Apple USB Ethernet Adaptor

Reviews for Apple USB Ethernet Adaptor

Customer Reviews and Ratings

3.5 out of 5 stars

Based on 46 reviews

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  • 5.0 out of 5 stars

    It just works, like all Apple products!

    • Written by from Hialeah

    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!

    446 of 501 people found this useful

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  • 2.0 out of 5 stars

    Now Only Works With MacBook Air

    • Written by from Port Orchard

    This little gem used to be the device of choice for adding a second Ethernet interface to a Mac Mini Server and I'd been using one that way for about a year. After doing a software update to 10.6.6 it stopped working. Forewarned is forearmed – it appears that Apple is finally enforcing the MacBook Air system requirement. Bummer. Two stars for downgraded functionality.

    486 of 586 people found this useful

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  • 5.0 out of 5 stars

    Excellent, Very Fast

    • Written by from Bryan

    I have good wireless at home and on campus, but thought I'd get this as a just-in-case accessory. Turned off Airport and connected the ethernet cable and the speed increase over our wireless was significant. Well worth the money and there when I need it.

    288 of 320 people found this useful

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  • 1.0 out of 5 stars

    Does not work.

    • Written by from Ypsilanti

    As soon as I updated to Mountain Lion this stopped working. Useless

    84 of 102 people found this useful

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  • 4.0 out of 5 stars

    Not Gigabit...

    • Written by from Washington

    1. Works as advertised 10/100mbps - It managed 9 Mbps = ~78mbps(not bad for a 100mbps device but still too slow). My restore from Time Capsule took an entire night+. Much slower than my 2 year old Macbook Pro with Gigabit.
    2. I've read a few reviews here that say Gigabit (1000mbps) isn't good on USB 2.0. These people may not have searched Amazon - There are other 2.0 devices that cost as much and provide 10/100/1000 with USB 2.0.
    3. Gigabit is 1000mbps and USB 2.0 is 480mbps - The reviews show that the adapters hit about ~280 mbps which is nearly 5x as fast - I'm not expecting it to defy the laws of physics, but that's better than 80...
    4. Apple hasn't updated this device since the Air was launched in 2008.
    5. I will be returning mine for one that works faster and costs $28.95 on Amazon.

    If you aren't using this to transfer large amounts of data, then it works well. Otherwise, I would look elsewhere.

    80 of 101 people found this useful

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  • 5.0 out of 5 stars

    Just Works

    • Written by from Glen Burnie

    I have a connection now and it doesn't need any setting up. It just works.

    67 of 75 people found this useful

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  • 5.0 out of 5 stars

    Works as advertised.

    • Written by from Las Vegas

    Unfortunately, folks don't always fully understand the numbers they read.

    First, this adapter works fine on a MacBook Air running Lion. Plug and play.

    Second, this isn't a 1000Mbps Ethernet adapter, and has never been advertised as one. The USB bus wouldn't support that kind of transfer speed. The adapter tops out at 100Mbps because that's the only common-denominator speed between Ethernet and USB; there's no such thing as "480Mbps Ethernet," so you can't "fully utilize" the USB bus potential. Ethernet is either 10, 100, or 1000 for most desktop/laptop computers; 100 is the fastest that USB can handle. If you purchase this (or did so already) expecting faster speeds, then you had bad expectations.

    So this works as advertised.

    61 of 65 people found this useful

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  • 1.0 out of 5 stars

    Dead after one day of use

    • Written by from SOUTH DEERFIELD

    Actually, I used it less than a day, for about five hours.

    Next day, it is dead.

    My macbook air does not even recognize it when it gets connected to the usb port.

    Very disappointed.

    67 of 84 people found this useful

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  • 2.0 out of 5 stars

    Great, for about a year and half.

    • Written by from Menlo Park

    This worked fine for a year with my MB Air (both Win 7/64 & Mt. Lion). Then it just died - not recognized at all as a USB device.

    51 of 53 people found this useful

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  • 2.0 out of 5 stars

    Works when it works... but

    • Written by from San Jose

    I have purchased four of these devices for my wife's MacBook Air and only one is still working. I have also replaced two of them through the Apple store. I am extremely disappointed with the quality of this simple but essential device.

    50 of 54 people found this useful

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  • 5.0 out of 5 stars

    Excellent piece of hardware!

