Male Ethernet to Male USB adapter?

[PowerMac G4 MDD]

Not a Mac peripheral, but I found this odd cable that is possibly what I am thinking it is... So it's a cable about 6 feet long. On one end is male USB and on the other end is male ethernet. I have heard of male USB to female ethernet, but not THIS. Is this what I think it is? What, getting internet from ethernet by your computer's USB port? It seems highly unlikely... I just can't think of anything else it would do. Is it maybe for some other device besides a personal computer?

 

[Altemose]

Not a Mac peripheral, but I found this odd cable that is possibly what I am thinking it is... So it's a cable about 6 feet long. On one end is male USB and on the other end is male ethernet. I have heard of male USB to female ethernet, but not THIS. Is this what I think it is? What, getting internet from ethernet by your computer's USB port? It seems highly unlikely... I just can't think of anything else it would do. Is it maybe for some other device besides a personal computer?

I think it is used for machines without onboard Ethernet. Plug one end in the USB port and the other into the router or wall port.

 

[chrfr]

Not a Mac peripheral, but I found this odd cable that is possibly what I am thinking it is... So it's a cable about 6 feet long. On one end is male USB and on the other end is male ethernet. I have heard of male USB to female ethernet, but not THIS. Is this what I think it is? What, getting internet from ethernet by your computer's USB port? It seems highly unlikely... I just can't think of anything else it would do. Is it maybe for some other device besides a personal computer?

APC UPS's use a cable like that so that the UPS can communicate its status to a computer.
Like this one? http://www.amazon.com/APC-AP9827-USB-cable/dp/B0002WYJSU

 

[Boyd01]

Yep, I think you found it. I had a couple of those too.

 

[PowerMac G4 MDD]

APC UPS's use a cable like that so that the UPS can communicate its status to a computer.
Like this one? http://www.amazon.com/APC-AP9827-USB-cable/dp/B0002WYJSU

*smh* Stupid me; Tried plugging it into an ethernet port and it's not CAT5, it's something that looks so identical, I was sure it was... I have no idea then what it is and what it's for.

 

[Boyd01]

If you need USB to ethernet, this works well for me: https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/1731986/

 

[waw74]

as a little FYI

the connector is RJ-45 (the plastic part at the end)
the cable is cat5, 5e, 6 (the long part, with the copper in it)
the protocol is ethernet (the way the information is transmitted)


As chrfr suggested, it's probably a APC UPS cable.
those use a RJ50 which has 10 pins, as opposed to rj45 which has 8

The RJ style jacks are a little more robust than the mini/micro USB that's on everything these days, plus having it lock into place is a nice feature when it's under your desk.


or... maybe it's for plugging in your computer to ethernet if you don't have a port on your computer