My laptop's RJ45 Ethernet socket has failed. Is it possible to use the RJ11 socket to connect to the network via some kind of adapter? Would Windows be able to use the RJ11 to connect to the internet?
What I have: a (presumably) working RJ11 socket in my laptop. An ethernet cable with RJ45 connectors at each end. A virgin media cable modem that one end of the ethernet cable goes into.
I hope that makes sense! I barely know what I'm talking about here!!
The required equipment for you to make a network connection using your modem will cost more than a USB NIC, and have worse performance. Don't even try.
The problem is not all related to the connector (RJ11), but the electronic inside, that is connected to the modem for PSTN line. Default (no passive POE for example) 10/100 Ethernet uses only 2 pairs of wires, and requires just four "vias" in the connector.
@Signal15 PSTN modems are still used, some satellite connections use the PSTN line with a modem for the uplink, less and less of course, but is not that "archaic" that no one will have.
The RJ11 jack is for dial-up connection and connects to the modem inside your laptop. So if you have a phone line you can connect to the internet through it but the speed is obviously just as slow as one can expected for dial-up (56/115/231kbps). Theoretically it's also possible to use RJ11 as ethernet and connect 2 computers, since what you need is just a way to transfer bits between 2 points. But in reality there's nothing I can find that uses RJ11 for transmission
