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USB 3.0 gigabit ethernet adaptor for a rMBP?

R

rmwebs

macrumors 68040
Original poster
Apr 6, 2007
3,140
0
Hi all,

I currently use a cheapo white USB 2.0 10/100 ethernet adaptor for my rMBP in my home office to connect up to my local network. I recently upgraded the home network to gigabit and am after a USB 3.0 gigabit adaptor that is mac compatible.

I've seen a lot of them around, but none that are OS X compatible. Ideally I want it to work without any 3rd party drivers (like the USB 2.0 ones).

Has anyone used one of these, or have any recommendations on which ones are ok with OS X?

Many thanks.
 
rmwebs said:
Hi all,

I currently use a cheapo white USB 2.0 10/100 ethernet adaptor for my rMBP in my home office to connect up to my local network. I recently upgraded the home network to gigabit and am after a USB 3.0 gigabit adaptor that is mac compatible.

I've seen a lot of them around, but none that are OS X compatible. Ideally I want it to work without any 3rd party drivers (like the USB 2.0 ones).

Has anyone used one of these, or have any recommendations on which ones are ok with OS X?

Many thanks.
Click to expand...

Get the Apple thunderbolt gigabit Ethernet adapter. It's obviously not USB but you have two t-bolt port on your mac and the adapter works perfectly. It's also very reasonably priced, if not cheaper than many USB adapters.
 
opinio said:
Get the Apple thunderbolt gigabit Ethernet adapter. It's obviously not USB but you have two t-bolt port on your mac and the adapter works perfectly. It's also very reasonably priced, if not cheaper than many USB adapters.
Click to expand...


Exactly. Get the TB Ethernet adapter for use at home and on the road.
 
Sadly that's not an option. I use two displays, which takes up both thunderbolt ports.

I would use the HDMI port but it's not compatible with my screens and treats them as a TV (so the quality is terrible).
 
This is an example of form over function.

Being more concerned with hitting a target for thickness of the chassis rather than including standard out of the box gigabit Ethernet on a "workstation" class product is terrible.

Yes, you can buy an adapter, but you give up a thunderbolt port and pay extra to get basic connectivity to an already expensive product.
 
opinio said:
Well if that's the case I suggest Kanex gear. They're made for Mac.

http://www.kanexlive.com/usb3lan

http://www.kanexlive.com/dualrole
Click to expand...

Thanks for the recommendation :)

It looks like whatever one I go for, it'll need 3rd party drivers. From that perspective, the StarTech one looks like a better deal for essentially the same thing.

Also found a slightly cheaper one but never heard of the brand.

Thinking about it, I'm guessing I'm going to be better off waiting until Mavericks is released. I'd hate to buy one, only to find the drivers don't work when I upgrade :/
 
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I have Kanex one and it works flawlessly in both OSX and W7 boot camp. I take it with me everywhere and have had zero trouble. I even share the Ethernet connection using the rMBP wifi to create a hotspot for my iPad and iPhone. Cheap and highly recommended.
 
I have the Kanex adapter on my 11" Air and I don't like it. It was very fast, as fast as my Thunderbolt adapter on my GB network.

My computer started to crash while waking from sleep etc.
I removed the kernel extensions for this adapter and now it works fine again.
Now I am sticking with the Apple 100MB adapter since I use an external display on the TB port.

Maybe get a Thunderbolt Dock instead?
 
kave said:
I have the Kanex adapter on my 11" Air and I don't like it. It was very fast, as fast as my Thunderbolt adapter on my GB network.

My computer started to crash while waking from sleep etc.
I removed the kernel extensions for this adapter and now it works fine again.
Now I am sticking with the Apple 100MB adapter since I use an external display on the TB port.

Maybe get a Thunderbolt Dock instead?
Click to expand...

I have been thinking about a dock. I'd love the look of the Henge Horizontal Dock but it seems to be vaporware.

The biggest issue with most of the thunderbolt docks is they dont do pass through. The Henge one would have been ideal as from 1 thunderbolt port it provides USB 3, ethernet and 3x display ports - I wouldn't need to plug anything else in then (other than power) :)
 
I assume that your displays are something other than TBDs? I have my rMBP connected to my office LAN via the TBD's ethernet port.
 
rmwebs said:
I would use the HDMI port but it's not compatible with my screens and treats them as a TV (so the quality is terrible).
Click to expand...

How about an HDMI to DVI adapter? Apple includes them with the Mac Minis but they work with other devices too.
 
seismick said:
I assume that your displays are something other than TBDs? I have my rMBP connected to my office LAN via the TBD's ethernet port.
Click to expand...

Yup they are dvi's running with a displayport adapter (Samsung Syncmaster P2450).

----------
chrfr said:
How about an HDMI to DVI adapter? Apple includes them with the Mac Minis but they work with other devices too.
Click to expand...

Got one and it has the same effect sadly. Never had any luck with the HDMI output. It's fine for plugging into the TV but whenever I've tried it for screen's it's been terrible. Also tried it on a LG monitor (don't have the model to hand) and had the same problem.

It recognises them in OS X as a TV so doesn't show the full display options. I even tried using SwitchResX to manually override it but still had no luck.

I remember at the time talking to a few people here about it and it seems like a common problem with all Apple HDMI ports.
 
It may be a bit over the top, but the Belkin Thunderbolt Express Dock would allow you to connect both a Thunderbolt/Mini DisplayPort display and Gigabit Ethernet (plus some USB 3.0 devices, speakers, Firewire800).

9tVZ7Ri.png
 
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pastrychef said:
Mac Pro is workstation class. MacBook Pro is a laptop.
Click to expand...

It's still a top of the line laptop, and given that it's the top of the line laptop it should have it built in.

