WiFi dongle that works with Big Sur

[Chufton]

Hi
I need to purchase a WiFi dongle that works with Big Sur
The card and logic board are damaged and the repair out-ways the worth.

Can anyone recommend one?
Doing some research the TP needs various drivers and some messing around in the OS.
It’s a MacBook Air 2015.

 

[Cory Cooper]

Hello and welcome.

I recently went down this path with my MacBook Air (13-inch, Early 2015) running Big Sur, but with Ethernet connectivity, as the internal Wi-Fi still works. The location of this particular MacBook Air requires it to be hardwired.

Most of the third-party USB 3 to Ethernet adapters require a driver, and most only support up to macOS 10.15 Catalina or so. I tried the Belkin and TP-LINK, and couldn't get the driver to install properly in Big Sur, so I settled on the Apple USB Ethernet Adapter - $29 USD. It works perfectly without any drivers to install, although it is only a USB 2.0 connector with 10/100 Ethernet support. The maximum network/Internet speed it gets is 90-93 Mbps, which is far less than the built-in Wi-Fi.

The USB Wi-Fi adapters seem to have the same driver/macOS support limitations. I don't know if any that will work with Big Sur, but will do a bit of research and see if I can find anything that may be compatible.

C

 

[Chufton]

Hello and welcome.

I recently went down this path with my MacBook Air (13-inch, Early 2015) running Big Sur, but with Ethernet connectivity, as the internal Wi-Fi still works. The location of this particular MacBook Air requires it to be hardwired.

Most of the third-party USB 3 to Ethernet adapters require a driver, and most only support up to macOS 10.15 Catalina or so. I tried the Belkin and TP-LINK, and couldn't get the driver to install properly in Big Sur, so I settled on the Apple USB Ethernet Adapter - $29 USD. It works perfectly without any drivers to install, although it is only a USB 2.0 connector with 10/100 Ethernet support. The maximum network/Internet speed it gets is 90-93 Mbps, which is far less than the built-in Wi-Fi.

The USB Wi-Fi adapters seem to have the same driver/macOS support limitations. I don't know if any that will work with Big Sur, but will do a bit of research and see if I can find anything that may be compatible.

C

Thank you Cory.
I’m finding it a bit of a mine field and I’m not 100% Mac literate - swapped to PC Many years ago.
It would have to be a WiFi dongle as she lives in a shared household.
I’ve been researching and many have to turn off SIP for the drivers to work. I assume that renders it vulnerable to viruses? Bearing in mind her age, she’ll be watching and downloading all sorts from illegitimate sites.

Best
John

 

[Cory Cooper]

No worries.

Yeah, I tried turning off SIP on mine, but the driver still didn't work right. Turning it off won't render it more vulnerable to viruses per se. It just allows software access to protected parts of the system that could be exploited. SIP was introduced with OS X El Capitan, Macs didn't have that protection before that. and they were pretty resistant to viruses/malware.

About System Integrity Protection on your Mac

You could aways try it out and see if it works. And, you may only need to disable SIP to install, as it may run after installation with SIP re-enabled.

C

 

[Chufton]

No worries.

Yeah, I tried turning off SIP on mine, but the driver still didn't work right. Turning it off won't render it more vulnerable to viruses per se. It just allows software access to protected parts of the system that could be exploited. SIP was introduced with OS X El Capitan, Macs didn't have that protection before that. and they were pretty resistant to viruses/malware.

About System Integrity Protection on your Mac

You could aways try it out and see if it works. And, you may only need to disable SIP to install, as it may run after installation with SIP re-enabled.

C

Thank you for all you help Cory.

ive read good reviews on the TP range so will try one of those.
May I enquire which one you tried?

best
John

 

[Chufton]

No worries.

Yeah, I tried turning off SIP on mine, but the driver still didn't work right. Turning it off won't render it more vulnerable to viruses per se. It just allows software access to protected parts of the system that could be exploited. SIP was introduced with OS X El Capitan, Macs didn't have that protection before that. and they were pretty resistant to viruses/malware.

About System Integrity Protection on your Mac

You could aways try it out and see if it works. And, you may only need to disable SIP to install, as it may run after installation with SIP re-enabled.

C

Thank you for all your help Cory
Will purchase the TP and see how it goes

Best

 

[Cory Cooper]

Hi,

Sorry for the late reply. The ones I tried were the Belkin B2B048 USB3 to Gigabit Ethernet Adapter and TP-Link UE300USB 3.0 to Gigabit Ethernet Network Adapter.

Good luck and let us know how it goes.

C

 

[dsak]

Hi
I need to purchase a WiFi dongle that works with Big Sur
The card and logic board are damaged and the repair out-ways the worth.

Can anyone recommend one?
Doing some research the TP needs various drivers and some messing around in the OS.
It’s a MacBook Air 2015.

Hello, i'm currently going through the same exact problem, could you please tell me if you found a dongle that supports Big Sur?

 

[LEC]

Hi, Same problem. I was hoping with the new Big Sur update something would be different, but of course, it isn't.
Anybody have a wifi dongle that works without compromising the security of my laptop?