However, Mac OS X doesn’t include drivers for these adapters, and the companies in question aren’t the most Mac-friendly firms out there. In some cases, you might be able to use the Mac’s AirPort card as your second Ethernet interface, but AirPort isn’t as fast as Ethernet and AirPort networks aren’t quite as stable for a machine that’s acting as a server.Ī better solution is a USB-to-Ethernet adapter, since they’re inexpensive (about $25 to $40) and readily available from companies like Linksys, D-Link, Netgear, and others. But it’s a trickier problem for Apple’s consumer Macs, though they have plenty of power and other attributes (such as minimal noise generation) that make them attractive as utility machines. What would you do if you wanted to add a second Ethernet card to a Mac mini, iBook, or iMac to turn it into a router, a firewall, or a packet shaper? Or, how would you work around a burnt-out internal Ethernet chip in such a Mac? With a Power Mac, you can buy an inexpensive PCI Ethernet card and be up-and-running with a minimum of fuss (as I did for my Power Mac G4 after a lightning strike see 'Adding Ethernet to a Power Mac' in TidBITS-737). #1643: New Mac mini and MacBook Pro models, new second-gen HomePod, security-focused OS updates, industry layoffsĪdding a USB-to-Ethernet Adapter to a Mac.#1644: Explaining Mastodon and the Fediverse, HomePod Software 16.3 and tvOS 16.3, GoTo breach.#1645: AirPlay iPhone to Mac for remote video, Siri learns to restart iPhones, Apple's Q1 2023 financials.1646: Security-focused OS updates, Photos Workbench review, Mastodon client wishlist, Apple-related conferences.1647: Focus-caused notification issues, site-specific browser examples, virtualizing Windows on M-series Macs.

Usb to ethernet mac