Transfer files over an Ethernet patch cable
- ID
- 20381
- Status
- summarized
- Published
- 31 Aug 2026, 11:19 AM
- Fetched
- 02 Sep 2026, 3:11 AM
- Provider
- Hacker News
- Category
- dev-community
- Original URL
- https://maurycyz.com/misc/etherfiles/
- Source URL
- https://hnrss.org/best
Summary
- Score
- 5.5
- Created
- 02 Sep 2026, 4:16 AM
- Tags
- Audience
- developersvibe_coders
What happened
A practical walkthrough shows how to transfer large files between two Linux machines using a plain Ethernet patch cable, IPv6 link-local addresses, and socat, hitting ~900 Mbits/s (6.7 GB/min). The author compares this favorably against cloud storage (double transfer, throttling), WiFi (unreliable speeds), and USB removable storage (host/device limitation, cable quality issues), and notes Linux now supports similar direct transfer over USB-C/Thunderbolt via /dev/tbstreamX.
Why it matters
If you need to move a 10+ GB file between two machines a few meters apart, a single Ethernet patch cable with two ip commands and socat is faster, cheaper, and more reliable than cloud upload/download or USB drives. Worth keeping in your toolkit for offline data transfers or when bandwidth is constrained.
Discussion angle
How many builders still default to cloud or USB for large local transfers, and whether this trick is worth memorizing or just bookmarking for the rare occasion you need it.