If you’ve ever tried using a Raspberry Pi — or any single-board computer — while travelling, you probably know how frustrating it can be. Hotel rooms with no spare Ethernet ports, conference Wi-Fi behind captive portals, networks that block local discovery tools, or simply not knowing what IP address your headless board received can all turn a simple task into a hassle.

Last year, I came across a concept that sounded like the ideal solution: Ethernet over USB. The idea is beautifully simple — plug the Raspberry Pi into a laptop and it appears as a USB network adapter, just like when you enable USB tethering on a smartphone. That would mean no Wi-Fi setup, no IP scanning, no captive portal headaches — just plug in, SSH, and start working. Bonus: The host computer could even share its internet connection over that same cable.

At least, that’s the theory.



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