This thing absolutely had to have ethernet, so I bought a linksys 10/100 USB network adapter. Which is well supported in windows AND linux.

After awhile with it, I decided I should make it internal.

I took the case apart, and de-soldered the contacts for the USB cable and the RJ45 Jack. I also de-soldered the USB port on the board. I also de-soldered the phone line-out (which I would replace with a RJ45-out), and set up placement.

I ended up placing it directly on top of the modem. The two boards are separated by part of a DVD cover, and it is secured with double-sided foam tape.

I then realized the RJ45 jack would not fit in the place where the phone out jack was, due to the number of pins being different and longer (not to mention clearing the solder). So I got out the dremel and cut about a 2cm x 1cm sqare out of the motherboard. I guess I was just pissed and bullheadedly determined, because I know I shouldn't have done that.

Yes you heard me right yet again, We (the royal we) cut (WITH A DREMEL!) a square (WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU!) out of the motherboard (THE DAMN MOBO!!) to fit the RJ45 connector (BUT IT COULD HAVE EASILY FIT ANYWHERE ELSE!!!)

I never claimed to all that smart, and at that time didn't know that most motherboard PCB's are sandwiched with 3 or more layers. I cleaned up the board of all the debris and powered it on (just to make sure, since my tungsten carbide bit flipped out during the cut and sent the board flying 2 feet into the wall).

THATS RIGHT, I CUT MY MOBO WITH A DREMEL, AND IT CAUSED IT TO FLY 2 FEET INTO A WALL!!!

hrm...Anyway, I powered it on and....nothing. I guess I wasn't that suprised.

I cleaned it off even more meticulously, and checked the whole PCB for signs of damage. Sure enough, right by the cut, there was a broken trace (actually the trace was hanging off the board like a piece of hair coming out of your arm). I repaired that and tried again. Woila! LIFE!

I finished connecting the wires to the card, and to the USB port, and when it was finished it looked like this:




On the reference illustration, the ethernet card is marked in red, the wiring to the USB port is orange, and the wiring to the RJ45 is green. I also wired the led's that used to be on the ethernet card to the led on top after breaking those bridges with a knife.