Workaround for dead ethernet port

[Phil in ocala]

Did some reading....bought at BestBuy the Apple Gigabit Ethernet Adapter....ran an ethernet cable to the adapter on the mini then plugged in adapter to ethernet cable....so far it works fine....no more mac mini searching for wifi network each time.....You would think Apple would let people know.

 

[itsOver9000]

So you didn't actually fix a broken Ethernet port you're just using a thunderbolt adapter for Ethernet now?

 

[FrancoisC]

To be fair, itsOver9000 has a point. It's nice that you found a solution to your problem, but your thread title is misleading. I came in here expecting to see how you revived your dead port.

How did it break by the way? Lightning strike/surge, or it just quit?

 

[Phil in ocala]

Before you posted...it would have been good for you to Google..."ethernet port on mac mini after update of OS now dead" you would learn that one of the many, many updates...by Apple...disabled the ethernet port. This solution was for those users affected.

 

[Boyd01]

There are also USB 3.0 ethernet adapters, some of them even include a USB hub. I got one for my MacBook Air because I needed the Thunderbolt port for an external monitor, it was also cheaper than Apple's Thunderbolt adapter. One possible downside is that it requires a special driver though.

 

[Fishrrman]

Speaking of USB/Ethernet adapters, here's a deal on one I just saw today:
Unitek USB 2.0 to RJ45 LAN Wired Gigabit Ethernet Network Adapter

$3.00

DISCLAIMER: No financial interest, just passing on something I saw on another site. I haven't tried it myself, can't vouch as to whether or not this particular one will work.
But the price is right.

 

[now i see it]

I tried a USB Ethernet dongle (Pluggable) and it worked for a bit but was unreliable.

 

[Boyd01]

Guessing that Unitek USB 2.0 adapter will not really deliver gigabit speeds, my USB 2.0 disk drives all top out around 30MB/sec. (240 mbit). Apple makes (or made?) their own USB 2.0 ethernet adapter but it did not deliver anywhere near gigabit speed. I think you need USB 3.0 for that.