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22 Karma

Review on Enhanced Connectivity: Belkin Ethernet + Power Adapter with Lightning Connector (Mfi-Certified for iPad POS Systems) (B2B165bt) by Daniel Shankle

Revainrating 3 out of 5

Lightning only charges, no data transfer

As mentioned in the question and answer, the lightning pass-through port can only be used for charging, not for data transfer. The intended use case for backhaul is obviously networks where the Ethernet switch does not support Power over Ethernet (POE). But it also means that app developers building POS terminals or other kiosk apps can't connect their test devices to their MacBooks and their test networks at the same time. Very uncomfortable! Makes debugging impossible. For such a price I expected such an opportunity. As others have pointed out, the cable is unnecessarily short, especially for a landscape iPad. If the adapter is not independently supported, the weight can mechanically stress the iOS device's Lightning connector. I can understand why it's so big and heavy: Power over Ethernet supplies 48 volts DC, while Lightning and other USB-based charging systems can only draw 5 volts. So there must be some sort of DC stepping electronics in the case - you may have heard them called "transformers" - and they're heavy. But given this design constraint, the cable really needs to be longer. I suggest Belkin upgrade the hardware to fix these shortcomings and get a 5 star rating.

Pros
  • great product
Cons
  • there are problems