I noticed you haven't provided an actual counter argument against the inclusion just that you don't consider it to be a workstation class machine.
 
John Kotches said:
It's still a top of the line laptop, and given that it's the top of the line laptop it should have it built in.

I noticed you haven't provided an actual counter argument against the inclusion just that you don't consider it to be a workstation class machine.
Click to expand...

There's not much to counter. Gigabit ethernet options are available.

In my opinion, a laptop's primary design objective is portability. In many cases, less = more. Although powerful, I don't believe the MacBook Pros were ever intended to be desktop replacement type laptops.
 
pastrychef said:
There's not much to counter. Gigabit ethernet options are available.

In my opinion, a laptop's primary design objective is portability. In many cases, less = more. Although powerful, I don't believe the MacBook Pros were ever intended to be desktop replacement type laptops.
Click to expand...

It got to the point where the Mac Pro was terribly overpriced and under specced, so I went for a Macbook Pro, knowing I could hook up 2 screens. At the time I thought there would be some decent thunderbolt docks with dual screen support out not long after getting it. Sadly the ones out there still lack dual screen support. The Belkin is the best option that's on sale, but lets face it, it's majorly overpriced. It's also got major heat issues from the reviews I've read, and the USB ports are underpowered, so dont work well with external drives.

Someone needs to come up with a better option and stick it on kickstarter :p
 
In retrospect, an iMac may have met your needs a little better.

It's only logical to assume there will be compromises when trying to replace a desktop with a laptop. If there are no compromises, there would be no more desktops available. That being said, as time and technology has progressed, these compromises have been diminished and we've seen popularity in laptops increase.

In regards to good Thunderbolt hubs/docks, I fully anticipate better options to present themselves in the near future. However, I also expect them to remain fairly expensive in the near term future...
 
John Kotches said:
It's still a top of the line laptop, and given that it's the top of the line laptop it should have it built in.

I noticed you haven't provided an actual counter argument against the inclusion just that you don't consider it to be a workstation class machine.
Click to expand...

Look at the non-retina MBP. The ethernet port is as tall as the thickness of the laptop. To make the laptop thinner they had to either find a way to have a pop-out port (clunky solution, likely to break and increase repair/warranty costs) or use a plug-in cable to add the port.

If you NEED an ethernet port, get a non-retina or buy the cable. I agree with pastrychef, the primary goal of a laptop is portability. Sure, it's nice to have an ethernet port but other than for troubleshooting my home internet connection or updating the firmware or config on my router I can't think of any time I would need to use that port. My choice of laptop was based on the lower initial cost and the ability to add more memory myself.
 
pastrychef said:
There's not much to counter. Gigabit ethernet options are available.

In my opinion, a laptop's primary design objective is portability. In many cases, less = more. Although powerful, I don't believe the MacBook Pros were ever intended to be desktop replacement type laptops.
Click to expand...

Your opinion is noted, but doesn't jive with real world users in the real world. Very few people use their laptops as just portable devices. They use them as their only system.

They should have sacrificed a little thickness for built-in gigabit ethernet instead of the dongle option they've shoved on people. This is back to the 90s with ethernet cards on laptops with specialized dongles to get connected to 10BaseT.

That you don't agree with me is fine...

----------
hallux said:
Look at the non-retina MBP. The ethernet port is as tall as the thickness of the laptop. To make the laptop thinner they had to either find a way to have a pop-out port (clunky solution, likely to break and increase repair/warranty costs) or use a plug-in cable to add the port.

If you NEED an ethernet port, get a non-retina or buy the cable. I agree with pastrychef, the primary goal of a laptop is portability. Sure, it's nice to have an ethernet port but other than for troubleshooting my home internet connection or updating the firmware or config on my router I can't think of any time I would need to use that port. My choice of laptop was based on the lower initial cost and the ability to add more memory myself.
Click to expand...

The dongle is itself a clunky solution, and having been through the 90s with the terrible laptop ethernet options I'm merely voicing my point of view... And I use the term dongle to conjure up images of some of the ugly dongle solutions that have been out there. It's a bad decision.

That others don't agree is fine, but it won't change my opinion.
 
John Kotches said:
Your opinion is noted, but doesn't jive with real world users in the real world. Very few people use their laptops as just portable devices. They use them as their only system.
Click to expand...

For a large majority of these people, wifi is sufficient. 6-10MB/s transfers in the real world conditions for 802.11n is not bad and more is only needed for transferring lots of data to something like a NAS. There are not many broadband providers who even offer services that can saturate that.

For those who need more bandwidth than that should have the foresight to purchase a gigabit ethernet adaptor or a machine that has it.

With the advent of 802.11ac, this becomes even less of an issue.
 
pastrychef said:
For a large majority of these people, wifi is sufficient. 6-10MB/s transfers in the real world conditions for 802.11n is not bad and more is only needed for transferring lots of data to something like a NAS. There are not many broadband providers who even offer services that can saturate that.
Click to expand...

The top 4 cable broadband providers in the US provide top tier speeds of at least 50Mbits/second, with Charter, Cablevision and Cox offering 100, 101 and 150 Mbit/second speeds. That's a fairly large footprint.


For those who need more bandwidth than that should have the foresight to purchase a gigabit ethernet adaptor or a machine that has it.
Click to expand...

The point is it should be integrated into such a system.

With the advent of 802.11ac, this becomes even less of an issue.
Click to expand...

You mean the 802.11ac that isn't available on any of the MacBook Pros yet? Yes, the refresh is coming soon, but according to analysts it's been coming soon since June.

It will still lack integrated Gbit ethernet. It's an ugly solution, and I expect better from Apple for the premium price.
 
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