Ethernet to USB 2.0 question

Question guys: I have a friend who has a laptop with 2 USB 2.0 connections on it. Unfortunately, they have both been broken (pets and kids). I looked up the service manual for his laptop, and his USB ports appear to be hardwired to the motherboard. Before researching the possibility of trying to replace them or getting a new motherboard, I thought maybe there was an adapter cable that would him to use his Ethernet port to connect to a usb hub. All of the adapters I have found online are the opposite of what I need (all I have found are usb to ethernet, I need an ethernet to usb). Anyone know of an adapter that and do that? I am trying to think of a solution outside of the box...and new motherboard for his laptop is 180 bucks on ebay, and he has a lower end laptop, so it is probably not worth the cost to replace the board.

Thanks in advance!

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Comments

tiersten

What USB devices is he intending to use? If its just storage like USB flash and printers then any decent NAS box will handle those and also give him networked storage.

If you want a box that can handle any type of USB device then it'll cost more. I've seen some in the past but I can't remember the names and I don't know the full compatibility list.

Thxlbx

tiersten wrote: »

What USB devices is he intending to use? If its just storage like USB flash and printers then any decent NAS box will handle those and also give him networked storage.

If you want a box that can handle any type of USB device then it'll cost more. I've seen some in the past but I can't remember the names and I don't know the full compatibility list.

Mainly for storage, although he would also like to hook a wireless mouse as well.

Povilas

Does this laptop have a PC Card or Express Card slot? Then you can use it to have additional 2 or 4 USB ports for 10-20$.

Devilsbane

Povilas wrote: »

Does this laptop have a PC Card or Express Card slot? Then you can use it to have additional 2 or 4 USB ports for 10-20$.

If you can't fix it, this is probably the way to go.

Thxlbx

Povilas wrote: »

Does this laptop have a PC Card or Express Card slot? Then you can use it to have additional 2 or 4 USB ports for 10-20$.

Unfortunately, no. That was my first thought but he has no slots.

mikej412

Belkin and IOGear have their networked USB hubs and/or servers that sound like it could do what your friend wants.

Povilas

I have used TPLink TL-PS310U as USB over IP. It may help in this situation, but it is suitable only for low speed applications like hardware locks for software, but not for storage applications.

SteveLord

New laptop. If his only has 2 ports on it, it sounds old enough to warrant a modern replacement anyway (all mine from LAST year have 4). With laptop hardware degrading much faster than desktop hardware, it almost never makes sense pouring time and money into them. Of which, he will still endup with a halfassed laptop anyway.

(This is also why it makes sense to get extended warranties for them if you can afford to.)

Devilsbane

SteveLord wrote: »

(This is also why it makes sense to get extended warranties for them if you can afford to.)

Consumer Reports did a study a couple years back, and their consensus was that a warrany is a bad deal in most cases. For example, say you bought a $100 and the warranty was an additional $10. The only way buying the warranty is going to save you money is if the device fails greater than 10% of the time. (And even if it was say 5% of the time, is it really worth all of that effort to contact the place and arrange a swap?)

So I usually pass on the warranty. But when it came to my $1500 laptop about a year ago, it just made sense to spend the extra $300 to get a 3 year warranty that covered accidental damange. So far it's been a bad deal, but being a laptop a fatal spill is never too far away and I still have nearly 2 years to go.