StarTech.com USB 3.0 to Gigabit Network Adapter - Silver - Sleek Aluminum Design Ideal for MacBook, Chromebook or Tablet

Pros: Simple way to add a Gigabyte network port to my wife's new laptop, which did not have any RJ45 jacks. There was no install needed, it just works on windows 10. The power comes from the USB port, supports all network speeds, and uses a Realtek RTL8153 chip. My wife likes the aluminum silver finish. This unit has a StarTech.com 2-year warranty and free lifetime technical support.

Cons: At first I thought the cable would be short, but I found it to be just fine, and stayed out of the way.

Overall Review: Supports USB 3.0 Compatible with IEEE 802.3i/u/ab standards Up to 9K jumbo frame support Wake on LAN Auto MDIX Full duplex flow control VLAN tagging

Pros: I trust StarTech products - no doubt, the network adapter will work (hence the 5 eggs) but beware: if your MacBook Air has a mini DisplayPort marked Thunderbolt 2 (my MacBook Air is 2014), don't buy this adapter. You need a mini DisplayPort Thunderbolt 2 to Gigabit Network Adapter (you can get it from the Apple Store). I tried the USB to Gigabit Network Adapter, the adapter shows traffic, but the MacBook Air USB is just a USB interface. The MacBook Air Thunderbolt 2 interface offers Ethernet. My purchase was my mistake, not StarTech's.

Overall Review: Not all MacBook Air's are the same: if yours has a mini DisplayPort Thunderbolt 2, don't buy this one. Buy the mini DisplayPort Thunderbolt 2 to Gigabit Network Adapter (you can get it from the Apple Store).

Overall Review: This product works fine but if you are purchasing for the aluminum look then be wary!! There is much more plastic than in the pictures. The pictures in the Overview section are what the device actually looks like

Pros: Very easy to set up. In W10x64, I just plugged it in and wait for the driver to load, and done. I tried installing it in W7Px64, and it fails but it loads a "U3" drive that has the Realtek driver. Open the file manager, go to the "U3" drive and run the NIC driver installer. You are done. The machine that I added this to is rather slow, and only gets to about 80MBs file copy throughput on the internal NIC, and about the same with this Startech NIC. So I was not able to see if the Startech NIC can approach the Ethernet ideal limit of 125MBs. UPDATE: I was pleasantly surprised to find that it works plug-and-play with V11 FreeNAS. I was able to set up a temporary NIC for doing a direct bulk copy. It worked flawlessly!

Cons: It does get warm after continuous use (file downloads) but it never really got hot, so not a true negative. I truly had no issues with this. Another great product from Startech.

Overall Review: Note that this uses a Realtek RTL8153 chip. Startech offers another USB3.0 NIC with a different chipset. Nice aesthetics and feels nice and solid. I definitely recommend this USB 3.0 GbE adapter, and I plan to get another one soon.

Pros: Plugged in worked. Lights didn’t come on until I plugged in network cable.

Cons: None