Third-party USB Dongles - do they work?

[DeltaHF]

It's time for me to purchase an USB/Ethernet dongle for my MBA, but before I spent $30 on the official Apple device I shopped around eBay to see what I could find. Sure enough, there's a plethora of such adapters available for only a few dollars. The question, though: do they work with the MBA? Is anyone else easily and successfully using a third-party adapter?

 

[fuzzielitlpanda]

i have read that any usb should work wth the mba. however, the superdrive will not work when plugged into a usb hub. it only works when directly plugged into the mba usb plug.

 

[n0de]

My linksys USB ethernet dongle does not work with my MBAir.

 

[fuzzielitlpanda]

oops i read your post wrong. i guess with the usb/ethernet converter, i would just buy it from apple to insure compatibility.

 

[weeyao]

BUy the original. Bought a third party one and installed osx drivers and my MBA could see the adaptor but refused to connect to the internet. No solutions for it so far. I too, am thinking of springing for an original.

 

[Shrek-Moscow]

The original USB-Ethernet adapter work just fine.
I don't really understand people who buy such an expensive laptop and then look on ebay to shave 10$ on the accessories..
Come on, we are talking about a 30$ adapter.. just buy it!

🙂

 

[Maui19]

I bought one at Radio Shack. It was 100% plug and play and worked perfectly. It was $5 more than the Apple version, and much larger (and uglier), but I was in a pinch while traveling and the nearest Apple store was 4 hours away.

 

[Shrek-Moscow]

but I was in a pinch while traveling and the nearest Apple store was 4 hours away.

this is a good reason.. 🙂