Are you talking about the "N" connectors with those 802.3 transceiver cables, BNC connectors (10Base5), or an Type RJ45 (10Base-T) telco style connector? I couldn't find anyone selling multi-step thicknet strippers in the late 1980s, so I had to use a Xacto knife to prepare thicknet cable and then crimp about 20 N connectors. Data General donated 8 workstations and CAD circuit-design software to our University. The workstations used N-style transceivers instead of those with vampire taps. What a nightmare! )-; matthew black california state university, long beach -----Original Message----- From: Michael Thomas [mailto:mike@mtcc.com] Sent: Thursday, December 20, 2012 10:20 AM To: NANOG list Subject: why haven't ethernet connectors changed? I was looking at a Raspberry Pi board and was struck with how large the ethernet connector is in comparison to the board as a whole. It strikes me: ethernet connectors haven't changed that I'm aware in pretty much 25 years. Every other cable has changed several times in that time frame. I imaging that if anybody cared, ethernet cables could be many times smaller. Looking at wiring closets, etc, it seems like it might be a big win for density too. So why, oh why, nanog the omniscient do we still use rj45's? Mike