Ethernet / RJ45 lip protective sleeve

thingiverse

This is a protective sleeve designed specifically for RJ45 (Ethernet) plugs, which are notoriously fragile. The design was inspired by similar sleeves found on factory-made cables, and it has proven to be one of the most effective solutions I've encountered. To print this sleeve effectively, you'll need to use a flexible filament that allows the two tabs to move sideways when pushing down the connector lip. A flexible filament also makes it possible for the sleeve to bend and become much more durable. I highly recommend using a rather hard flexible filament, as a softer one could make the tabs too floppy to provide adequate protection. If you prefer to print this in a non-flexible filament, you'll need to use jonnieZG's remix instead. My original model is designed with the assumption that the filament will be flexible, and the 'teeth' that must be pushed into the plug end are slightly too wide to provide a secure press fit. The remix has more precise tolerances for this part, making it usable with filaments that don't bend. This sleeve is intended for use on cables that you crimp yourself, and it should be applied before crimping the plug onto the cable. In theory, you could also fit the sleeve onto a cable that already has plugs crimped on, but you would need to slice open one side of the sleeve or cut it in two halves and glue them back together. If you want to fit this sleeve onto a cable with a factory-moulded sleeve, you could try cutting away the existing sleeve, but it might be less effort to simply cut off the existing plug and crimp a new one. For an even more secure mount, you may want to add some glue between the sleeve and the plug.