I thought what made the article special was the use of a "patch" cable but the network cards should be able to negotiate anyway, I was very confused about what was the notable thing.

Auto-MDI/X (auto-crossover) was codified in IEEE 802.3ab-1999, the specifcation for gigE, 27 years ago

And it's even been supported really well for almost as long.

I've been running for 3 years with a pixel 7a, even doing sprints once a week. It triggered once.

But I keep the phone in a running belt, not in my hands.

Now that I think about, it the time it triggered I was pacing my GF and holding the phone in my hand. So it might be a much more common occurrence if you run with your phone in your hands.

Anyway, since I'm often in places where this kind of theft is common. I love the feature and I'd rather it triggers every now and then wrongly than not.