Fast Wired Ethernet—Upgrade to fast, wired Ethernet speeds via USB. This USB 2.0 solution is powered by the ASIX AX88178 chipset that provides better performance, and stability, than most Wi-Fi networks
Easy Installation—Automatic driver installation via Windows Update on Windows 11, 10, 8.x, 7, Vista, and XP (with existing internet connection). Functionality built into the Linux kernel from 3.9 onward (compile required for 2.6 to 3.8)
Features—Practical speeds of 200-300Mbps on USB 2.0. Supports auto MDIX (straight and cross cable auto-detection) with auto-sensing (IEEE 802.3, 802.3u, and 802.3ab). Jumbo packets up to 9KB (Windows only)
Compatibility—Not supported on macOS. Not recommended for Lenovo Yoga 2/3 due to issues with their USB 3.0 controller.
2-Year Coverage, Lifetime Support—Every Plugable product, including this ethernet adapter, is covered against defects for 2 years and comes with lifetime support. If you ever have questions, contact our North American-based team - even before purchase
Improve Speed and Reliability over Faster Networks
The Plugable USB 2.0 Gigabit Ethernet Adapter (USB2-E1000) kicks up network performance of computers with 100Mbps (10/100) Fast Ethernet adapters, using the higher speeds of USB 2.0 ports to achieve up to 300Mbps on a Gigabit network. It also adds the speed and reliability of wired Ethernet to computers with slow or unreliable wireless connections, or to computers without built-in Ethernet.
Chipset
Inside the USB2-E1000 is an ASIX AX88178 chipset for fast Gigabit Ethernet (10/100/1000) network speeds and maximum USB 2.0 compatibility with almost all USB 3.0, 2.0, and 1.1 hosts.
Driver
32/64-bit drivers for Windows 11, 10, 8.x, 7, Vista, and XP
Drivers built into Linux kernel.
Raspberry Pi OS Jessie, Stretch, Buster
(not supported on macOS)
In the Box
USB 2.0 to Gigabit Ethernet Adapter with standard USB type A connector for your PC and a female Ethernet (RJ-45/8P8C) jack to connect to an Ethernet cable
1.524 x 3.25 x 8 centimeters 0.6 x 1.3 x 3.1 inches
36 grams 1.3 ounces
USB2-E1000
Compatible With:
Microsoft Windows—11, 10, 8.x, and 7
Linux kernels—3.2 and above have built-in drivers
Chrome OS—Support with up-to-date systems
Raspberry Pi OS—Jessie, Stretch, Buster
Some Android devices, including NVIDIA SHIELD and Nexus Player (check with your device manufacturer for compatibility information)
Not Compatible With:
Not supported for use with macOS
Not supported for use with FreeBSD or pfSense
Please note, this adapter is NOT a solution for connecting USB devices like printers, hard drives, etc to a network. This adapter cannot be used to share Ethernet, WiFi, or data between multiple devices. This adapter cannot be used for Preboot Execution Environment (PXE). This adapter is NOT supported on macOS.
Performance
If your network speeds are currently limited by slow WiFi or a 100Mbps (10/100) network adapter in your computer, this adapter can provide up to 250-300 Mbps on networks that support these speeds.
Please note that ultimately, your Internet Service Provider's maximum speed will determine the upper level of performance. Speeds can also be limited by other computers on the network, excessive traffic on a cable connection, or network cabling and devices like switches or routers that don't support higher network speeds.
This adapter will also allow 100Mbps (10/100) networks to transfer data at their fastest available speed
Compatible with Windows, Linux, and ChromeOS. (Driver download may be required) Not supported for macOS
Compatible with Windows, Linux, and ChromeOS. (Driver download may be required) Not supported for macOS
Compatible with modern versions of macOS, Windows, Linux and Chrome OS
Compatible with modern versions of macOS, Windows, Linux and Chrome OS
Setup
A driver CD is included, however we recommend downloading drivers to ensure the latest version is used. For updated drivers please visit the Plugable drivers page.
Windows 7 or Windows 8 installation is easy as 1-2-3!
Connect to the Internet via Wi-Fi or other connection.
Plug the USB2-E1000 adapter into a USB port on your computer.
Allow Windows Update a moment to automatically install drivers.
When Windows Update isn't an option, simply visit the Pugable drivers page for the latest release. Support for Linux kernel versions including or later than 2.6 and 3.x.
