Plugable USB 3.0 3-Port Bus Powered Hub with Gigabit Ethernet
$42.00 USD
SKU: USB3-HUB3MEAmazon Rating : (486 Reviews)
Features
- Connect Anywhere—Upgrade your tablet, laptop, or PC to wired Gigabit Ethernet speeds via USB-C or USB 3.0. USB Type-C and USB-A 3.0 cables included. Expand your USB 3.0 connectivity with this travel-friendly 3 port hub
- Portable Design—Featuring a compact aluminum frame, this sturdy hub is travel-friendly and easy to tuck away. All USB ports are located on one side to reduce clutter and maximize accessibility
- Fits your Setup—Includes two detachable, 19in/50cm cables for compatibility across both USB C and USB 3.0 connection types with the ability to connect to your MacBook, MacBook Air, MacBook Pro, Microsoft Surface Pro series, Dell XPS, Chromebooks and more
- Plug and Play—Drivers are built-in to Windows 11, 10, 8.x, macOS, Chrome OS, and most Linux distributions Windows 7 drivers available via download. Stand-alone charging not supported. Not compatible with Android or Game Consoles
- 2 Year Warranty—We love our Plugable products, and hope you will too. All of our products are backed with a 2-year limited parts and labor warranty as well as Seattle-based email support
Add Gigabit Ethernet and three USB 3.0 ports to almost any laptop with the Plugable Bus-Powered 3-Port USB 3.0 Hub With Gigabit Ethernet (USB3-HUB3ME). Whether your computer has USB-A ports, or newer USB-C ports, this plug and play adapter makes it easy to use a wired network and connect more devices. This hub is the perfect travel companion for any laptop due to its small size and USB bus powered design removing the need for a bulky power adapter to operate.
Common Uses
Design and Performance
Technical Specifications
Compatibility
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Android
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Apple SuperDrive
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Tivo
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Game Consoles (Switch, PlayStation, Xbox)
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Other non-PC or Mac platforms
In the Box
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1x Gigabit Ethernet Adapter with 3 Port USB 3.0 Bus-powered Hub
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1x 19in (50cm) USB-B to USB-C cable
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1x 19in (50cm) USB-B to USB 3.0 cable
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1x Quick Start Guide
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USB Port Types
USB-A
pietz, CC BY-SA 3.0 , via Wikimedia Commons
This is the standard USB connection that most computers offered prior to the introduction of USB Type-C (USB-C). Even after the introduction of USB Type-C, this is still quite common.
It can provide data transfer rates up to the USB 3.1 Gen 2 (10 gbps) specification depending on the host and device, but does not directly support video in the way that USB-C Alternate Mode does. This limitation makes DisplayLink USB graphics adapters and docking stations ideal on systems that do not have USB-C, or in instances where more displays are needed beyond available video outputs of a PC.
USB-B
Fred the Oyster, CC BY-SA 4.0 , via Wikimedia Commons
IngenieroLoco, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
This type of connection comes in a couple different styles depending on whether USB 3.0 and higher transfer rates are supported (bottom graphic). Usually this type of connection is used to plug into USB devices that do not have a fixed cable connected, such as USB docking stations, USB hubs, printers, and others.
USB Mini-B
Fred the Oyster, CC BY-SA 4.0 , via Wikimedia Commons
One of the first connectors for charging a smartphone, wireless game controller (such as the Sixaxis and DualShock 3), and other small devices such as external hard drives. Not commonly used today, but is still used in some cases. Most devices using USB Mini B are using USB 2.0, though a USB 3.0 variant does exist. This specification also added USB On-The-Go (OTG) functionality, though it is more commonly implemented with Micro USB.
USB Micro-B
Fred the Oyster, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
IngenieroLoco, CC BY-SA 4.0 , via Wikimedia Commons
A smaller connector that serves many of the same uses as the Mini B connector, with added optional features such as Mobile High-Definition Link (MHL) to allow devices like smartphones to output video to larger displays without requiring a dedicated port for video output.
The larger variant of USB-B is most commonly used for external hard drives for higher 5Gbps transfer rates.
USB-C, Thunderbolt™ 3, and Thunderbolt™ 4
Niridya , CC0, via Wikimedia Commons
The most recent USB connection, USB Type-C (USB-C), represents a major change in what USB can do. The connector is smaller, can be connected in two orientations, is able to carry substantially more power and data, and can directly carry video signals of multiple types (HDMI, DisplayPort, etc.) Intel has also adapted the USB-C connector for use with Thunderbolt 3 and Thunderbolt 4.
It is important to note that while all Thunderbolt 3 and Thunderbolt 4 connections are USB-C, not all USB-C connections can be used with Thunderbolt 3 or Thunderbolt 4 devices.
