Ethernet adapter not working with big sur update?

I had the same problem after macos 11 big sur update. After the update, the USB ports were working but not the ethernet port.

I found a simple solution using new drivers provided by UGREEN (Chinese company). My type-C adapter is BASEUS brand, but the new drivers worked, since most adapters use Axis or Realtek chip, the brand does not matter!

RTL8153/B, AX88179 and AX88772A series of chip network card drivers have corresponding MacOs 11.0 drivers upgrade, they can be directly updated with new drivers, like normal upgrade solution.

To identify you network card, make sure your adapter is plugged in, then:

• choose Apple menu > About This Mac, then click System Report (more details: https://support.apple.com/guide/system-information/get-system-information-syspr35536/mac)
• Look under USB (usually under USB 3.0) search for model name like: AX88179, AX88772A (for Axis) or RTL8153 (for Realtek). Sometimes it may only be just a number (product ID): 0x8153 (then 0x8153 = Realtek8153) - if not familiar with this part, please refer to screenshots examples below:

Next, download the latest drivers for Axis/Realtek provided by Ugreen (the company is making Thunderbolt-Ethernet type-C USB adapters for MacOS). Since the download page is in China and in Chinese, I uploaded the driver on Google Drive:

Drivers for Type-C Ethernet Chipset AX88179 for MacOS 10.9 to MacOS 11:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/14zgRn3ByXK8mjueuws_Cb8MlIqzJ4aX-/view?usp=sharing

Drivers for Ethernet Chipset AX88772A for MacOS 10.05 to MacOS 11:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1W2sfestajENincZYpQQ0QnjM_cD7z9Cn/view?usp=sharing

Drivers for Type-C Ethernet Chipset RTL8153/RTL8153B for MacOS 10.12 to MacOS 11:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1b3VTsPl7sN4KxGErZZ5-t1UaRt5PJ0e-/view?usp=sharing

Original Chinese page with drivers for download:

https://www.lulian.cn/news/494-cn.html

FYI: you may find other updated download links on the English website, Type C products (support > download)

https://www.ugreen.com/pages/download

To upgrade the drivers, follow the steps below.

1. Unplug the external USB/Typce-C ethernet device.
2. Uninstall the outdated driver if you installed drivers previously (I did not uninstall anything).
3. When booting press and hold the "Command+R" key until the Apple icon appears on the screen, and the computer enters the recovery mode (if you have not entered this mode, please restart it again). More about Recovery Mode here: https://www.macworld.co.uk/how-to/mac-recovery-mode-3674052/
4. Select "Utilities" (top menu) > "Terminal".
5. In the terminal run the command "csrutil disable" (it will disable System Integrity Protection, it's probably possible to re-enable it later, I did not try, or when MacOS 11 has been properly updated).
6. Restart the computer.
7. Install the newly downloaded driver.
8. In System Preferences -> Security and Privacy, you will be prompted to allow this driver installation, accept.
9. Plug in your USB-Ethernet device again, and you should be able to access the Internet normally now.

I am not a IT expert but searched a solution for a long time and this is the best one I found for now.

Try this, select and delete the interface in Network Preferences.

Next, add it back.

Select it and make sure that "Configure iPv4" is set to "Using DHCP".

If it does not connect within a few seconds, click the "Advanced..."

button.

On the right side there should be a button "Renew DHCP Lease"

and click that.

I have the same Belkin adapter and after the recent 11.1 update, I needed to go

through this process to get ethernet back up and running.

I have a suggestion for bishopcheen. I had the same problem with thunderbolt to ethernet on my 2014 Mac book pro and I tried several ways to fix the problem. Reset the SMC, reset the PRAM, delete the p file and restarting the mac and nothing worked. Asumming its not a hardware problem ( you can check with these steps https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT202731). I talked to apple support and we decided to to do a clean install Big Sur. https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT204904 Make sure you have a back up and an internet connection upon before restarting in macOS recovery mode.

i appreciate the suggestion OneEskimo but according to Apple Support and the long thread of this Big Sur compatibility discussion, there is not an Enternet adapter for a Macbook Air 2016 USB 3.0 port that is compatible with 643 bit OS 11.0 Big Sur. My USB 3.0 adapter from StarTech was very compatible with OS 10.15 Catalina (my current OS) but Star Tech has not developed the drivers for Big Sur for its Ethernet adapter. It was not very happy with Apple either for the lead time and support it was provided. So, a clean install of Big Sur will not likely work unless i reduce my ethernet down to about 92 Mbps with USB 2.0 Apple Ethernet adapter vs. about 236 Mbps with my StarTech USB 3.0 ethernet adapter.

The solution I found:

https://discussions.apple.com/thread/252026015?answerId=252026015021#252026015021

I had the same issue, it drove me nuts cuz I use an external monitor, which connects to my MacBook through the adapter. Before Big Sur, I had Catalina, I used to plug in the adapter in in 1 port and the charger in the other. This setup did NOT work with Big Sur. Last week, I tried to plug in a USD Pen Drive using the adapter and the system did not even read the Pen Drive. I had used this Pen Drive multiple times with previous the MacOS, which made me wonder if there was something wrong with the adapter. So I plugged my adapter into my iPad and it worked perfectly. I then connected the charger cable into the adapter and then plugged in the USB Pen Drive into the adapter, AND IT WORKED. I then connected my screen in the adapter and it worked as well. But the connections on the adapter only work when the charger cable is connected to the adapter.

