USB-C Ethernet unreliable

[mikeboss]

I've got several USB-C ethernet adapters:

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and

Microsoft JWL-00002

Microsoft Surface USB-C to Ethernet and USB Adapter - Microsoft Store

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they both work flawless if connected to a Macmini9,1 running macOS Big Sur 11.2.3 or a PC running Windows 10.
if connected to the MacBookAir10,1 (also running Big Sur 11.2.3) the network gets disconnected after trying to transfer multiple gigabytes. I also tried it with another M1 MacBook Air, same result.

of course all is good if I'm using Apple's Thunderbolt 3 to Thunderbolt adapter in combination with Apple's Thunderbolt to ethernet adapter.

 

[Apple_Robert]

I have been using the Belkin Ethernet to USB-C for several years and never had any problems. It also has been working flawlessly with my M1.

 

[mikeboss]

I have been using the Belkin Ethernet to USB-C for several years and never had any problems. It also has been working flawlessly with my M1.

and the one from Belkin also works when transferring tens or hundreds of gigabytes over ethernet?
as long as I'm not trying to transfer large amounts of data my adapters work just fine...

 

[Apple_Robert]

and the one from Belkin also works when transferring tens or hundreds of gigabytes over ethernet?
as long as I'm not trying to transfer large amounts of data my adapters work just fine...

I have sent hundreds of thousands of gigabits and the adapter has never disconnected or stopped working.

 

[mikeboss]

okay, thnx! I just ordered the one from Belkin... I'm curious to see if this will work reliable.

 

[Apple_Robert]

okay, thnx! I just ordered the one from Belkin... I'm curious to see if this will work reliable.

If it doesn't, there may be a OS bug causing your problem.

 

[iandk]

I've noticed network speed issues when using those external gigabit adapters on my M1 air.
Even the Belkin one has those issues

 

[mikeboss]

yeah, IMHO, USB is good for keyboards and mice...for example: using USB ethernet adapters creates high CPU load. I had zero problems over the years with Apple's Thunderbolt to Ethernet adapter. I wouldn't mind the higher cost, but a Thunderbolt 3 to Ethernet adapter simply doesn't exist (apart from the hot running and bulky 10Gb adapters).

I have zero confidence that the Belkin adapter will work. we'll see, it should be delivered tomorrow...

given the fact that all adapters tested run just fine when used with Macmini9,1 I suspect that there's something wrong with the USB-C ports or the powermanagement of the USB-C ports of the M1 MacBook Air. chipset should be the same in both machines. the big difference is: one has to be able to run from battery whereas the other is running off mains power constantly.

 

[jerryk]

I have tried several USB-C hubs with Ethernet from various suppliers (Anker, Powenlak, etc) on Amazon. They all worked on my M1 base Air for 20+ GB backup and file copies to and from my Synology NAS.

 

[mikeboss]

I have tried several USB-C hubs with Ethernet from various suppliers (Anker, Powenlak, etc) on Amazon. They all worked on my M1 base Air for 20+ GB backup and file copies to and from my Synology NAS.

are these hubs powered by the MacBook Air or do they need a separate power-supply?

 

[jerryk]

are these hubs powered by the MacBook Air or do they need a separate power-supply?

Powered by the Air, which is sometimes plugged in, but not always.

 

[jdb8167]

are these hubs powered by the MacBook Air or do they need a separate power-supply?

I use a very generic Amazon Basics ethernet 5 Gb/s hub with 3 USB-A ports. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01M7PL2WP

Seems to work fine. I've been using it for years with an iPad Pro & 13" MacBook Pro and now an M1 MacBook Air. Bus powered.

 

[bobcomer]

I've noticed network speed issues when using those external gigabit adapters on my M1 air.
Even the Belkin one has those issues

Same here.

 

[IceStormNG]

All those adapters (very likely) use the Realtek RTL8153 USB NIC. Apple ships no driver for them. Instead, the NIC also supports basic CDC-ECM mode which macOS does have a driver (AppleUserECM) for. In this state, there's no offloading which means: All the heavy lifting (checksumming,... ) is done by the CPU instead of the NICs hardware which a) causes high cpu load during high network activity and b) can cause instability with some implementations.

Realteak had a driver for macOS up to Catalina. Apple blocked the kernel APIs for USB based NICs in Big Sur (and replaced them with DriverKit userspace APIs). Not sure whether Realtek will rework their driver, or just abandon the Mac platform for their drivers.

Some older adapters used ASIX chips. They must be used with a proprietary driver as they didn't supported the CDC-ECM mode.

There are no other USB based GbE chips that I'm aware of on the market. Only solution is thunderbolt, but that's expensive (either Apple's Thunderbolt 3 -> Thunderbolt 2 -> Apple GbE adapter) or one of the various 10GbE adapters that use the Aquantia Chips. macOS includes several drivers for Aquantia Chips (at least the Intel version of macOS). Some vendors say that they will not work with the M1 (yet).

 

[iandk]

mhhh that sucks.
Especially when you're working off a local NAS and only get like 1/2 of the bandwidth

 

[IceStormNG]

mhhh that sucks.
Especially when you're working off a local NAS and only get like 1/2 of the bandwidth

It does.. That's why I still use the old Apple GbE TB2 dongle. Yeah it's clunky with the double dongle but it at least works without causing insane CPU load for just copying a file to the NAS.

I made a simple test last year about that. Using USB NICs in ECM mode on a Mac is crazy. That's not an Intel/ARM problem. That's just a lack of proper drivers thing.

