USB Ethernet adapters randomly stop working on M1 MacBook Pro and macOS Big Sur

I certainly would bypass the hub, and I might question the Ethernet adapter unless it has been verified to work.

The Belkin USB-C to Gigabit Ethernet Adapter - Apple

I will add you have a limited 14 days for a full refund or exchange for one that works out of the box, if you suspect a hardware issue here.

Call Customer Support (800) MY–APPLE (800–692–7753)

or call AppleCare Support at 1-800-APLCARE (800-275-2273)

Alternatively you can search Realtek Support for known issues/updated driver for M1 compatibility.

Just to report that this has NOT been fixed in Monterey (12.0.1). Large file transfers have been OK for me but video calls (e.g. Google Meet, Zoom) still crash the network connection consistently. It doesn't happen at the beginning of the call usually, but at random times once you are well into a call.

It's ridiculous how something like this has been left unresolved for so long. The majority of adapters and hubs out there uses the Realtek 8153 chipset, including the Belkin branded adapters that are sold at Apple stores!

Apple needs to update its in-built driver in MacOS to work properly with the Realtek chipset. Or otherwise at least work with Realtek to release updated drivers that works.

I've managed to source an "Amazon Basics USB 3.0 to 10/100/1000 Gigabit Ethernet Internet Adapter" (Note: not USB-C, and from Amazon UK) that uses the AX88179 chipset. You'd need to manually install drivers for it though via the ASIX download page. This has been solid for me so far. I think in the U.S. the Plugable brand of adapters also uses the AX88179 chipset.

This is a real issue with RTL8153 based ethernet devices connected via USB-C to computers running Big Sur (even 11.2). I encountered recurrent network crashes using multiple different mac laptops using a Belkin TB3 Pro dock (F4U097tt) that uses the 8153 chipset. Same laptops using Caldigit TB3 Plus with the Intel I210 chipset --> no problems. I rescued network stability using an older USB 2.0 ethernet adapter with the AX88178 chipset (not AX88179) connected to the Belkin dock via USB-A plug.

Many discussions around different internet forums that report ethernet connectivity or stability problems with USB-C based ethernet devices apparently affecting RTL8153 and AX88179 chipsets in particular:

https://gist.github.com/MadLittleMods/3005bb13f7e7178e1eaa9f054cc547b0

https://plugable.com/blogs/news/asix-ethernet-adapters-unsupported-on-macos-big-sur

https://developer.apple.com/forums/thread/651132

Latest Realtek Drivers here including OSX option (may solve the problem, haven't tested it):

https://realtek-download.com/realtek-usb-fe-gbe-2-5g-rtl8156-rtl8153-rtl8152b-gaming-ethernet-family-controller/

You can check which driver/kext is being used with the terminal command:  system_profiler SPEthernetDataType

For me, here's the output from my laptop running macOS 11.2:

Ethernet Cards:

  USB 10/100/1000 LAN: this is Belkin dock RTL8153, not a stable configuration

   Type: USB

   BSD name: en17

   Kext name: com.apple.DriverKit.AppleUserECM.dext

   Location: /System/Library/DriverExtensions/com.apple.DriverKit.AppleUserECM.dext

   Version: 1

   MAC Address: XXXXXXXXXXX

   Product ID: 33107

   Vendor ID: 3034

  AX88178 : this is a plugable USB 2.0 adapter USB2-E1000

   Type: USB

   BSD name: en18

   Kext name: AppleUSBEthernet.kext

   Location: /System/Library/Extensions/AppleUSBEthernet.kext

   Version: 5.0.0

   MAC Address: XXXXXXXXXXXX

   Product ID: 6016

   Vendor ID: 2965

The ECM dext being used under Big Sur 11.2 is NOT working stably with the Belkin 8153. Any video call = crash. Don't bother contacting Belkin if you have one of their products, they're useless.

Hope this helps!

What didn't work with 2020 macbook pro 16" 11.2.3:

• Belkin USB-C to Gigabit Ethernet Adapter (f2cu040) - saw mainly TX packet loss on managed netgear switch
• TP-Link USB C to Ethernet Adapter(UE300C) - saw TX packet loss on managed netgear switch

Unplugging and replugging the adapter did seem to help temporarily.

Then I got the more expensive Apple parts which have been working flawlessly:

• Apple Thunderbolt 3 (USB-C) to Thunderbolt 2 Adapter
• Apple Thunderbolt to Gigabit Ethernet Adapter

This uses a different driver than the other USB adapters and have had no issues:

Name: ethernet
      Type: Ethernet Controller
      Bus: PCI
      Vendor ID: 0x14e4
      Device ID: 0x1682
      Subsystem Vendor ID: 0x106b
      Subsystem ID: 0x00f6
      Revision ID: 0x0000
      Link Width: x1
      BSD name: en11
      Kext name: AppleBCM5701Ethernet.kext
      Firmware version: 57762-a1.15
      Location: /System/Library/Extensions/IONetworkingFamily.kext/Contents/PlugIns/AppleBCM5701Ethernet.kext
      mDNS offload capable: 
      Version: 11.0.0

Your description is the kind of thorough, fairly complete picture of a problem the Engineers at Apple WISH they could get from Users when a problem occurs. It is far more likely to be usable to reproduce the issue, which is most of the way toward getting the problem solved.

