Transfer large files and folders between two PCs via Ethernet cable.
No router required. EtherTransfer is a simple, open-source utility designed to move massive datasets directly between computers. No internet or network configuration needed.
Why EtherTransfer Exists
Zero Network Configuration
Plug in a standard Ethernet cable and launch EtherTransfer. Automatic Link-Local (APIPA RFC 3927) and Linux nmcli configuration handle IP negotiation automatically. No manual IP math, no DHCP servers, and no routers required.
Physical Interface Pinning
EtherTransfer binds sockets strictly to physical Ethernet adapters, filtering out Wi-Fi and VPN routes. You can continue browsing the web on Wi-Fi while massive gigabyte files saturate the physical cable.
High-Speed Folder Streaming
Drag and drop deep folder hierarchies, repositories with thousands of files, or game installs. Powered by zero-allocation binary framing and parallel disk worker pools (4–16 threads) that overcome Windows NTFS small-file latency for wire-speed folder streaming.
Cross-Platform Windows & Linux
Seamlessly transfer files between Windows (10/11) and Linux without SMB permission conflicts, Samba server setup, or user account mapping.
“Making something complex is easy. Making something simple is much harder.”
EtherTransfer was built for creators, developers, and users who want to move large data across an Ethernet cable without network administration overhead. If you already maintain a dedicated NAS, enterprise VLANs, Samba/NFS domains, or prefer manual Netcat / CLI terminal pipelines, you are completely free to use those tools. EtherTransfer exists under the MIT License for anyone who values a zero-fuss, plug-and-transfer workflow that works out of the box.
Visual Guide
Connect the Ethernet Cable
Plug a standard Ethernet cable directly into the network ports of both computers. Modern Gigabit+ NICs support Auto-MDIX (IEEE 802.3ab), so standard patch cables work without crossover adapters.
Launch & Discover
Launch EtherTransfer on both PCs. Decentralized UDP discovery automatically identifies the connected machine over the wire within 1–3 seconds.
Explicit Receiver Consent
When you click Send, the receiving computer receives an authorization prompt displaying the sender name, total file count, and payload size before accepting.
Full-Speed Streaming
Once accepted, files stream using a 32 MB double-buffered pipelined channel engine with unbuffered direct kernel I/O. Real-time transfer speed, progress percentage, and elapsed metrics display continuously.
Comparison With Existing Tools
An objective technical comparison between EtherTransfer, network file sharing, and physical storage methods.
| Solution | Primary Strength | Direct Cable Workflow | Zero Router Required | Achievable Speed | Security Model |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
EtherTransfer
|
Zero-config P2P physical transfers | Automated (Pins physical Ethernet) | Yes (Link-Local APIPA) | 110 – 115 MB/s (1G) · 450 – 850 MB/s (10G single-stream) | Plaintext local wire (UI consent gate) |
|
LocalSend
|
Cross-platform Wi-Fi sharing (iOS/Android/PC) | Manual (Defaults to Wi-Fi route) | Yes (Requires manual IP setup on cable) | 20 – 80 MB/s (Wi-Fi) · Up to 90 – 110 MB/s (Wired LAN) | TLS 1.3 / HTTPS |
|
Windows / Samba SMB
|
Persistent network drive mounts & streaming | Requires manual static IP or NetBIOS setup | Requires manual static IP without router | 30 – 115 MB/s (1G) · Up to 1,000 MB/s (10G with Multichannel) | SMB 3.1.1 AES-128/256 |
|
Syncthing
|
Continuous bi-directional folder syncing | Complex (Requires pairing & discovery setup) | Requires local network or relay server | 50 – 110 MB/s (Large files on Gigabit LAN; CPU hashing overhead on small files) | TLS 1.3 Block Sync |
|
USB 3.0 External Drive
|
Offline physical portability | Plug in, copy twice (two-phase transfer) | Yes (Physical media) | 40 – 110 MB/s (External HDD / flash drive; effective 2x copy time) | Optional (BitLocker) |
Get EtherTransfer
Choose your platform below to download the latest version.
Windows Setup
Standard installer for Windows 10 and 11 with automatic firewall rule configuration and desktop shortcuts.
Windows Portable
Zero-install standalone single-file executable. No administrator rights or registry changes required. Run directly from USB.
Linux
One unified script automatically handles installation across all major Linux distributions.
curl -sSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/divyviradiya2/ethertransfer/master/install_linux.sh | sudo bash
Frequently Asked Questions
Concrete technical answers regarding direct Ethernet file transfers.
A standard straight-through patch cable (Cat 5e, Cat 6, Cat 6a, Cat 7, or Cat 8) works perfectly. Virtually all Gigabit (1000BASE-T) and multi-gigabit network cards produced since 2000 implement Auto-MDI/MDIX (IEEE 802.3ab), which automatically crosses over the transmit and receive lines inside the physical layer hardware.
Yes. EtherTransfer inspects hardware PNP identifiers and physical device paths to filter out Wi-Fi and virtual network adapters. The transfer engine explicitly binds outgoing TCP sockets to the physical Ethernet adapter's local IP, ensuring multi-gigabyte transfers saturate the physical cable without interrupting your Wi-Fi internet connection.
On 1 GbE, EtherTransfer sustains 110–115 MB/s, saturating the physical TCP payload capacity. On 2.5 GbE, it reaches 270–285 MB/s (requires SATA SSD or NVMe). On 5 GbE, single-stream transfers reach 450–540 MB/s. On 10 GbE, a single plain TCP stream reaches 450–850 MB/s (limited by standard 1500 MTU single-core interrupt load and sequential I/O). Full 10 GbE multi-stream socket saturation (1,150+ MB/s) is planned for a future release.
Speed drops during transfers typically result from three real-world factors: (1) Many small files (file creation overhead on disk dominates rather than network speed), (2) SSD SLC cache exhaustion (budget SSDs drop to TLC/QLC write speeds of 40–70 MB/s once their write cache fills up), or (3) Mechanical hard drives (HDDs max out around 60–100 MB/s sequential writes).
Yes. When multiple computers running EtherTransfer are plugged into the same unmanaged or managed Ethernet switch, they discover each other via UDP broadcasts on port 50000 and appear in the Discovered Devices list for selective point-to-point transfers.
Yes. EtherTransfer natively scans and recreates arbitrary nested directory structures on the receiving drive without requiring prior zip archiving. Hidden configuration files (like .gitignore and .env) are preserved, while path traversal attacks (../) and illegal filename characters are strictly sanitized.
Yes. EtherTransfer is 100% free and open-source under the MIT License. There are zero subscriptions, zero ads, zero tracking telemetry, and zero accounts required.