More details regarding physical USB connections can be found on Wikipedia . The graphics depicted here are adapted from Wikimedia Commons by various artists under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license.
Understanding and Troubleshooting Network Performance
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.
Configuring iPerf
To test a connection using iPerf, you'll need at least two network interfaces, and preferably two computers. You'll also need to know the IP (Internet Protocol) address assigned to each network interface . One network interface will function as an iPerf server, and the other network interface will function as an iPerf client. Lastly, you'll need to download the version of iPerf 3.x that's appropriate for your computer's operating system and extract/install it .
Windows
- Make sure the drivers for both network interfaces involved in the test are using up-to-date drivers. Drivers for Plugable products can be found here.
- Download and extract iPerf for Windows
- Open Command Prompt
- Press Windows Key + R or + R, then enter
cmdin the window that appears - Search the Start Menu for
Command Prompt, and open it
- Press Windows Key + R or + R, then enter
- 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
- If you have a folder named 'iperf' on your Windows desktop, you can reach it in command prompt with the command
- The
- Run iperf in server mode via Command Prompt
iperf3.exe -s
macOS
- Usually it is best to install iperf on macOS using brew in Terminal
- Make sure the drivers for both network interfaces involved in the test are using up-to-date drivers
- Open Terminal
- Run iPerf in server mode
iperf3 -s
Linux
- Usually it is best to install iperf using the package manager in your Linux distro. For example, in Ubuntu, use
apt: sudo apt install iperf3
- Make sure the drivers for both network interfaces involved in the test are using up-to-date Drivers
- Open Terminal
- Run iPerf in server mode
iperf3 -s
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
cmdin the window that appears - Search the Start Menu for
Command Prompt, and open it
- Press Windows Key + R or + R, then enter
- 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
- If you have a folder named 'iperf' on your Windows desktop, you can reach it in command prompt with the command
- The
- 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.
If you need assistance with your Plugable product that features network connectivity, please contact us for further assistance.
Installing Plugable USB-Ethernet Drivers in Windows 10
**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:
- The ASIX AX88772 chip in our USB2-E100 and USB2-OTGE100 adapters
- The ASIX AX88179 chip in our USB3-E1000, USBC-E1000, and USB3-HUB3ME*.
*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.
Self-Powered vs Bus-Powered USB Devices
While all USB ports provide some amount of power for attached devices, the available power may not be enough for certain high-current devices such as USB hubs or external hard drives. High-current devices usually come with their own power adapter, making them self-powered, in contrast to a bus-powered device that draws all of its power from the host computer's USB interface. Bus-powered devices can cause issues if they need more power than is available from the host machine.
Many of our devices that include power adapters, especially USB hubs, will function in either self-powered or bus-powered mode. However, even though the device may function, each additional device attached to the host computer reduces the total available bus power. If the power runs out, any USB device attached to the computer may suddenly disconnect. If this were to happen to a USB storage device, such an event could result in permanent data loss.
If a device comes with a power adapter, we recommend that the adapter stay connected at all times, otherwise the device may not function as designed.
Self-powered USB device - A device that takes all of its power from an external power supply
Bus-powered USB device - A device that takes all of its power from the host computer's USB interface.
Is this hub a good match for my Raspberry Pi?
Because the Raspberry Pi is a USB 2.0 device and can’t take advantage of USB 3.0 functionality as well as mixed results from users, we do not recommend this hub for use with the Raspberry Pi. The hub we do recommend is our 7 port USB 2.0 hub.
Why does my wireless mouse or keyboard appear sluggish or not work properly when used with the hub?
Most USB receivers for wireless mice and keyboards operate in the 2.4Ghz band. When connecting the receiver to any USB 3.0 port there is potential for interference that can affect the devices performance. The most effective method is to add a short USB 2.0 extension cable between the hub and the receiver to mitigate the effect, and many wireless keyboards and mice come with such a cable for this reason.
Do Plugable products support the Apple SuperDrive?
Unfortunately Plugable products do not support the Apple SuperDrive.
The Apple SuperDrive has stringent power requirements that can only be met by directly connecting the SuperDrive to your host laptop. As a result at this time Apple recommends only using their USB-C adapter cables. You can find more information on that here -→ How to connect the Apple USB SuperDrive
If you have purchased a Plugable product to use with your Apple SuperDrive, and would like some additional assistance please do not hesitate to reach out. You can do so by emailing support@plugable.com, or going to Plugable.com/Support.
My Plugable product with wired Ethernet is no longer working on macOS. What can I do?
Please Note
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
(Advanced! Click to reveal)
- 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.
