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Half speed ethernet on Mac

Bawlk

ULTIMATE Member
Well I thought I'd throw this out here,
I've updated my MacBook Pro to MacOS BigSur but now my ethernet speed has dropped in half and when running iPerf tests not getting over 500Mb/s
I can't work out why, i thought it might be the physical USB ethernet adapter but tried on a Windows laptop and works full speed
 
Don't have a Mac, but usual suspects would be any sort of power optimisation or energy saving features, so check that first.

Second would be any sort of hardware acceleration that might have got enabled/disabled, leading to this kind of behaviour.

As I said, never used a mac, so can't point you any more precisely than this, try to dig up the appropriate setings on your own.
 
Don't have a Mac, but usual suspects would be any sort of power optimisation or energy saving features, so check that first.

Second would be any sort of hardware acceleration that might have got enabled/disabled, leading to this kind of behaviour.

As I said, never used a mac, so can't point you any more precisely than this, try to dig up the appropriate setings on your own.
I'll need to check the energy saving features, I'd understand if it was half speed on battery but it's also the same when plugged in

Maybe it's my excuse for a new laptop and back to windows 😂
 
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A number of people have reported problems with USB 3.0 devices since updating to Bigsur.

Check port settings and possibly reset?
 
But it's a Mac, it just works!

MacOS has become a buggy mess since Catalina. I've nearly bought an M1 Mac Mini several times, but then remembered I would be stuck with MacOS.

At least with my 2009 Mac Pros I can (and have) just installed Windows 10! I keep one on MacOS Mojave just for Garageband and a few other Mac only apps.
 
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What year is the MBP?

Which make/model of Ethernet adapter are you using?
Year; Mid 2014 🤣

Ethernet is just some generic adapter on Amazon 'Maxesla' to be exact.

Didn't think it was that as worked on windows but again could be driver related so will look out any other ones I have lying around to test them all.
 
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Year; Mid 2014 🤣

Ethernet is just some generic adapter on Amazon 'Maxesla' to be exact.

Didn't think it was that as worked on windows but again could be driver related so will look out any other ones I have lying around to test them all.

What were you running before updating to Big Sur?

IIRC MacOS removed 32bit drivers a few updates back, so maybe it was relying on older drivers for USB 3.0 support, and it's dropped back to USB 2.0 without them? Hence the <500mbps speeds
 
What were you running before updating to Big Sur?

IIRC MacOS removed 32bit drivers a few updates back, so maybe it was relying on older drivers for USB 3.0 support, and it's dropped back to USB 2.0 without them? Hence the <500mbps speeds
It was the previous update, Catalina IIRC

And funnily enough I seen something about rolling back to USB 2.0 on a form
 
It was the previous update, Catalina IIRC

And funnily enough I seen something about rolling back to USB 2.0 on a form
Hmm, I think it was Catalina that removed 32bit support, so I would have thought if that was the issue it would have been broken before the update.

I do reckon it's stuck at USB 2.0 speeds, you should be able to go into settings ( I can't remember where lol) and see what it's connected as. I'm guessing it's just MacOS being it's buggy self.

I'm guessing you're on the latest update since Apple dropped official support for your Mac with Monterey.
 
Hmm, I think it was Catalina that removed 32bit support, so I would have thought if that was the issue it would have been broken before the update.

I do reckon it's stuck at USB 2.0 speeds, you should be able to go into settings ( I can't remember where lol) and see what it's connected as. I'm guessing it's just MacOS being it's buggy self.

I'm guessing you're on the latest update since Apple dropped official support for your Mac with Monterey.
I'll need to dig around see if I can see if it's stuck at USB 2.0 and I thought Windows was a pain haha

Yeah it appears to be the latest, it officially old¡
 
I'll need to dig around see if I can see if it's stuck at USB 2.0 and I thought Windows was a pain haha

Yeah it appears to be the latest, it officially old¡
Try having a couple 2009 Mac Pros! I had to upgrade the firmware from 4,1 to 5,1 just to get a few more upgrades! If I want to go any newer I'd have to basically Hackintosh them, but given how crap the newer MacOS updates are, I don't think I'll bother!

Plus the 250W idle power draw means they cost an absolute fortune to run!
 
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@yolosnail - I've had a look and it's showing "Speed: up to 5 Gb/s" so looks like USB 3

@Pheasant I have 3 and they are all Realtek - FML 😶
 
If your MBP is from 2014 then I presume you have a Thunderbolt 2 port? An Apple TB2 to Ethernet adapter is much more reliable than a generic USB one. Never had any problems with mine (13" MBP early 2015)
I've never had an issue with USB ethernet since I got the MacBook only since this update.
 
Agree. Have you reset your SMC and NVRAM since update.
Tried to but not sure if it actually worked

I did however boot up in safe mode and was still getting similar results
 
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