbit (Have seen it used for two telephone connections)

It has been used for 100mbit 4pairs using all 8 connection pins. (But the default IBM plug requires modificatio to do that).

But your university uses the even more rarer of the rarest a pure 8pin+ground 100mbit connector.

 

Outside of a few old structure in brussel i haven't seen any of these being used anywhere!

And last i knew of company i worked for. The 4pin connector they have in stock gets sold for over €500 a piece. The 8pin i have never seen the price the offered but i know it nearly always defaulted to replacing cables.

 

So maybe your univercity has a nice box of old stock and is using it as a security measure for there unmanaged and outdated networking equipment.