But we have no methods to escalate issues from here on the User-to-User forums to Apple Engineering.

It takes YOU to contact support, work through the First responders to a get the ear of a Specialist, then provide your information so they can create a Bug Report. Only Bug Reports and service returns get Engineering action. A savvy specialist may be able to look at your posting on the forums to save you some time re-explaining your experiments and observations.

First responders are trained to be patient and methodical. Specialists have more technical training, but may be far less patient.

<< I was hoping that some of them would be browsing the forums for these kind of issues. >>

It would be nice if that were so, but it is not normally the case. They have piles of work that came in through Bug Reports, so they generally don't have time to go 'looking for trouble' on the forums.

Also, the typical forum post is so devoid of methodical experimentation (which makes your posting so refreshing) that it can not be acted on without MUCH more information-gathering.

First of all many thanks on this investigation.

As I do facing the same issue with that TB3 Dock, I have tried your idea of updating the Realtek-Driver and can confirm that this doesn't solve the issue. Just had an interrupt of the LAN Connection signaled by the Citrix Workspace and the verification confirmed the self assigned IP address.

But at the console I found a crash report:

Process: com.apple.DriverKit.AppleUserECM [1267]

Path: /System/Library/DriverExtensions/com.apple.DriverKit.AppleUserECM.dext/com.apple.DriverKit.AppleUserECM

Identifier: com.apple.DriverKit.AppleUserECM

Version: 1.0 (1)

Code Type: ARM-64 (Native)

Parent Process: launchd [1]

Responsible: com.apple.DriverKit.AppleUserECM [1267]

User ID: 270

Date/Time: 2021-02-16 09:52:23.143 +0100

OS Version: macOS 11.2.1 (20D74)

Report Version: 12

Anonymous UUID: 1DCA626A-0E04-0AA6-9577-0C73085331CA

Time Awake Since Boot: 6100 seconds

I just highlighted the time awake since Boot as I think it is very strange, that it occurred exactly after 6100 seconds.

Within other related crash reports, I just found the below listed times:

Time Awake Since Boot: 140000 seconds

Time Since Wake: 13000 seconds

Time Awake Since Boot: 150000 seconds

Time Since Wake: 25000 seconds

Time Awake Since Boot: 9900 seconds

Time Since Wake: 8800 seconds

Either apple is rounding this seconds to full hundreds or thousands or it is really a strange happenstance.

Same with me. Luckily I was able to get a CalDigit TS3 Plus through a warehouse deal today as they are just out of stock at apple. Now hoping that I am able to do my work without these annoying Videoconference interruptions recognizing the system is switching from LAN to Wifi. And regarding the Belkin one: I am sorry for them as they usually having really valued products, but I'll return as of now.

Ethernet Cards:

    ethernet:

    Type: Ethernet Controller

      Bus: PCI

      Vendor ID: 0x8086

      Device ID: 0x1533

      Subsystem Vendor ID: 0x1ab6

      Subsystem ID: 0x0214

      Revision ID: 0x0003

      Link Width: x1

      BSD name: en7

      Kext name: AppleIntelI210Ethernet.kext

      Location: /System/Library/Extensions/IONetworkingFamily.kext/Contents/PlugIns/AppleIntelI210Ethernet.kext

      mDNS offload capable: 64:4b:f0:19:81:0d

      Version: 2.3.1

I have the same issues here with several MBP M1 and Lenovo USB-C Dock Gen 2.

I tried to report this issue to Apple via Support Chat but sadly they just referenced me to Lenovo, although this is clearly a Realtek Driver bug in macOS.

I hope Apple will fix this soon. Isn't there any other way of reporting those crashes to Apple?

Your information confirms it stopped working suddenly The resulting backlog of data (and possibly the recursion need to re-transmit it) caused a stack overflow, which halted the DriverKit process.

This also caused the interface to revert to a Self-Assigned IP address (in the 169.254.xxx.yyy range, which happens when no one will talk to you and give you batter IP address.

Your Mac should not crash like this when bad things happen. But we have no mechanisms here to escalate such problems to Apple Support to get a Bug Report filed and get Engineering working on reproducing and solving this issue.

if you can, please take the time to contact support and get them to add you to the Bug report, or if they cannot find one, to start a new one. Your panic data is the first I have seen posted, and may be interesting for them. The link is at the top of every forum page.

Thanks for the advice. I tried it twice to get in touch with Apple.

On my first try, the case was closed directly, with the note that Apple does not support "third party products".

On the second try I got into the 2nd level and was allowed to upload the tracebacks. Here I was told that a similar case is known internally, but there the issue only occurs when other USB devices are connected to the MacBook. I also have other USB devices connected (headset and stuff). I should reproduce the error again without any USB devices connected.

The next day Apple called again, but the engineer was not interested in my test result, but only told me briefly that the issue is known internally and engineering is working on it. He was not able to add my case to this internal bug report.

Last but not least, I have also sent the traceback to apple.com/feedback. Now all we can do is wait.

In the meantime, I've noticed some more issues with the driver. My Cisco AnyConnect client reconnects over Ethernet every 30min. This does not happen on WLAN (same network). The ARM driver seems to be still very buggy.