I do recall someone on the Framework subreddit saying that they carry a laptop around with them on a shop/factory floor, but mostly use wired ethernet when they stop and put it down on a workbench. Using a dongle wouldn't be great because it'd be something that would swing around unpredictably as he'd walk around a crowded room with lots of people and machines running. So in this case, this expansion card would probably be a useful step up from a dongle.
Regardless, a retractable "XJACK"[0] from the PCMCIA days might have been a better choice for this, if the hardware could be made "short" enough in that dimension. Downside there is of course fragility; I imagine they're easy to snap off.
3Com also had a proprietary connector on the PCMCIA card edge, and an adapter cable of a few/several inches that went from that to a bulky RJ45 socket housing with an LED on it. It meant carrying the adapter with your laptop, but the experience during use felt a little better. The PCMCIA-side of the adapter stuck out a bit and wasn't a very solid attachment, but that might've been partly by design. If the cable gets jerked, the connector might pull out before dashing the much more expensive laptop to the floor.
Overall, I liked the Xircom RealPort PCMCIA/CardBus cards of the same era, which took up the space of 2 PCMCIA slots, and basically added 1 or more flush connectors to the side of your laptop. https://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_nkw=xircom%20realport
(I mentioned all 3 of these kinds of cards, in a vagabonding laptop writeup at the time: https://www.neilvandyke.org/linux-thinkpad-560e/ )
Ah thanks for finding the name, I tried to describe it in an older comment [1], on the same topic of Framework laptop expansions.
Agree with you, I hope such a version exists one day!
Just looking at it, as long as its manufactured to reasonable tolerances, you'd have to do quite a bit to damage the laptop via the protrusion. I'm not sure how big of a deal this is. I'd just throw it in a bag and not worry about it, protrusion and all.
https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/1520/4366/products/type-c-...
https://cdn11.bigcommerce.com/s-n2pgpewhfn/images/stencil/12...
Trying to fit ethernet into a slimmer form factor has been around for a loooooooong time....
Those fucking suck, and some of us use our laptops on our laps, with ethernet connected. Those expanding jacks basically only work while it is on a desk because if the cable bends downwards even a tiny bit it just comes out.
They could've made the expansion slot bigger. It's unlikely that Ethernet wasn't talked about at some point when they designed the laptop. They chose not to, which may very well be the right choice, but then we're talking about trade-ofs not about possibilities.
There are definitely small jacks [1] that seem to work fine. There's also plenty of 2.5G usb dongles that have a pretty small form factor. So it doesn't seem like there's a technical reason it has to be that big.
Perhaps the folding connectors don't have the long-term durability? (Though, a huge benefit of the Framework is a broken port doesn't mean your entire machine is broken).
Maybe component availability? Maybe it was they only way to build it at a reasonable cost for the sales they expect?
[1] https://thetechnologyman.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/HP-P...
dont get me wrong i'm sure there are better designs than others, but when its bad, its really bad
I used to work in an R&D lab at AT&T (the mothership, pre at&t = cellular/mobile). My laptops took many falls due to someone/something giving the Ethernet cord a tug so I was in the habit of not just cutting the boots but removing the tab that's designed to keep the cable in the socket. I still do that on whatever eth cable goes into my backpack.
It's also good around hyper and small dogs/children :)
The repairability and linux support of the device is very cool. The easy upgrade internals and well labeled bits are very cool, but the external modules seem kind of pointless to me. They take up valuable interior space and are basically snap in USB-C dongles anyway.
If you have a few of these square framework only modules in your bag is that better than having more universal mac style dongles?
I like having a microSD reader built in for instance, even if most people don't need one. With most laptops now I'd need to carry a card reader around and it wouldn't be flush with the laptop.
This ethernet module is a little bulky, but it still looks like it fits more snugly than any third party dongle would, and chances are you wouldn't want to take it with you when you leave the house anyway.
The bottom of the expansion cards is exposed though - it seems like it should be possible to do the fold open style of connector that a lot of laptops have built in without it needing to expand past the edge. But maybe including the circuitboard as well took up too much space.
“I never have to undergo those complicated hardware upgrades, because a Mac always comes with everything already.”
I prefer the "oldschool" way... give us a bunch of usb ports, ethernet, sd card reader, one or two video out options, etc. then add a few (back in the time pcmcia/expresscard) expansion ports for other things.
The current options seem like configuring a car, and having a steering wheel as an optional addon module.
again, as I said, I might be getting old :)
Turns out... it just really doesn't matter much, and there are a bunch of upsides.
Namely - I can charge on either side, with basically any decent usb-c charger, and I can plug it into basically any usb-c dock. Those are pretty huge points of convenience. They actively make my life a lot better (seriously - a single charger for all my devices while traveling is SO fucking nice - two laptops, headphones, phone, remarkable... one charger).
The only caveat? I have to throw a single usb-c dongle into my laptop bag for the occasional time I need it. My pick of choice is the pinephone dongle (https://pine64.com/product/pinephone-usb-c-docking-bar-dark-...) since it's cheap, has ethernet and HDMI, plus two usb ports, and works with basically every usb-c device I've plugged it into, on any OS.
Big plus? That dongle is way, way smaller than the extra chargers I'd be lugging around otherwise.
- - —
> card that sticks out like that
remember PCMCIA cards? back in those good old days of laptops taking a universal expansion card physical format, the Ethernet cards often had a spring loaded pop-out jack to hold the Ethernet cable.
look at the picture for this on wikipedia:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PC_Card
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PC_Card#/media/File:XJACK_netw...
Framework is simply “doing it wrong”.
// disclaimer: I own the latest Frame.work model, my bias to want their success is strong enough that I bought one
The main point of the self contained expansions is that you are unlikely to loose them and they can safely travel around with the device. With a card that protrudes like that, if you want to put the laptop in a bag, you have to take the card out, or risk damaging the card and/or laptop as the protrusion gets levered around. The expansion cards plug into USB-C connectors that are soldered directly onto the motherboard, so the risk of damaging the motherboard though the expansion card does exist (although it's probably not that likely, and any damage would probably be localized to just the motherboard's USB connector).
With a external Ethernet port, you can have the USB expansion card in between the motherboard and the USB Ethernet device, to prevent wear on the motherboard's connector when repeatedly connecting and disconnecting the device.
So what's the gain by using the expansion card format, when it can't permanently live in the laptop? You might as well just use a cable. I guess maybe if you only carry the laptop by hand and have to constantly use Ethernet, like if you're debugging a network installation, it would be good? But a regular USB Ethernet port seems like it would be more practical for most cases.