Reviews for Apple USB Ethernet Adaptor

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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!

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.

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.

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!