any 2.5 GbE / 5 GbE USB dongles running successfully on macOS Big Sur ?

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ogawa9 Author

Level 1

27 points

any 2.5 GbE / 5 GbE USB dongles running successfully on macOS Big Sur ?

Is there anyone who can run any of them below on macOS Big Sur?

QNAP USB 3.2 Gen 1 to 5GbE Adapter
Sonnet Solo5G USB 3 to 5GbE Adapter
Cable Matters USB-C to 2.5 Gigabit Ethernet Adapter
PLUGABLE 2.5G USB-C AND USB TO ETHERNET ADAPTER

I can't connect them to my macs' Big Sur.

Also my macs' in Catalina era, they made my macs' reboot once in a week even giving 2.5 Gbps connections.

I believe I installed the latest driver from RealTek or Aquinta...

iMac 21.5 Late 2015 <- sold already

MacBook Pro (13-inch, 2017, Four Thunderbolt 3 Ports)

( MacBook Air (M1, 2020) <- I hope any of the 2.5GbE dongle to run on this mac, too )

MacBook Pro with Touch Bar

Posted on Jan 12, 2021 6:11 PM

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Answer 1

Best reply

swwirich

Level 1

18 points

Feb 14, 2021 11:28 PM in response to ogawa9

Update on my end :

-- The CableCreation one is unstable, often dropping link, only negotiate to 1G LAN, so returned those

-- The Plugable one works flawless so far, on my Synology NAS, Macbook Air M1, even 2012 Mac Mini(did install Realtek driver), R/W is 270/230. It does run a bit warm, but nothing too bad.

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Answer 2

ogawa9 Author

Level 1

27 points

Feb 14, 2021 12:53 PM in response to ogawa9

After several try, I don't have a good results.

I changed many dongles, switch died, but I just remove Sonnet Solo5G USB 3 to 5GbE Adapter, my LAN resumed. I don't know what was the cause, yet.
MBA M1 with Cable Matters isn't fast. About 1Gbps. I don't know why, too.
Solo 5 / QNAP is slow around 1Gpbs with both macBook.

very rough report. sorry but I'd like to give some negative information as soon as possible.

need more time.

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Answer 3

ogawa9 Author

Level 1

27 points

Feb 16, 2021 10:50 AM in response to iBetoM1

Every one, thank you very much!

(I did nothing new since the last reply)

What switch are you using?

I have 3 faster ethernet mac on my LAN.

iMac late 2015 with 10 GbE box (sonnect) (or 10 GbE box from OWC, old one. currently listed one is different)
macBook Air M1 with many dongles as I asked here. And because of unstableness, recent days I used LINKUP TB3 10 GbE box.
macBook Pro touch bar 2017 with many dongles (in vain), and now I use an ordinary 1 gig ethernet dongle with no problem.
Synology NAS DS1618+ with 10 GbE expansion card.
switch: Netgear GX110MX and Buffalo LXW-10G2/2G4 cascading.

My macBooks' are connected to Buffalo LXW (a Japanese vender. 2.5 GbE x 4 + 10 GbE x 2)

I don't like an 10 GbE box because it's big, expensive especially for macBook.

I don't need much faster speed for those macBooks', a 2.5 GbE dongle is good choice for me.

I'll try PLUGABLE with my macBook Pro again.

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Answer 4

swwirich

Level 1

18 points

Feb 13, 2021 10:10 PM in response to ogawa9

I can confirm this one works on MacbookAir M1, even on the Synology NAS. May try the PLUGABLE one later.

CableCreation USB C 3.1 to RJ45 2.5 Gigabit LAN

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07VQJ468M/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_image_o02_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

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Answer 5

iBetoM1

Level 1

4 points

Feb 14, 2021 4:01 AM in response to swwirich

it looks like all adapters that have such a chip (Realtek 8156) built in work fine in the Mac M1.

I tested this one https://www.cablematters.com/pc-1287-138-usb-to-25g-ethernet-adapter.aspx, and also no drivers needed

also this one: https://www.vtop.shop/de/products/drivergenius-2-5g-network-adapter works without drivers

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Answer 6

ogawa9 Author

Level 1

27 points

Feb 14, 2021 11:28 AM in response to iBetoM1

iBetoM1 and swwirich,

I get 2.5GbE speed on my MacBook Pro (13-inch, 2017, Four Thunderbolt 3 Ports), really without driver (maybe. I uninstalled drivers, if I'm correct or when Big Sur came such drivers were rejected.)