Configuration
Configuring the USB2-E1000 is identical to that of an onboard Ethernet device. Visit the Control Panel or Network Preferences section of your system to assign static IP addresses or for other advanced configuration options
LED Behavior
The yellow "Link" light should stay lit continuously when plugged into Ethernet. The green "Activity" light should flash slightly during data transfers - it almost appears solid green so look closely for flashing.
Should the yellow link fail to light or the green activity light fail to flash to indicate traffic, you might have a faulty device or a software issue. If so, please connect support@plugable.com.
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Computer networking is a complex topic. In this article, we'll be taking a deep dive on the nuances of network performance for those who need some additional explanation while striving to be concise, and to educate users of various experience levels relating computer hardware and computer networking.
If you just need to know how to perform a network performance test/benchmark, jump down to configuring iPerf.
Core Network Concepts
LAN vs WAN
With regards to network performance, it is crucial to first separate whether an issue is with Wide Area Network (WAN) performance, or if the issue is with Local Area Network (LAN) performance.
Your LAN is essentially the network inside your home or business. Many homes use a combination modem/router device provided by their Internet Service Provider (ISP). In some cases, especially in businesses, you may have a separate modem and router, along with other equipment connecting to the router such as a network switch.
Your modem, and the connection it establishes to your ISP—whether through coaxial cable, fiber, phone lines, or long-range wireless—essentially marks the point between the WAN and the LAN. The connection your modem makes to your ISP is the WAN, and any devices you connect through your router behind that modem belong to the LAN.
Link Rate
Almost every type of connection your computer makes to any piece of hardware will have a link rate of some kind. The link rate establishes how fast data can possibly be transferred across any given connection, but it does not guarantee how fast the hardware on either end of the connection will actually transfer data.
The concept of link rates, and their related bottlenecks, is likely best conveyed by giving an example of what connections might be involved in transferring a file from one computer on your LAN to another.
800Mbps—The file source is a USB 3.0 thumb drive capable of 100MB/s (800Mbps) read/write.
480Mbps—The USB 3.0 thumb drive is plugged into a USB 2.0 port on the PC, which has a maximum throughput of 480Mbps
1000Mbps—PC1's Ethernet connection establishes 1Gbps (1000Mbps) link to the router via Ethernet
300Mbps—The router connects to a second PC (we'll refer to this as PC2) via Wi-Fi, and it has established a 300Mbps link to the Wi-Fi adapter on PC2
480Mbps—The Wi-Fi adapter on PC2 is connected via a USB 2.0 port. The link rate of the USB connection to PC2 is at 480Mbps
6000Mbps—PC2 is going to store the file on an internal hard drive with a link rate of 6Gbps
1600Mbps—File Destination: SATA hard drive capable of 200MB/s (1600Mbps) read/write.
Following this chain, we see that 300Mbps is the slowest link rate established. This means that, regardless of the link rates established elsewhere, the absolute maximum the data can possibly be transferred is 300Mbps.
if we were to change the Wi-Fi connection to a wired Ethernet connection capable of 1Gbps, our performance bottleneck would then become the USB 2.0 connection to the USB drive where the file is stored.
Ports and Interfaces
Interfaces
A network interface represents connections, whether wired or wireless, that are made to form a network between devices.
Ports
Some may refer to physical hardware connections as "ports". For the purposes of networking, ports are logical constructs that can also be referred to as "network ports". Each network interface has 65,535 of these logical ports. Each port on a network interface is a separate data connection.
Benchmarking Network Adapter Performance
To properly benchmark network adapter performance, we need to:
Use a simple LAN configuration
Eliminate bottlenecks, especially link rate bottlenecks
Websites like speedtest.net, fast.com, and other performance tools in your web browser are going to use your WAN connection, and are not appropriate for determining if a network adapter is working well.
Transferring files from one computer to another on your LAN is typically not the best way to benchmark a network adapter. File transfers are bottlenecked by a number of things, including performance limitations of the disk the data is on, and often times a lack of establishing parallel network connections to perform the task.
One of the most accurate ways to benchmark network performance on a LAN is by using iPerf . To more effectively benchmark network adapter performance, it is best to establish a point-to-point connection between two PCs, rather than connecting through a router or switch.
Next, you'll need to run iPerf in client mode, targeting the IP address of the server/interface where iPerf is running in server mode. Additionally, we'll run the test for 30 seconds using -t 30 and with four parallel connections using -P 4. Running 4 parallel connections is optimal for saturating a network link.
