Question Can someone help me Identify this cable? It goes from ethernet(maybe Cat5e) to ethernet and USB.

[Hatman1999]

I found this wire at home

and I can't understand how to use the USB part of it. I connected this end to my home router(it is a small thing that gives wifi)

and this end to my laptop

using this TP-Link adapter

and it works fine. But when I connect the usb to my laptop and disconnect the adapter then it does not even get identified. It does not show up in USBView(Windows 10 SDK). I am guessing I need to download some drivers as the TP-Link adapter has its own driver but the cable does not install its own.
So can anyone help me in identifying the cable or if I need some drivers then sending me a link to them.

I'll also write down here whats written on the cable.
E2581086 (UL) C(UL) CM 75°C UTP 4PR VERIFIED CAT5e 350MHz TIA/EIA-568B.2 FT4 ETL PATCH CABLE BROAD

 

[siaan312]

That seems to me like supplementry power, for when POE was still not really a thing, but i don't really know.

 

[oloruin]

So what you have is an RJ45 to ethernet/USB cable. Not necessarily an ethernet to ethernet/USB. (RJ45 is the connector, and is used for more than just ethernet).

Older cable modems had the option of connecting to a computer via USB or Ethernet. Sometimes with different MAC addresses for each, so the cable company would have to authorize the correct connection for the thing to work...

Knowing the modem type would probably answer the question. If you found it and it was not previously in use, it may have come with a different piece of equipment than what you are using it with? I don't think someone would need to inject PoE into a cable/dsl modem. (Note: the upstream end of the cable specifies MODEM rather than ROUTER/SWITCH...)

My speculation is that the modem this cable came with could work as a USB network connection or an ethernet network connection. Instead of spending money to make a bigger box with multiple connectors that would go unused, the MFG use the RJ45 for both use cases, with internal hardware routing the pins to a USB or ethernet implementation.

 

[Phillip Corcoran]

oloruin --- this thread was started nine months ago so I very much doubt he still needs help with the cable after all that time !