I'm designing a small board that needs an ethernet connection. However, the RJ45 jack takes considerable space. I would like to reduce the footprint of the connector to safe some space.
Would it be possible to replace it by a (non-standard) smaller connector, like a micro usb connector or a JST PH connector? Which connectors would be suitable and why (or why not)?
Best Answer
You can use any connector or even solder directly wires on the PCB.
The drawback is that you may not be able to be compliant to Ethernet standard, have EMC issue and/or can't reach 100m. But if it's for debug purpose, usually you don't need all the previous.
This little thing (35x25 mm) feature a Gigabit PHY (KSZ9031) and have a soldered RJ45 cable (2m, 5m or 10m). It is used for debug purpose and have been developped due to very tight space constraints and especially the board needed to be as flat as possible. We were able to stream 400Mbps on 5m cable without any issue. (RGMII is provided through a connector on bottom side)