Windows
Open Command Prompt
Press Windows Key + R or + R, then enter cmd in the window that appears
Search the Start Menu for Command Prompt, and open it
Navigate Command Prompt to the directory the directory where iPerf is located
The cdcommand is for 'change directory'
If you have a folder named 'iperf' on your Windows desktop, you can reach it in command prompt with the command cd %USERPROFILE%\Desktop\iperf
Run iperf in client mode via Command Prompt (replace 192.168.0.200 with the IP address of the server/interface where iPerf is running in server mode)
iperf3.exe -c 192.168.0.200 -t 30 -P 4
macOS / Linux
Open Terminal
Run iPerf in client mode (replace 192.168.0.200 with the IP address of the server/interface where iPerf is running in server mode)
iperf3 -c 192.168.0.200 -t 30 -P 4
iPerf should start performing a network performance test. If the test fails to start, make sure that iPerf is not being blocked by your PC's/Mac's firewall.
Why iPerf is Ideal for Benchmarking
Unlike a file transfer, iPerf runs in memory on the PC and generates data to send using the CPU directly. This alleviates potential bottlenecks generated by storage devices, and allows you to explicitly control how many parallel connections are being used to transfer data rather than being unsure if parallel network connections are being used by other means.
Conclusion
There's a lot more to networking that isn't covered in this article, but we hope this helps explain enough to get an accurate measure of your network performance.
**This is a legacy article from 2015. Please see notes for important information on changes.
Update: A Windows 10 driver now exists for the USB2-E1000. However, it will not appear in the CD that comes with the adapter until the next lot of adapters is shipped. The updated driver can be downloaded from this link: Windows 10/8/8.1, 7, Vista, and XP drivers for USB2-E1000.
If you are not able to connect to the Internet without installing the driver, you can download it onto a flash drive on another computer and use that to install it.
In testing Plugable’s USB-Ethernet adapters with Windows 10, we were happy to discover they all work successfully when their drivers are properly installed. However, an installation problem could cause issues with the USB2-E1000.
Drivers are already built into Windows 10 for: the ASIX AX88772 chip in our:
*Note In 2017, our USB3-HUB3ME was redesigned to include a Realtek RTL8153 chipset and drivers. Windows 10 should automatically configure these drivers when you plug the adapter in.) When you insert these adapters into a USB port, the drivers should automatically install with no need for an internet connection.
However, the driver for the ASIX AX88178 chip in our USB2-E1000 is not pre-installed in Windows 10, and we have discovered a problem with the downloadable driver that keeps it from installing. If this happens, the adapter will show up in Device Manager as “AX88178” with a Code 28 error: “”Drivers for this device are not installed.”
There are several ways to work around this issue, depending on the scenario:
1. Upgrading from Windows 7 or Windows 8.1: If you have already installed the driver for the USB2-E1000 in Windows 7 or 8.1 and upgrade directly from that version to Windows 10, the currently installed driver will be available to Windows 10, and your adapter should work without any further effort. If you haven’t yet installed this driver, please install it before upgrading.
The easiest way is to establish an internet connection, either wirelessly or through another Ethernet port, then plug in the USB2-E1000. Windows Update should see it and automatically download the correct driver. You can also download and install the driver from our website or from the disk that came with your adapter.
2. Doing a clean install of Windows 10 or using the USB2-E1000 on a new Windows 10 computer: Since the previous Windows 7 or 8.1 driver will not be carried over to a clean install of Windows 10, it must be freshly installed. The only way to accomplish this is to have an internet connection available when you first plug in the USB2-E1000.
That will allow Windows Update to download and install the driver. If you are in a situation where this is not possible, we recommend delaying the update until an internet connection is available, or until this issue has been fixed. Currently, the driver on the Plugable and ASIX websites is not working with Windows 10.
If you’re a user of a Plugable USB-Ethernet adapter and are experiencing issues, we’re here to help! If support is needed, please run our PlugDebug tool found HERE to collect system logs, and send the resulting file to support@plugable.com along with a description of the behavior you’re experiencing and any additional details you feel are relevant.