    • Written by from Green Bay

    It does exactly what it's supposed to do. I knew ahead of time that it wouldn't give me gigabit speed. After all, it's utilizing a USB 2.0 port. However, it's still much faster than WIFI. FYI to the complainers, USB 2.0 speed is 480Mbps. That's all the faster that you will ever get with this, when using USB 2.0.

    I also read some reviews stating that the adapter doesn't work with Lion. That is false. I'm using it with the latest Macbook Air, running Lion. It's plug and play.

    I couldn't be happier! This is a very convenient little piece of hardware.

    49 of 53 people found this useful

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  • 5.0 out of 5 stars

    It does work with Mac mini

    • Written by from Champaign

    As of now, 2/2012. I am using this on a Mac Mini (mini 3.1, 2009) with Lion (10.7.3). Plug and play, works great. Replaced a DLink DUB-E101 which does not work with Lion.

    There was a review that suggested that this no longer works for mini's after 10.6.6, and that this only works for Macbook air. I was worried about this when I ordered, but it worked fine for me. That reviewer reported using the server version of mac os, so maybe that is a different problem.

    46 of 49 people found this useful

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  • 5.0 out of 5 stars

    Works with Lion

    • Written by from San Francisco

    Unlike the previous commenter, my experience with a 2011 MacBook Air 13" in Lion has been nothing but positive. I plugged the adapter in and it worked just as expected. Good stuff!

    47 of 52 people found this useful

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  • 5.0 out of 5 stars

    Works perfectly in Linux

    • Written by

    I'm not the usual Apple user, so my use is a bit odd. I wanted to share that these work perfectly under Linux (Fedora13+ at least). I've got three of these on a netbook running as an MLPPP (bonded DSL internet) and it works great. For $29 each, the price is surprisingly reasonable. They're on a cable, so putting multiple on tightly connected USB headers isn't a problem, either.

    49 of 56 people found this useful

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  • 5.0 out of 5 stars

    Works As Expected

    • Written by from Los Angeles

    It just works. I don't need this adapter normally, but it has proven handy in those rare circumstances when WiFi is unavailable or I need to transfer something large.

    With several other reviews complaining about the lack of gigabit, I feel obliged to point out that USB 2.0 is not fast enough.

    48 of 55 people found this useful

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  • 5.0 out of 5 stars

    Perfect

    • Written by from BRUNSWICK

    Product works as expected.

    To clarify something, I see people complaining about the speed only being 100Mbps. The reason apple did not waste their time putting a 1Gbps controller in this device is that USB 2.0 only supports a maximum transfer rate of 480Mbps. To put a Gigabit controller in this would only cause issues.

    41 of 44 people found this useful

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  • 5.0 out of 5 stars

    For business travel

    • Written by from Lake Ridge

    sometimes hotel wifi is not that its all cracked up to be, i bought this for my airbook, worked instantly with no problems. very happy.

    33 of 34 people found this useful

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  • 4.0 out of 5 stars

    Works on a Mac Pro

    • Written by from North Miami

    My Network card stopped working - bought this device and was able to convert a USB port to a network port without a problem - plug and play. Apple said it was only for the Mac Air but seems to work with every Mac we have...

    34 of 36 people found this useful

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  • 1.0 out of 5 stars

    DO NOT BUY!!!

    • Written by from Brooklyn

    This stupid adapter is only capable of fast Ethernet capable (100Mbps), which is about 12.5MB/s maximum, but never went faster than 9MB/s for me. USB 2.0 is cable of 45MB/s. This adapter is only good if you only use your Macbook Air for updating your facebook or something like that. Too slow for anything else.

    Go somewhere else and find a USB to Ethernet adapter that is NOT Apple branded and can do 1000Mbps. That will allows for better Airplay functionality and much faster (500%) file transfer speeds.

    Selling an Ethernet adapter that is not capable of 1 gigabit speeds at this day and age and at this price is shame. Apple, you are slipping!

    139 of 247 people found this useful

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  • 4.0 out of 5 stars

    Very cool - Use as a second network adapter

    • Written by from Ellington

    I'm an IT guy and used this as a second NIC on my MacBook Pro (currently running 10.7) to work on multiple networks at a time. Just assigned a static address to the USB NIC and kept my onboard NIC running my regular internet/inter office traffic.

    31 of 32 people found this useful

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