I tried with PLUGABLE.

Copying 4.7GB disk image only takes about 14s. I tried 2 times. From iMac 10GbE (Sonnet box) to macBook Pro with PLUGABLE.

That means roughly 2.x Gbps

And I found:

System Pref. Network pane says 1000BaseT, can't set jumbo frame.

ifconfig command also says same things 1000baseT and MTU 1500.

my Buffalo ethernet switch indicate 2.5GbE connection.

hmm, basically OK :-)

Sorry, I haven't tried with my macBook Air A1 yet, because it is running as a kind of server. Maybe later I'll interrupt the service to try some of my dongles.

The remaining question is stability. I'll keep running my macBook Pro with PLUGABLE to see if kernel panic/reboot or not.

And 5GbE dongles, I need more time to check them. (there is no available 10GbE/5GbE port anymore in my LAN now)

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Answer 7

iBetoM1

Level 1

4 points

Feb 15, 2021 2:46 AM in response to swwirich

Hi swwirich,

your "Plugable" adapter looks like my Club 3D USB 3.2 Gen1 adapter.

In fact, this is the only adapter so far that works more or less flawlessly with both my Sysnology DS and my Mac mini M1.

The only problem so far with the Synology is that after a reboot, the adapter must first be reconfigured, because the settings are always lost.

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Answer 8

iBetoM1

Level 1

4 points

Feb 15, 2021 2:52 AM in response to ogawa9

Hi ogawa9,

i also did not get the 5GBe adapters to work. I'm afraid you need drivers for that, which aren't currently available for Big Sur. Too bad, actually, that they do not supply drivers.

But with the 2.5 GbE adapter, that's already a double speed increase. And the 2.5 adapters aren't that expensive either; in contrast to the 5 GBe, which sometimes cost 3 times as much, but only bring along twice the speed.

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Answer 9

d.denby

Level 1

8 points

Feb 15, 2021 3:57 AM in response to iBetoM1

I ordered the new M1 air and wondered if anyone knows about this. Hub with ssd storage!

Anker PowerExpand 4-in-1 SSD USB C Hub, with 256G SSD Storage, 4K HDMI, 100W Power Delivery and 2 USB 3.0 Data Ports, for MacBook Pro, MacBook Air, iPad Pro, XPS, and More

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Answer 10

swwirich

Level 1

18 points

Feb 15, 2021 9:38 AM in response to iBetoM1

Hi, iBetoM1

The Plugable one so far don’t see any reset on my Synology, I got manual IP and jumbo frame turned on, setting stays after each reboot.

Strange how each brand is diff even they use the same chipset.

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Answer 11

iBetoM1

Level 1

4 points

Feb 16, 2021 11:38 AM in response to ogawa9

I tested these ones:

https://mikrotik.com/product/crs305_1g_4s_in

https://www.zyxel.com/us/en/products_services/12-Port-Web-Managed-Multi-Gigabit-Switch-with-2-Port-2-5G-and-2-Port-10G-SFP--XGS1210-12/

The Mikro Tik is very "interesting". But I decided to go with the Zyxel one.

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Answer 12

ogawa9 Author

Level 1

27 points

Mar 23, 2021 12:23 PM in response to ogawa9

Hi, everyone

I'm sorry for not responding about one month.

I got TP-Link TL-SX1008, 10GbE switch.

As mentioned here, I also got speed > 1Gbps with my Plugable + macBook Pro 13" 2017.

About 2.0 Gbps for 10 GB file copying. (I did both read/write several times)

Good :-)

As mentioned, macOS System Pref only shows the dongle as "1000Base-T" and can't change the MTU (than 1500), and no driver installed, but anyway Plugable runs as 2.5GbE ( than 1GbE). TP-Link switch LED indicates the connection as 2.5GbE, too.

thanks.

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Answer 13

May 5, 2021 9:46 PM in response to ogawa9

I have a macbook air 2020 intel core i5 and i got https://www.amazon.com/Ethernet-Adapter-CHOETECH-Thunderbolt-2016-2020/dp/B08W21W5PG/ref=sr_1_5?dchild=1&keywords=2.5g+usb+c+ethernet&qid=1620276174&sr=8-5

I intermittently get the speeds. The hardware is still saying its a 1000baseT even though system settings is saying its a 2.5g usb LAN. is there a setting I should be adjusting to be getting the 2GBPS speed? My modem is acknowledging that it is seeing the 2GBPS adapter. Any ideas or suggestions.

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