Apple USB Ethernet Adaptor

Purchased this for my MacBook Air and it works flawlessly! I use wifi 90% of the time, but for those rare occasions that wired is the only way to go, it's nice to know that I just jack right in and get to work. I work in IT so having access to both wired and wireless connections is a MUST for my line of work!

By the way, a quick word about the the adapter only being 10/100 vs Gigabit capable. This is not due to Apple being "cheap" or controlling, but rather has to due with the inherent limitation of the USB connection itself. See, by definition, USB 2.0 has a theoretical maximum bandwidth of 480 Mbps. This means that USB 2.0 - at a maximum - is capable of less than half of the maximum Gigabit speed (1,000 Mbps). So even if Apple would've included this feature in the device itself, the bus the USB connects to internally would prevent it from ever reaching anything near that speed, plus, the device probably would've cost about 300% more since most Gigabit-enabled products usually cost approx. that much more for that capability.

My only (slight) complaint is the lack of status/link lights on the device. Again, from an IT standpoint, that feature is a welcome addition, however, being an Apple product, Apple does not include these lights on any of their products (MacBooks, Apple TV, Mac Pros, etc.) so I didn't expect them to include it...just a personal preference is all! …More

446 of 501 people found this useful

Excellent product. It worked immediately the first time that I tried it. No problems at all, and no set-up required other than plugging it in to my MacBook Air. It boosted my connection speed enough, compared to wifi, to overcome a problem that I was having streaming high-res content from an unusually demanding source. Highly recommended for any MacBook Air user who occasionally needs Ethernet. …More

1 of 1 people found this useful