I am using plugged into USB 3.0 port of Lenovo U410 laptop (Windows 8.0) When speed tested on speedtest.net, it only shows speed 85-95Mbit. In my office network is 1Gbit (tested, shows 700-800Mbit connection with other computers).
Cable Matters SuperSpeed USB 3.0 to RJ45 Gigabit Ethernet Network Adapter in White I purchased this USB 3.0 to RJ45 from Cable Matters. Like several others have mentioned, I also do not have a CD drive and thought that I had to download the driver from their website.
My laptop has 100Mbit card in it, so when I use native RJ45 port, speed is 100Mbit again. Also, I tested it on MacBook Pro with Mac OS X 10.10 (Yosemite), and there speed also limited to 90Mbit. I looked through google, but nobody seems to raise this issue. It is not issue with USB 2.0 port pretending being USB 3.0 because USB 2.0 should allow up to 500Mbit connection. I wonder whether that is an issue with drivers (I installed from CD coming with unit), item itself, or just false advertisement. UPDATE Cables and ports are important for connecting to ethernet.
However, it seems that the device is either faulty or doesn't work at all by design. Also I couldn't find any success stories where people used it to get 1Gbps speeds. I couldn't on my Win8 or MacOS X machines.
If the USB adapter’s driver software, and the switch port to which your computer connects, are truly 1 Gb ports set to auto-detect port speed, or set to 1 Gb, the problem likely lies in the cabling: Either your patch cable—the horizontal cable—or the switch patch cable doesn’t have all four pairs connected on both ends. Gigabit Ethernet requires all four pairs, while 100Mb only requires two pairs.
Gigabit ports will drop to 100Mb when they don’t have all four pairs to use through the entire cable path because the 1Gb negotiation fails, and it falls back to 100Mb. I wonder whether that is an issue with drivers (I installed from CD coming with unit), item itself, or just false advertisement. Never trust the drivers on CDs that come with devices since many times those drivers on the CD are usually out of date.
Checking the shows various different driver download options. And the site that site then points to—who I assume are the OEM manufacturers— which I assume is the actual OEM part number for the adapter you have. Specifically I am looking at this Mac OS X driver that was released on August 20, 2015:. And there are other drivers for other platforms that seem to be similarly updated.
The most common issue we hear about when using our USB to Ethernet adapters with a Mac is an inability to connect to the network. If the USB port is functioning properly and the ethernet cable used is not defective, are two common causes that could be to blame. Drivers Are Not Properly Installed Unlike previous versions of this adapter, our current Gigabit Ethernet and Fast Ethernet network adapters do not require the installation of drivers. The software required for these adapters is built into the MacOS and upon connecting for the first time the device should be recognized and work properly. There are ocassions, however, where the driver may not properly load in the MacOS and a manual installation is required. This is very rare and typically the result of a failed component within the computer instead of a defective adapter component.
The other ocassion is a MacOS update that has caused the driver to load properly. Also, unless explicitly stated, the drivers are recommended for only the latest current public release of the MacOS version you are using. While public beta versions may work, they are not supported due to the substantial changes that can be made to the OS based on user feedback before the software is released. You can find the driver installation software for your device by following the links below: SKU #202013: (Purchased AFTER September 2016) Note: Cable Matters changed it's chipset solution for this product in 2016. SKU #202023: Note: This link also directs you to RealTek and the driver download page is similar but they are different pieces of software for different chip solutions. Scroll to the bottom of the page where you will find the software link for Mac.
It will download a software package file. After you double-click to run the installation it will walk you throught the steps and reboot to complete the installation. Below is an example of the RealTek download page, Download file, and installation confirmation.
Reinstalling Network Adapters Another possible cause for a failure to connect your adapter to your LAN network is that the network adapters as defined in the OS have become corrupted or altered in some way and need to be reinstalled. Think of this as similar to a software program or app that doesn't install properly and needs to be reinstalled. To walk through this process, we have created this useful guide: If you still experience issues after performing these troubleshooting steps please contact us at [email protected]. Be sure to provide your order number for your purchase as well as the version of Mac OS you are using.