If you’ve been looking at laptops lately, you’ve probably noticed that there’s a definite trend to remove the Internet port , the RJ-45, from newer models. In this article we are going to tell you why, and of course what are the alternatives you have in this regard.
The RJ-45, also known simply as the “Internet port”, has been with us for many years, and allows us to connect the computer to the network in a wired way. Unlike wireless networks (WiFi), the wired network will allow us to have a more stable connection with maximum bandwidth, so why is it tending to disappear from laptops?
The Internet port on laptops
The premise of laptops is precisely the power to “port” them to use them anywhere, which is why the Wi- Fi wireless connection has gained special importance in these devices to the point that, at present, a laptop without Wi-Fi Logically, this has meant that the wired connection has been left to one side, which is why many manufacturers have made the decision to completely eliminate the RJ-45 connector from their laptop models.
Due to the design of the RJ-45 port itself, for some time manufacturers began to introduce it in their laptops in slim mode, a slightly narrower variant of this port on the outside and semi-covered by a tab, but in the end and finally with the same thickness as the normal port. This allowed manufacturers to create slimmer laptop models , but as you might guess, completely removing this port allowed them to create even slimmer models.
And it is that after all, as we mentioned a moment ago, the premise of laptops is portability, carrying them from one place to another comfortably, and since WiFi was already the order of the day for these devices, removing the RJ45 port allowed them to create thinner and lighter designs , something that would not be possible because the thickness of the RJ45 port was a limiting factor.
In essence, this is why more and more laptops now lack a wired internet port: because of its deprecation in favor of WiFi, and because its thickness was a limiting factor that didn’t allow them to create slimmer laptop designs. .
What alternatives are there if you want wired network on the laptop?
Many laptops do not have a wired port for the Internet, but as is logical, many users prefer to have a wired network to have a more stable connection with greater bandwidth than via WiFi (after all, despite using a laptop, many users always use it in the same place, so they prefer to use cable).
Fortunately, there are some options to be able to have a wired network on the laptop even without an RJ-45 port, so if you were thinking of buying a laptop, but you were hesitating because it lacks this port, do not worry because you have other options.
These options go through buying a separate adapter, of course, although we have told you that they are quite cheap and that they work very well. It is an adapter that, using a USB connection on the laptop, will allow you to connect a cable and will work as an external network card.
For example, we can recommend this TP-Link UE300 , a network adapter via USB 3.0 that provides a Gigabit (10/100/1000) wired Internet connection, delivering the same performance as if you connected the cable directly to the laptop and without even needing to install drivers.
This way, even if you have a very thin laptop (or even an Ultrabook) that doesn’t have an RJ-45 port, you can seamlessly connect it to your wired network and function as if it had one.