Ethernet by another name

[DanL]

So having gotten my new iMac which has no Ethernet port (and I didn't get one on the power adapter), I got a dongle that plugs into my USB3 port and offers an Ethernet slot. Nice! So I plug it in, and connect my Ethernet cable to it, and my Network page says Ethernet "Not Connected". Duh? Took a while to understand that yes, it IS connected, but on the Network page it shows up as "USB 10/100/1000 LAN". Who knew? So my Ethernet is connected, but my Big Sur OS doesn't want to admit it.

 

[Cory Cooper]

Hi,

Depending on the adapter brand/model, many require a third-party drive which are only compatible with much older versions of OS X/macOS. If it is indeed connected, you should see the adapter listted in the Network preference pane with the connection, not Ethernet, which is normally for built-in or other Apple Ethernet hardware.

C

 

[DanL]

Thanks. That makes some sense. But you'd think that if you had an Ethernet connection, the OS would tell you that you had it. If it wants to tell me that built-in Ethernet isn't connected, that would seem appropriate.

 

[Cory Cooper]

Hi,

This is what I see on a MBA with an Apple USB (2.0) to Ethernet adapter in the Network preference pane:

I removed the IP information of course...

C

 

[DanL]

... and what I see is this

as in, Ethernet Not Connected. Except I'm using Ethernet, on the USB LAN connection.

 

[Cory Cooper]

Hi,

Correct...the USB 10/100/1000 LAN is the active Ethernet connection. It would probably show Ethernet Connected if you had the iMac power adapter with the Ethernet connection, and the USB 10/100/1000 LAN wouldn't be listed, since it wouldn't be needed/connected.

Looks normal to me.

C

 

[DanL]

But again, if Network wants to report about Ethernet as being connected or not connected, it just ought to do so. When I connect an Ethernet cable to the Mac and I'm using it, my Ethernet is connected. It's just that simple. The operating system has to KNOW that it's using Ethernet. So why not just admit it?

 

[Cory Cooper]

Correct, because that is built-in Ethernet, not an adapter.

If I connect an adapter to my Mac mini with built-in Ethernet, it would show the same as yours - Ethernet Not Connected and USB 10/100/1000 LAN Connected. Both are Ethernet, but they are just labels for the different devices providing the Ethernet service. Ethernet is just the default device in Network for Ethernet, which has the MAC address of your Mac's built-in Ethernet chip, when it has one on the logic board. The USB adapter has a different MAC address for its Ethernet chips, so it is listed as what it is. I would suspect that if you had the Apple AC power adapter option for the iMac, Ethernet would still show as Not Connected and the power brick's Ethernet would show separately, with a different name, and as Connected.

You can delete the entry called Ethernet, then rename the USB 10/100/100 LAN adapter to Ethernet.

C

 

[DanL]

Oh, that's an excellent idea doing the renaming. I can patch the OS to make it sensible.