Ultimate RJ-45 Jack Cover

cults3d

If you have network equipment anywhere outside a clean room, you know that those unused ports collect all sorts of dust and crud sooner or later. Since it's always better to prevent a problem than solve one, capping off unused ports is a smart idea. I looked at commercially available dust caps which got mixed reviews and seemed overpriced. I tried printing a few from Thingiverse but none met my requirements. It turns out there is a fair amount of variation between RJ-45 jacks so a cap that fits one is too tight for another, or falls out completely. So I came up with this solution which completely covers the port opening and fits a wide range of jacks including Netgear switch, TP-Link switch, D-Link switch, TRENDNet patch panel, ASUS router, Leviton keystone, Cable Matters keystone, CE Tech (Home Depot) keystone, ICC EZ keystone. They are easy to remove with your fingernail, so I didn't see the point in adding a handle. Not having a handle also makes it simple to print. For best results use Ninja SemiFlex filament, it provides just the right amount of flexibility. Even using this relatively expensive material, the cost works out to only $0.07 of filament per cover. I run a batch of 25 at a time as needed.