Console port compatibility with SH-RJ45A from DSD Tech

mMontana

Hi to all the Zyxel folks reading this message,
serial connection has been part of Zyxel devices I see for a long time… Zywall 2 Plus and Zywall 5 had a serial connection availabe, some with RS232 port some with an RJ45 port.

Today, RJ45 console port is still on latest USG Flex lineup, and I think it's not going away soon.
Thanks to Zyxel for delivert in almost every device with console port a cable for access to that so important interface.

However: it's quite stale.
It's like almost 10 years that RS232 port is not on laptops (excluding PLC-dedicated products) and also USB type A is almost disappearing.

So…

I'd love that Zyxel consider to state compatibility (or not!) with some of the cables RJ45-Console port that are available on the market, if not deliver themselves as a cheap reference to the catalog.

At this page

https://www.deshide.com/product-details.html?pid=304954&_t=1661828145

all the specs, pinout included, can be found for DSD Tech SH-RJ45A

Also… Even Cupertino abticated from Ligthning-nonesense. So please, consider for switches, firewalls and APs the possibility to deliver… USB C port on devices, with a serial interface chip installed
I know, won't be that soon. But who knows? Maybe you'll save even some more precious space on your devices :-)

Thanks for taking the time on this post.

Zyxel_Judy

Hi @mMontana ,

Thank you for sharing. From your description, we assume that you suggest for a console cable with 2 connectors as below:

• SH-RJ45A / USB type C connector for Zyxel devices (firewalls, switches, access points) and
  
• USB Type-A connector for laptop connection?

For future switch models, we will implement the specifications mentioned above. For future access points and firewalls, we will carefully evaluate these requirements.

mMontana

That could be an option.
Otherwise, integrate USB-C and serial chip into "big enough" devices (firewall, switches) with standard pinout of the connector (some sort of short-ESD protection too), avoiding the necessity of "custom hardware" for… Computers, laptops, tablet… smartphones? :)

Side opinion: APs are more and more power demanding but also… software-feature rich and with computational power. Therefore, as firewalls are requested to "manage" traffic (and not only forward).

In your project i can understand…

on one hand, serial interface is local and really useful for debugging/resolving not properly functional hardware
on the other hand alwas a possible security issue, with standard connections