 

[abhi182]

Using a TP Link RTL 8153 daisy chained off a Apple MP adapter (A2119) and a TP Link USB 3 hub.
It's been 100% stable for me - although network speeds are in the ballpark of 800-850 mbps instead of 900-950 as expected

I haven't checked if it causes any incremental CPU load - but seems like worth checking

The same setup with windows yields 900+mbps .. On the flip side, it can be a little iffy and sometimes (not often thankfully, maybe once in 1-2 weeks) starts dropping in and out - and requires a restart

 

[mikeboss]

I just received the Belkin USB-C to GbE Adapter. transferred ~150 GB with it and much to my surprise it didn't disconnect. of course there's still the crazy high CPU load during large data-transfers (approximately 155%). but at least this adapter seems to work reliable...

 

[AppleTO]

Some older adapters used ASIX chips. They must be used with a proprietary driver as they didn't supported the CDC-ECM mode.

Any idea on how to make ASIX-based adapters work? I have a whole bunch of StarTech USB31000S that don't work on M1s. I'm not too thrilled about it

Edit: Actually, it looks like the latest macOS driver on StarTechs website is Version 2.16 (2020-02-21), which says it supports macOS 10.15 and above (obviously not true). When installing on Big Sur on M1, the system extension is blocked. It looks like I just need to wait for a (hopefully) updated driver.

 

[chrfr]

I had zero problems over the years with Apple's Thunderbolt to Ethernet adapter. I wouldn't mind the higher cost, but a Thunderbolt 3 to Ethernet adapter simply doesn't exist (apart from the hot running and bulky 10Gb adapters).

Apple's adapter works great in conjunction with the Thunderbolt 2 to 3 adapter.

 

[IceStormNG]

Apple's adapter works great in conjunction with the Thunderbolt 2 to 3 adapter.

It does. It's PCIe based Broadcom adapter and macOS ships with proper drivers for that one.

Any idea on how to make ASIX-based adapters work? I have a whole bunch of StarTech USB31000S that don't work on M1s. I'm not too thrilled about it

Edit: Actually, it looks like the latest macOS driver on StarTechs website is Version 2.16 (2020-02-21), which says it supports macOS 10.15 and above (obviously not true). When installing on Big Sur on M1, the system extension is blocked. It looks like I just need to wait for a (hopefully) updated driver.
View attachment 1742163

From what I read online, there is only a beta driver for Big Sur from ASIX. It's for both Intel and Apple Silicon.

This is the official direct download link directly from ASIX:

ASIX_USB_Device_Installer_macOS_11.0_Driver_v1.0.0d3.zip

You can also find it here: https://www.asix.com.tw/en/support/download


But: You have to do some steps to get it working that you might not want to do:

From their README:

This is a beta driver.
The following steps are necessary to enable Develop mode.
1. Disable SIP in Recovery mode then reboot.
2. Enable System extension develop mode. Open the Terminal and issue the following command.
   $ systemextensionsctl developer on

 

[Behemoth78]

if connected to the MacBookAir10,1 (also running Big Sur 11.2.3) the network gets disconnected after trying to transfer multiple gigabytes. I also tried it with another M1 MacBook Air, same result.

I have the same problem with my M1 MacBookPro as described over there:
https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/ethernet-disruption-in-clamshell-mode.2277222/
It works flawless with my USB-C docking monitor and MacBook lid open. In clamshell mode the network gets disconnected when transfering large files. With direct USB-C Ethernet and lid open the network also gets disconnected.

The USB-C docking monitor from EIZO and the direct USB-C Ethernet device from Ugreen both use the Realtek 8153.

 

[Yebubbleman]

yeah, IMHO, USB is good for keyboards and mice...for example: using USB ethernet adapters creates high CPU load. I had zero problems over the years with Apple's Thunderbolt to Ethernet adapter. I wouldn't mind the higher cost, but a Thunderbolt 3 to Ethernet adapter simply doesn't exist (apart from the hot running and bulky 10Gb adapters).

You're judging USB-C based on USB-A's historical shortcomings. USB-C, on top of including all USB-A functionality, is able to do quite a bit more (native DisplayPort support is just one example).

I have zero confidence that the Belkin adapter will work. we'll see, it should be delivered tomorrow...

The Belkin adapter is all but first party. It has native support baked into both Intel and Apple Silicon versions of Big Sur. If it doesn't work, I'd look into troubleshooting your Mac.

given the fact that all adapters tested run just fine when used with Macmini9,1 I suspect that there's something wrong with the USB-C ports or the powermanagement of the USB-C ports of the M1 MacBook Air. chipset should be the same in both machines. the big difference is: one has to be able to run from battery whereas the other is running off mains power constantly.

Could be a logic board issue. Could also be a problem with your macOS installation. I'd tell you to reset PRAM and/or the SMC, but alas, this is Apple Silicon we're dealing with.

 

[IceStormNG]

The Belkin adapter is all but first party. It has native support baked into both Intel and Apple Silicon versions of Big Sur. If it doesn't work, I'd look into troubleshooting your Mac.

No it's not. It's a regular Realtek RTL8153 chipset which operates in ECM mode and is therefore as slow as all the other adapters with that chip (which are almost all USB-C Ethernet adapters out there). Apple has NO driver for that chip, and Realtek has only one for up to Catalina because Apple blocked the kernel APIs in Big Sur. They will probably never change the driver. It's simply not worth it for them. Compared to all devices out there, macOS is still a niche and the adapter still "works" in ECM mode.

 

[drsox]

I have tried several USB-C hubs with Ethernet from various suppliers (Anker, Powenlak, etc) on Amazon. They all worked on my M1 base Air for 20+ GB backup and file copies to and from my Synology NAS.

I have a Belkin hub attached to the M1 MBA - it powers the MBA as well as providing ethernet - no problem copying multi GB from the MBA to a Netgear NAS.