The below guide is an advanced troubleshooting step, and we do not recommend doing so unless you are comfortable manually altering files on your Apple product running macOS. You may not be able to perform the below troubleshooting step if you are unable to execute administrative credentials on your laptop. Please reach out to our support first if you do not wish to attempt the below instructions. You can do so at Plugable.com/Support
How to delete a specific Ethernet adapter from your Network devices on macOS
Click on the Apple logo in the top left corner of your primary monitor, and select ‘System Preferences’
Next select ‘Network’ in the ‘System Preferences' window.
In the now visible list, please select the Plugable Ethernet, or Thunderbolt Ethernet device that may not be working as expected.
Once selected click on the minus button in the bottom left of the network window.
Click on Apply in the bottom right.
Next click on the plus button in the bottom left of the network window, and add the previously removed device.
Click on Apply in the bottom right.
Test to see if this has resolved the unexpected behavior, and assure that your Ethernet is now working.
If this does not resolve the problem, please proceed to the next section (As noted previously the next section is for advanced users only!)
Manually erase your macOS Network Settings to fully reset the Network configuration
This will fully erase all of your Network configuration! Do not skip any steps, and proceed only if you are comfortable with each step!
Open the ‘Finder’ app, then in the ‘Go’ menu at the top of your screen select ‘Computer’
Click on ‘Macintosh HD’ then Library, Preferences, SystemConfiguration
Copy the file named ‘NetworkInterfaces.plist’ to your desktop as a backup of your current configuration.
Delete the original version of the ‘NetworkInterfaces.plist’ located in the SystemConfiguration directory.
Restart your Mac
Login to your Mac, and return to System Preferences → Network
If the list is now empty, please re-add the Plugable or Thunderbolt network adapter by clicking on the plus button in the bottom left of the Network window. Once done click on 'Apply'.
Test to see if this has resolved the unexpected network behavior
I am still unable to get my Ethernet connection working on my Mac
If this is the case please reach out to our support team. When you do please include a diagnostic log gathered using our PlugDebug tool (instructions are provided on the PlugDebug page). If you are not able to gather the PlugDebug diagnostics do not worry we are still here to help! Please reach out to our support team at support@plugable.com or Plugable.com/Support with a detailed description of your problem, and the model of Plugable product you are using.
The Windows Firewall may block some networking features when the local network is not set to Private. This article will describe the process for setting the local network, either wired Ethernet or Wi-Fi to be a Private network.
Windows 11
1 - Connect the computer to the network, either wired or wireless
2 - Open the Windows Settings - right-click on the Start Menu and select “Settings” from the pop-up menu
3 - On the left column select “Network & internet”
For Wired Networks
4 - Select the “Ethernet” option
5 - The connected network should be expanded, if not click on “Network Connected" to expand the section
6 - Select the “Network profile type” either “Public network” or “Private network” to suite your needs
For Wi-Fi Networks
4 - Select the “Wi-Fi” option
5 - Select your Wi-Fi network name “properties”
6 - Select the “Network profile type” either “Public network” or “Private network” to suite your needs
Windows 10
1 - Connect the computer to the network, either wired or wireless
2 - Open the Windows Settings - right-click on the Start Menu and select “Settings” from the pop-up menu
3 - Select “Network & Internet” fro the bottom section
4 - Select the “Ethernet” option from the left pane
5 - Select the “Connected” network from the right pane
6 - Select the “Network profile type” either “Public network” or “Private network” to suite your needs
Windows PowerShell
If the option does not show up in the Windows Settings GUI, or if you prefer to use the terminal.
1 - Open a new terminal: Right-click on the Start Menu and select “Terminal”
2 - Run the following command to list the available networks
One helpful way to identify your ethernet link rate speed is through the System Settings app in macOS. This can help us identify if your Plugable ethernet adapter is negotiating either 1Gbps or 2.5Gbps network speeds. Some routers have a mix of 1Gbps or 2.5Gbps ports, and in the macOS System Settings this will be shown in the Speed field.
In this example, we will be analyzing our USBC-E2500, which is a 2.5Gbps ethernet adapter. This method applies to all of our ethernet adapters, such as:
Navigate to the Network section, select the entry named “USB 10/100/1G/2.5G LAN” with the Green - Connected icon. Expand the Details button, and go to Hardware.
In the field that says Speed, you should see 2500Base-T if the ethernet adapter is connected to a 2.5G ethernet LAN port on your router. If you see 1000Base-T, this means the adapter is connected to a 1G ethernet LAN port. If you are expecting faster network speeds, please see your router's documentation on its multi-gig LAN port.