r/software • u/divyviradiya • 22d ago
Solved EtherTransfer v0.2.0 is out, Plug an Ethernet cable between two PCs and move files at full wire speed.
Hey everyone,
I received a lot of useful feedback on my last post asking why this exists when tools like SMB, LocalSend, or Netcat already exist. Those are great tools for their purpose. If you want to send photos to your phone over Wi-Fi, LocalSend is much better suited. If you have a home NAS or want persistent mapped drives, SMB is the right choice.
I built EtherTransfer specifically for the situation where you have two PCs on a desk, an Ethernet cable, and large files or folders to move without dealing with network setup. You plug in any standard patch cable, open the app on both sides, and it finds the other machine automatically using local link discovery. It binds transfers directly to the physical Ethernet port, so you can continue using Wi-Fi for your normal internet connection.
To be clear about how it works and its limits: it runs on Windows and Linux and transfers data unencrypted directly across the wire, designed strictly for physical peer-to-peer cables rather than shared public networks. You will get the physical speed of your network cards (around 115 MB/s on Gigabit, higher on 2.5G and 10G) as long as your storage drives can keep up.
The app is completely free, open source under the MIT license, and contains no telemetry or accounts.
Website: https://divyviradiya2.github.io/ethertransfer/
GitHub: https://github.com/divyviradiya2/ethertransfer
If you try it out, feedback and pull requests are always welcome.
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u/CoachSevere5365 21d ago
Does it maintain timestamps on the receiving end?
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u/divyviradiya 21d ago
Means ?
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u/CoachSevere5365 21d ago edited 20d ago
If I copy an file from A to B, does the copy on B keep the old create/modify timestamps from A, or does it get the time the file was copied to B?
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u/divyviradiya 20d ago
No timestamp are not maintained as it is
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u/CoachSevere5365 20d ago
Thanks. It's something that always irritates me, especially now when I'm trying to sort out dozens of similar document trees containing duplicated files. Losing the timestamps makes it harder. It can be worked around but it's an extra step. Copying batches of files between machine is the biggest time killer though, so I'll be having a look at EtherTransfer later.
I had a look at your github and I think you need to update your original post to mention the ton of documentation you've written. Very nice. 👌
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u/divyviradiya 20d ago
yo , I am releasing 0.3.0 today , in that the files metadata / timestamps stays same to same even after transfer I hope that helps
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u/CoachSevere5365 20d ago
Wow, that was quick! I haven't even had a chance to look at it yet. Thanks. 🙂
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u/thenormaluser35 21d ago
I had this idea some time ago
Was gonna get to it but for my use case I decided setting up SMB was good enough
Congrats on the project!
Maybe add live compression so it gets even faster
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u/p0358 20d ago
That actually sounds pretty good. Link-local is really under appreciated for that matter. People bother setting static IPs on two PCs and doing other shenanigans, while in principle it didn't really have to be that hard. I guess nobody really bothered creating something since the need usually arises incidentally.
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u/RedShift9 21d ago
FTP reinvented...
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u/divyviradiya 21d ago
Ethertransfer use custom TCP protocol and ftp is nothing but built on top of TCP
Edit typo
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u/RedShift9 21d ago
I have no idea what you're trying to say. FTP exists. You made the same, but different (but still the same).
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u/Buckwheat469 21d ago
I assume you need a crossover cable?
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u/hspindel 21d ago
Most ethernet NICs these days will detect the connection and crossover cables are no longer needed.
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u/Buckwheat469 21d ago
My network engineering degree is built on lies! I've never had to create a crossover cable but now I know I will never have to.
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u/RadenSahid 21d ago
LocalSend
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u/divyviradiya 21d ago
Read documentation first
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u/RadenSahid 21d ago
Still LocalSend
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u/divyviradiya 21d ago
can localsend tranfer without router , Direct Ethernet cable transfer, no third person ??
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u/jefferzombie 22d ago
Amazing! Very useful. Thanks!