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USB to Ethernet Adapter Recommendation

Well, if you get it from Apple, you know they'll stand behind their product as they always do, so that's a plus. It's the reason I usually prefer to buy Apple products. The more of them you have, the more Apple's top notch customer support can do to help you if you have troubles. If you need it for business, I'd say it's the safe buy. No point in taking risks.
 
I use the monoprice gigabit. Works fine with lion as long as you install the most recent driver.

Plenty of other cheaper ones work as well.

$30 from apple is simply a rip off.
 
I've bought cheaper ones and now 2 of the Apple ones. If you want to be constantly futzing with drivers, etc - then save $10 and get a cheaper one. But I highly recommend just buying the Apple one - it just works.
 
+1 for the Apple one. You plug it in, it just works. Plus its white and matches the charger. Just in case that kinda stuff is important to you. You know, being color coordinated and all... :cool:
 
I had one from monoprice and it gave me nothing but problems. The Apple one works and it works consistently.
 
Go for the Apple and don't worry - though Monoprice usually has very good stuff.
 
i also just bought the monoprice usb adapter .. is there a site i can download the driver for i.. i cant use the cd since the macboor air doesnt come with it
 
DESNOS said:
Well, if you get it from Apple, you know they'll stand behind their product as they always do, so that's a plus. It's the reason I usually prefer to buy Apple products. The more of them you have, the more Apple's top notch customer support can do to help you if you have troubles. If you need it for business, I'd say it's the safe buy. No point in taking risks.
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That's really not true at all. Apple will cast your purchase adrift as soon as it is deemed obsolete without a second glance.
 
ZipZap said:
I use the monoprice gigabit. Works fine with lion as long as you install the most recent driver.

Plenty of other cheaper ones work as well.

$30 from apple is simply a rip off.
Click to expand...

where do you get the most recent driver?
 
Currently I'm in China on a business trip and I purchased a USB ethernet adapter for 3 USD. Plug and play no driver needed.. If it burns out. So be it.

Additionally I purchased a smaller version of the airport express portable wireless router for 12 USD! Been using both for the past 2 weeks no hiccups.

I'll try to post later the vendor name and website you can order. But I see 3 vs 29 dollars and 12 vs 99 dollars a risk I'd take. I'd just suggest doing a little research and checking out vendors online. While Apple products are quality, there are some deals to be had.
 
if the PRC adapter burns out no big deal, the concern is if the USB gets busted (requiring logic board replacement) as a result then is penny wise pound foolish.
 
There is no choice. Get the Apple adaptor.
I originally bought a cheaper one, can't remember the brand. I couldn't get it to work. Took it back and got the Apple one... worked straight away with no setup or fiddling required.
 
macneubie said:
if the PRC adapter burns out no big deal, the concern is if the USB gets busted (requiring logic board replacement) as a result then is penny wise pound foolish.
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I tend to agree I lived and worked in PRC for several years, and you can get the very best of quality to the absolute lowest. With the no name stuff you have to be very careful as it may work fine in the short term in the longterm it may fail and potentially cause damage.

I am certainly not in the camp of all that is manufactured in the PRC is junk, it`s not, and some very elitest brands go to great lengths to conceal the origin of their product, I know from personal experience you can get tremendous deals, however you need to be careful...
 
Do you notice a substantial difference with the USB adapter or is this just for times when wifi is not available (which is very rare these days)?

If so I'd be interested in looking into it since I download a lot and a substantial increase in speed from a wired connection would be great. If the speed improvement is only modest I will probably save my $30...
 
rayjay86 said:
If so I'd be interested in looking into it since I download a lot and a substantial increase in speed from a wired connection would be great. If the speed improvement is only modest I will probably save my $30...
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Unless you have a 100Mbps internet connection or better, you should likely see no significant difference; your internet connection will be the bottleneck not your wifi. Where hardwired ethernet beats wifi is generally either in accessing a fileserver or NAS on your LAN, or if no wifi available. It's also handy for configuring devices such as a router if you have no other computer available with hardwired ethernet.
 
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deeddawg said:
Unless you have a 100Mbps internet connection or better, you should likely see no significant difference; your internet connection will be the bottleneck not your wifi. Where hardwired ethernet beats wifi is generally either in accessing a fileserver or NAS on your LAN, or if no wifi available. It's also handy for configuring devices such as a router if you have no other computer available with hardwired ethernet.
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yeah, like you say, very handy for copying LARGE files from macbook air to the NAS or another machine over gigabyte lan
 
deeddawg said:
Unless you have a 100Mbps internet connection or better, you should likely see no significant difference; your internet connection will be the bottleneck not your wifi. Where hardwired ethernet beats wifi is generally either in accessing a fileserver or NAS on your LAN, or if no wifi available. It's also handy for configuring devices such as a router if you have no other computer available with hardwired ethernet.
Click to expand...

You'd probably see a benefit if you have 30mbps+ internet and an 802.11g network (or an 802.11n network where the signal isn't great).
 
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