When making your own Ethernet cables if it’s a cable that’s going to be moved around a lot and/or abused then it’s a good idea to protect the retainer tab and add some strain relief. This 3D printed part adds a boot or sleeve that protects the modular connector on the ends and adds cable strain relief.

This should be printed with a flexible filament. I printed in flesh colored 95A TPU. I would have liked a better color but TPU is expensive. 🙂

I could not get PrusaSlicer to generate usable supports so I used Ultimaker Cura with “lines” support (1.5mm spacing) and a support blocker for the whole lower base. TPU is really strong so it can be a little difficult to remove the support but it can be pulled out with sharp tweezers or a flat screwdriver.

If anyone comes up with a better way to print this so that the support is not such a pain then I would like to know about it.

Updated 2022-10-14: Version 2 adds more strength and plug retainer.

Updated 2022-10-16: Re-exported 3D mesh to make it cleaner.

The Printables page for this project.