1Gbps between PCB to PCB

[rakeshm55]

I have 1Gbps Ethernet signal to be routed to front panel board (PCB). I have limited space available to accommodate RJ45 Jacks  (2 jacks one at front panel board and other on a digital board) and cable bends also not sure whether RJ45 jack+RJ45 plug assembly would sustain vehicle mount vibrations.

Is there any solution available to route 1Gbps Ethernet from one board to another via a low profile connector.??

[SiliconWizard]

https://www.harting.com/US/en/solutions/harting-ix-industrial%C2%AE-ethernet-interface

[IDEngineer]

Interesting that Harting oriented that connector vertically. Every photo shows vertical orientation. I'm sure there's an application somewhere that would rather have a vertical connector,  but I can't come up with one right now unless PCB real estate is the limiting factor. I wonder if they offer a more traditional horizontal configuration like USB, HDMI, SATA....

[SiliconWizard]

Yeah. They have other product lines though, so maybe there's something horizontal as well.

The only reason I see is that this same connector put horizontally would not reduce PCB footprint enough compared to an RJ45 connector to really justify it or at least be competitive... as to robustness, it's supposed to have been tested in harsh conditions. Don't know how robust they really are.

[IDEngineer]

Another argument for the horizontal orientation is strength. Since this connector will be subjected to push/pull cable forces, distributing those forces over a larger PCB footprint would be advantageous. I suppose they could strain relief the connector to a panel, but the photos I saw don't seem to incorporate that option.

I'm not dissing the vertical orientation, just saying it's often suboptimal for multiple reasons. I use vertical connectors only when demanded by some outside requirement, otherwise horizontal are generally better.

[TimCambridge]

Samtec have solutions. https://www.samtec.com/

[David Hess]

Any connector and cable solution which maintains the impedance expected by the Ethernet transceivers will work; RJ-45 connectors (actually 8P8C modular connector) are not particularly outstanding in this regard.  With some care you could get away with ribbon cable and IDC connectors or even 0.1" pin headers.

[NiHaoMike]

Ethernet is pretty forgiving of signal degradation. In fact, even really poor wiring will tend to work fine until you start to get close to the maximum cable length limit.