I have the MacBook Air 2017 model.

I tracked this issue for a while over Xmas and New Year as I also had the same problem: I have a Ugreen USB 2 Ethernet Adaptor. After the Big Sur update, it stopped working.

Being a Mac novice I was very reticent to do the software changes as recommended in this post to counteract the Asix chipset issue, though I am sure they work great. So being a coward I read all the replies, and that had me visiting the Plugable website. Their USB 3/ USB-C Gb Ethernet Adaptor (code USB3-HUB3ME) seemed to be the one to go for as it uses the Realtek chipset, and not the problematic Asix stuff. And it means I can still use the Thunderbolt port for my HDMI monitor connection.

And today I took delivery of said Plugable adaptor. It has both USB 3 and USB-C leads. I used the USB 3 and it worked first time. So far no issues to report. Happy days at last.

Downside is the £25 cost. The Hub does include 3 USB ports though, as well as the Ethernet connector, so could pave useful for other things too.

Over.

It may be that the adapter needs a Driver update from the maker. Check the with company that made it.

For example I have a J5 ethernet adapter that the company states a warning on their main page that their device will not be compatible with latest update until further notice

Okay, a similar problem I had on an old iMac (Updated to Big Sur and ethernet quit working). I solved it by going to System Preferences, Network, Advanced, Hardware, and changed the MTU so that it matched the MTU of my network.

In my particular case I believe it is having trouble negotiating any difference. If you set it to a different MTU it may not work at all, or temporarily, or it may appear to work but corrupting data. I have images I transferred over the network that have artifacts (misplaced sequence of pixels in the images).

When I set to the exact MTU of our switches, everything worked perfectly.

Apple should not be taking this long to solve this. It seems they're too busy being involved in political matters.

Hi bishopeen 'I was in your train of thought regarding speeds in thunderbolt and i thought my my Belkin adapter was not compatible with Big Sur . Then I realized after researching a little I realized ports have a max speed and the actual speed is driven by what device you plug it into,. for example in your case the USB 3.0 (also known as SuperSpeed USB) has a maximum bandwidth rate of 5 gbps (gigabits per second. So if you plug it into a gigabyte it can do gigabyte and and if you plug it into 100 Mpbs it can do 100Mpbs. Thats when i realized may be it its not the adapter compatibility since they don't come with any software drivers when you buy them. I had two thunderbolt ports not working after updating to Big Sur and I started shopping for another adapter. Not one vender displayed specs regarding System compatibility, just hardware compatibility. Thats when i called Apple support. They were convinced that I had a hardware issue after trying a few things like SMC , PRAM etc. They were already setting me up to send my computer in for repair. Then i said how does two separate ports go at the same time and I really believe this happened on my OS update to Big Sur. Then i was asked if I have the time to do a hardware test and it passed and then we did a clean install of Big Sur. Believe me i was and the support tech who was very helpful was shocked it worked. I have no ill will toward Apple and their tech support is not perfect but as long as i was patient we found a solution. I did look online or other brands of adapters for your application and found this one QGeeM USB Ethernet Adapter,USB 3.0 to 10/100/1000 Gigabit Ethernet LAN Network Adapter Compatible for MacBook Air/Pro,Surface Pro,iMac,Vista,Notebook PC with Windows7/8/10, XP.

if you are not comfortable with doing a clean install, apple chat support will walk you through it... they are there to help.

I have a Macbook pro with a baseus ethernet/USB adapter (the ethernet component is Realtek).

It was not working properly after Big Sur last update.

I found a driver update for MacOs on Realtek website and now it is working.

Ivan, thank you for the post. Basses makes a lot of adapters. which one do you have?

Is it USB 3.0 which allows for much faster speeds of 230+ Mbps vs USB 2.0 at 90+ Mbps? The reason i ask is the Apple USB 2.0 Ethernet adapter will work with Big Sur -- I have that adapter -- but the speed will be slower than i want/need/desire and currently have with my USB 3.0 StarTech adapter.

Star Tech does not know when it will have a compatible Big Sur driver available and is not very happy with Apple's communication about Big Sur to peripheral makers.

Again, i appreciate what you told me already, but if you have more info about the speed and the specific adapter, that would be very helpful. thanks Ivan

I don't know if this would help anybody because I was on an iMac... but the symptoms were the same.

I went in to System Preferences » Network » Ethernet » Advanced... » Hardware »

and set

Configure: Manually

Speed: 1000baseT

Duplex: full-duplex

MTU: Jumbo (9000)

"deselect" AVB/EAV Mode

OK

Apply

and try it.

I had similar issues on a OMC Thunderbolt 4 hub - this has the Realtek ethernet chipset in. Attaching a thunderbolt to ethernet dongle worked.

I installed their USB-C dock ethernet drivers - found here https://www.owcdigital.com/support/software-drivers and the hub ethernet port is now operating correctly

Here a MacBook Air 2017, after updating to macOS Big Sur yesterday, no Ethernet network.

With an Apple Thunderbolt - to - Gigabit Ethernet - adapter there is now a Ethernet network.

Thunderbolt-naar-Gigabit Ethernet-adapter - Apple (NL)