Connection between pins on the Ethernet Shield

Forum 2005-2010 (read only) General Frequently-Asked Questions
1

Hi,

I got the Arduino Mega 2560 and the new Ethernet Shield a few days ago.
They both work as expected, but today I noticed that there are some pins of the WIZnet chip soldered together.

This doesn't seem to affect the functionality of the Ethernetshield for now (I have just used it as a webserver to control some LED's and to output some values until now), but I just want to make sure that I can use it without getting some problems in the future.

Thank you for your answers!

Edit: It also doesn't get hot or something, it's about 35°C max. if there's some network activity for several minutes.

2

I also made two pictures here:

3

Well you should look at the datasheet of the wizznet chip, could be that those are GND connections.

4

I found out that it's normal that these pins are soldered together. I don't know exactly what these pins are, but on every picture I found of the Ethernet Shield, they are connected.
Thanks four your answer, though!