User profile for user: Corrode
Corrode Author
User level: Level 1
5 points

Ethernet Speed Capped by macOS over Thunderbolt?

I wanted to reply to this thread: Ethernet Speed Capped by macOS over Thund… - Apple Community but it is now closed. I am also experiencing an issue where my gigabit usb-c to ethernet connection is throttled when using a USB hub. My setup:


14" M1 Pro MacBook Pro, macOS 12.6 Monterey

Belkin USB-C to Ethernet Adapter

LG Ultrafine 5k (1st gen) built in USB-C to Thunderbolt Hub — speeds of 500-600 Mbps


If I plug the USB-C to Ethernet adapter directly into my MacBook, I get speeds of 980 Mbps. Trying to narrow down the cause since the previous thread was a Dell monitor's built-in USB-C to Thunderbolt dock.


I don't have a solution but wanted to provide an additional data point. Below is the info from System Report. Since Apple is now providing the drive, perhaps there's an update when macOS Venture comes out.


Belkin USB-C LAN:

  Bus: USB

  Vendor Name: Belkin

  Product Name: Belkin USB-C LAN

  Vendor ID: 0x0bda

  Product ID: 0x8153

  USB Link Speed: Up to 5 Gb/s

  Driver: com.apple.DriverKit.AppleUserECM

MacBook Pro 14″, macOS 12.6

Posted on Oct 15, 2022 9:10 AM

Reply
Question marked as Top-ranking reply
User profile for user: Barney-15E
Barney-15E
User level: Level 10
122,126 points

Posted on Oct 15, 2022 10:18 AM

Your title says it was capped over Thunderbolt. It looks like the speed was capped by USB hub. When connected to USB4 on your Mac, you get fast speeds. When connected to any of the Hubs, you seem to get USB3 capability. On newer Apple Silicon Macs, the USB side of things is USB4. So, if it is a USB to Ethernet, then it will be capped by the bus speed. The bus on the hub may only be USB3.


Also note that when using USB, all devices on the same bus share the total speed. When using Thunderbolt, all devices can exploit the top speed, if able. But, that adaptor would have to be Thunderbolt capable to use Thunderbolt.


Another USB shortfall (or maybe it is really a hub shortfall) is the bus may revert to a slower USB spec if there are slower devices connected to it. For instance, if you connect a USB2 device to a USB3 hub, the whole hub may function at USB2 speeds.

View in context

Similar questions

16 replies
User profile for user: etresoft
etresoft
User level: Level 9
56,326 points

Oct 16, 2022 5:53 AM in response to Corrode

This is a user-to-user support forum. It is not a place to do research. MacRumours is even worse.


If you want to know how to get full speed out of your Apple devices, we can help with that. But we aren’t going to spend much time on any particular 3rd party hardware or software that we don’t own.


For this topic, the bottom line is that nobody cares. It’s Ethernet in a wireless world. As little as Apple cares about Ethernet, monitor manufacturers probably care even less. If you make a choice to add more 3rd party hardware to the mix, you are only going to make life more difficult for yourself.

Reply

This thread has been closed by the system or the community team. You may vote for any posts you find helpful, or search the Community for additional answers.

Ethernet Speed Capped by macOS over Thunderbolt?

Welcome to Apple Support Community
A forum where Apple customers help each other with their products. Get started with your Apple Account.
Learn more Sign up