They even support Windows CE 6.0! Reboot required? What is this, Windows? Happily, it was easy to find the ASIX AX88179 driver page, which includes software for just about every OS you might run across. Rather than dig out my portable SuperDrive, and because commenters on Amazon mentioned newer drivers, I fired up DuckDuckGo and searched for the latest driver from ASIX. There’s a driver bundled with the adapter, but it’s on a CD-ROM – did Cable Matters miss the memo about Apple discontinuing optical drives? The first hurdle is drivers: This adapter’s chipset (ASIX’ AX88179) is not supported by Mac OS X. But that’s good enough for most users as long as it works. It’s larger than Apple’s Thunderbolt Ethernet adapter and the white plastic has a cheap glossy (almost translucent) look that’s just a bit off. Cable Matters clearly intended to target Mac users with this white Ethernet adapter and its Apple-esque clear envelope packagingĭespite the look of the packaging, this isn’t an Apple-grade device. This adapter had fairly positive reviews from Mac users, and the price (US$20 with free Prime shipping) couldn’t be beat. My eye was eventually drawn to an inexpensive USB 3.0 Gigabit Ethernet adapter: Cable Matters SuperSpeed USB 3.0 to RJ45 Gigabit Ethernet Adapter in White. It appears that most use the same chipset, made by a Taiwanese firm called ASIX, and thus would be similar apart from price. So I decided to take a look at the various USB 3.0 Gigabit Ethernet adapters on offer. Cable Matters USB 3.0 Gigabit Ethernet AdapterĪlthough Apple offers their own USB Ethernet adapter, it is USB 2.0 and 100 Mbps only. I wanted something faster than the 30 MBps those can manage. I already had a number of fantastic external drives, my Unicomp keyboard, and a (Bluetooth) “Tragic MacPad”. This meant buying a sizable powered USB 3.0 hub (I chose the well-regarded Satechi “10 port” model) as well as a USB 3.0 Ethernet adapter. Dreaming of a single-cable docking station for my MacBook Pro, but not wanting to beta test the Belkin Thunderbolt dock, I decided to build my own using USB 3.0.
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