Thunderbolt to Gigabit Ethernet Adaptor

• Exceptional with the 2011 Macbook Air 13

  5.0 out of 5 stars

  Installed the new Driver / Thunderbolt 1.2 Update from Software Update, plugged it in, and zoom. Works great, no longer wasting a USB port, and its super fast! Will be perfect in those hotels with no WiFi. No compatibility issues with my 2011 MBA 13 inch I bought last year.
  … More (Read full review)

  • Written by Sayantan N from White Plains
  • Jun 12, 2012

  242 of 269 people found this useful

  Was this useful? Exceptional with the 2011 Macbook Air 13

  Yes No

• Works great on Retina MBP

  5.0 out of 5 stars

  Works perfectly fine on the new Retina MBP.

  • Written by Rick R from Hewitt
  • Jul 9, 2012

  220 of 253 people found this useful

  Was this useful? Works great on Retina MBP

  Yes No

• Works if you can find the Thunderbolt 1.2 update

  4.0 out of 5 stars

  This adapter requires an update to the AppleBCM5701Ethernet plugin to work. That update was present in the thunderbolt software u pdate 1.2 package. Said update was pulled from the automatic update list due to it crashing non-thunderbolt systems such as old macbook pros. I haven't read a report of any problems for us macbook air users, and it works great on my 2011 macbook air. If you're lucky enough to have grabbed a copy of the update from apple's KB article before it was pulled from there as well, you should be able to use the adapter. Presumably apple will fix this big error in a day or so with a newer thunderbolt update.
  
  If you know what you're doing, you could always backup your IONetworkingFamily kext before applying the update, and then restore just that kext it if your system crashes from the update.
  
  Nice performance with this dongle - I get 900Mbps throughput. Driver (and broadcom's specs) indicate jumbo frame support, but I haven't tried it. Jumbo frames not really necessary IMO since the CPU is beefy enough to handle high packet/second data rates.
  
  Finally a cheap way to get data on&off a macbook air at speeds above USB 2. … More (Read full review)

  • Written by Bruce C from Kentfield
  • Jun 13, 2012

  184 of 203 people found this useful

  Was this useful? Works if you can find the Thunderbolt 1.2 update

  Yes No

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• Hangs bootcamp Windows 7 on lid close

  1.0 out of 5 stars

  Thunderbolt Gigabit Ethernet Adaptor DOES work on Windows 7, but requires a reboot after you connect it. The problem I have every time I close/reopen the lid, bootcamp doesn't come out of sleep/hibernation and you have to reboot again. … More (Read full review)

  • Written by Igor V from Brooklyn
  • May 9, 2013

  4 of 4 people found this useful

  Was this useful? Hangs bootcamp Windows 7 on lid close

  Yes No

• Loose thunderbolt ethernet adaptor after five months

  1.0 out of 5 stars

  I have been using the Thunderbolt ethernet adaptor for five months now. While it worked well till up to this week, the connection to the laptop is getting loose and I lose connection to the internet. This is very frustrating. I miss not having the ethernet port directly in my new laptop. The price for the adaptor is high, considering that it loosens up and behaves unpredictably. I may have to purchase a new one every six months. I will try the USB adaptor, since it is a little wider and hopefully more stable. I also do not like the length of the adaptor. If it is not supported by a table, it puts quite a torque on it. I wish that it was smaller and without any movable parts. I love my new retina display laptop and if this bit of an inconvenience was resolved, I would be thrilled. … More (Read full review)

  • Written by jarina M from greenbank
  • May 7, 2013

  7 of 7 people found this useful

  Was this useful? Loose thunderbolt ethernet adaptor after five months

  Yes No

• Expensive and flawed

  1.0 out of 5 stars

  I can understand the removal of ethernet ports if it was for reasons of size (since the Retina is quite thin and I'm not entirely sure Ethernet would fit too well), otherwise not a very good decision.
  That said the adaptor does what it's mean to do, but it has some major flaws.
  First of all, the price tag. After having purchased a rather expensive computer, having to throw in another 30 just to be able to go online isn't really ideal. They could've thrown one in for free, but I guess that's not how Apple rolls.
  The second problem is that, despite being light and portable to bring behind when out, the cable part of the adaptor is quite thick and not very flexible, which can be pretty annoying if you're trying to work in cramped spaces (or just don't have 15cm to the left of your laptop). The cable part can, obviously, be bent, but I wouldn't be surprised if it would soon destroy the adaptor. I try not bending it as much as possible, and having had it for just over 4 months I can see it's getting pretty ruined.
  But the last, and definitely most annoying problem, is that the adaptor does not fit snugly in the port and wobbles. The slightest twitch can cause your connection to drop, forcing you to disconnect and reconnect the cable for it to be recognized again. … More (Read full review)

  • Written by Francesco Z from Roma
  • May 1, 2013

  17 of 21 people found this useful

  Was this useful? Expensive and flawed

  Yes No

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