As part of my usual shakedown for new PCs here at Chez Tittel, I went poking around inside Device Manager on the newly-arrived ThinkPad T14s. As it is a Snapdragon X Elite (Copilot+ PC) its networking interfaces come from Qualcomm. The laptop has no RJ-45 port (nor really, any room for one). And yet, a device named “Ethernet Controller” shows up in DevMgr in the always-puzzling “Other devices” category (see lead-in graphic). This has me chasing down this T14s mystery Ethernet controller.
Where’s the T14s Mystery Ethernet Controller?
Nowhere, as far as I can tell. I tried to find a driver for it, and couldn’t. I checked the chip and laptop documentation. I finally “got clue” when I looked in the User Manual under the heading “Connect to the wired Ethernet,” which reads as follows (helpful diagram included):
To connect your computer to a local network, you need a Lenovo USB-C to Ethernet Adapter. Lenovo USBC to Ethernet Adapter is available as an option and shipped with some computer models. You can purchase one from Lenovo at https://www.lenovo.com/accessories.
Shoot, Lenovo’s available model handles up to 2.5 GbE but requires separate purchase for an eminently reasonable US$32 or so. What I still don’t know is if the T14s chassis does include built-in wired Ethernet capability, albeit bereft of an actual link-up (which the illustrated item above nicely remedies). I’ve seen this on other Lenovo laptops (including the X380 Yoga which uses a proprietary laptop port rather than USB-C) so I’m still wondering…
Just Because I Can, Doesn’t Mean I Will
My local wired Ethernet still runs Gbe (1.0 speed, in other words). I’m not yet ready to upgrade my infrastructure to the higher speed. I can use my Starlink GbE dongle (USB 3.0 to RJ-45) instead if I must. That said, the Wi-Fi 7 interface on the T14s runs like a champ on my 802.11ac (Wi-Fi 6) network, so it’s all good right now.
It’s interesting that an Ethernet device shows up at all in DevMgr. I’ve never seen this before on Wi-Fi only laptops. But then, I’m still learning the ins and outs of Snapdragon X ARM-based Windows PCs. Good fun!
