Here’s what happens when you buy a network card for less than three Australian dollars. You might think an ethernet socket would be a fairly straightforward thing to manufacture, but apparently even that’s asking a bit much!

The problem is the RJ45 connector. Normally you plug in the cable, the little plastic clip clicks into place and everything stays where it belongs. Not with this one! The cable doesn’t click into anything and practically falls straight back out.

Looking a little closer, there’s a noticeable gap around the top of the socket. The connector doesn’t sit properly, and it doesn’t look particularly well made. I don’t think I’d have much confidence in this thing holding a cable for very long.

It gets better, though. There’s what looks like rust or corrosion around some of the metal contacts, along with a few other questionable-looking areas on the card. It almost looks as though it’s had a little adventure with some water somewhere along the way.

And what do we have here? A quality-control sticker! Apparently someone checked this card and decided everything was perfectly acceptable. Somehow, I don’t believe them.

I wasn’t expecting miracles for under three dollars, but a network card that can’t even hold onto its ethernet cable is a bit disappointing. Someone might want to have another look at that quality-control process, because this particular card is pretty much useless.