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Testing 3 different USB ethernet dongles
Intro
I sometimes need extra ethernet connectivity for debugging and development. Lets have a look at some I have around. All dongles are tested with USB3 host system, unless otherwise stated. Testing is done with iperf3.
Linksys USB3GIG-EJ
Box says Linksys USB Ethernet adapter gigabit USB 3.0, works like a charm:
rick@WINNIE:~$ iperf3 -c 192.168.88.1 Connecting to host 192.168.88.1, port 5201 [ 5] local 172.22.29.135 port 51080 connected to 192.168.88.1 port 5201 [ ID] Interval Transfer Bitrate Retr Cwnd [ 5] 0.00-1.00 sec 112 MBytes 943 Mbits/sec 0 3.15 MBytes [ 5] 1.00-2.00 sec 112 MBytes 944 Mbits/sec 0 3.15 MBytes [ 5] 2.00-3.00 sec 111 MBytes 933 Mbits/sec 0 3.15 MBytes [ 5] 3.00-4.00 sec 112 MBytes 944 Mbits/sec 0 3.15 MBytes [ 5] 4.00-5.00 sec 112 MBytes 944 Mbits/sec 0 3.15 MBytes [ 5] 5.00-6.00 sec 112 MBytes 943 Mbits/sec 0 3.15 MBytes [ 5] 6.00-7.00 sec 112 MBytes 944 Mbits/sec 0 3.15 MBytes [ 5] 7.00-8.00 sec 111 MBytes 933 Mbits/sec 0 3.15 MBytes [ 5] 8.00-9.00 sec 112 MBytes 943 Mbits/sec 0 3.15 MBytes [ 5] 9.00-10.00 sec 112 MBytes 944 Mbits/sec 0 3.15 MBytes - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - [ ID] Interval Transfer Bitrate Retr [ 5] 0.00-10.00 sec 1.10 GBytes 942 Mbits/sec 0 sender [ 5] 0.00-10.06 sec 1.10 GBytes 935 Mbits/sec receiver iperf Done.
Wavlink NWU220G
The Wavlink WL-NWU220G is a USB 2.0 to Gigabit Ethernet Adapter. It's using the axe(4) driver under FreeBSD.
rick@WINNIE:~$ iperf3 -c 192.168.88.1 Connecting to host 192.168.88.1, port 5201 [ 5] local 172.22.29.135 port 51086 connected to 192.168.88.1 port 5201 [ ID] Interval Transfer Bitrate Retr Cwnd [ 5] 0.00-1.00 sec 34.0 MBytes 285 Mbits/sec 0 1.56 MBytes [ 5] 1.00-2.00 sec 31.2 MBytes 262 Mbits/sec 0 3.00 MBytes [ 5] 2.00-3.00 sec 30.0 MBytes 252 Mbits/sec 0 3.00 MBytes [ 5] 3.00-4.00 sec 31.2 MBytes 262 Mbits/sec 0 3.00 MBytes [ 5] 4.00-5.00 sec 31.2 MBytes 262 Mbits/sec 0 3.00 MBytes [ 5] 5.00-6.00 sec 30.0 MBytes 252 Mbits/sec 0 3.00 MBytes [ 5] 6.00-7.00 sec 31.2 MBytes 262 Mbits/sec 0 3.00 MBytes [ 5] 7.00-8.00 sec 31.2 MBytes 262 Mbits/sec 0 3.00 MBytes [ 5] 8.00-9.00 sec 30.0 MBytes 252 Mbits/sec 0 3.00 MBytes [ 5] 9.00-10.00 sec 31.2 MBytes 262 Mbits/sec 0 3.00 MBytes - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - [ ID] Interval Transfer Bitrate Retr [ 5] 0.00-10.00 sec 312 MBytes 261 Mbits/sec 0 sender [ 5] 0.00-10.13 sec 311 MBytes 258 Mbits/sec receiver iperf Done.
Still impressive, it's almost maxing out the maximum transfer speed of USB2.0 protocol, but by far not the gigabit port.
Sitecom LN-030v3
Also have a old Sitecom LN-030v3 adapter lying around. It is a USB 2.0 adapter with 100 Mbit ethernet speed. It's using the ure(4) driver under FreeBSD.
rick@WINNIE:~$ iperf3 -c 192.168.88.1 Connecting to host 192.168.88.1, port 5201 [ 5] local 172.22.29.135 port 51094 connected to 192.168.88.1 port 5201 [ ID] Interval Transfer Bitrate Retr Cwnd [ 5] 0.00-1.00 sec 14.1 MBytes 118 Mbits/sec 0 595 KBytes [ 5] 1.00-2.00 sec 11.2 MBytes 94.3 Mbits/sec 0 1.14 MBytes [ 5] 2.00-3.00 sec 11.2 MBytes 94.4 Mbits/sec 0 1.70 MBytes [ 5] 3.00-4.00 sec 11.2 MBytes 94.4 Mbits/sec 0 2.26 MBytes [ 5] 4.00-5.00 sec 11.2 MBytes 94.4 Mbits/sec 0 2.83 MBytes [ 5] 5.00-6.00 sec 11.2 MBytes 94.4 Mbits/sec 0 3.00 MBytes [ 5] 6.00-7.00 sec 11.2 MBytes 94.4 Mbits/sec 0 3.00 MBytes [ 5] 7.00-8.00 sec 10.0 MBytes 83.9 Mbits/sec 0 3.00 MBytes [ 5] 8.00-9.00 sec 0.00 Bytes 0.00 bits/sec 1 1.41 KBytes iperf3: error - unable to receive control message: Connection reset by peer
Using USB3 ports is causing the module to 'choke' and resets itself, which is highly unwanted. Trying on an (old) USB2 port:
rick@WINNIE:~$ iperf3 -c 192.168.88.1 Connecting to host 192.168.88.1, port 5201 [ 5] local 172.22.29.135 port 51106 connected to 192.168.88.1 port 5201 [ ID] Interval Transfer Bitrate Retr Cwnd [ 5] 0.00-1.00 sec 13.6 MBytes 114 Mbits/sec 0 601 KBytes [ 5] 1.00-2.00 sec 12.4 MBytes 104 Mbits/sec 0 1.15 MBytes [ 5] 2.00-3.00 sec 11.2 MBytes 94.4 Mbits/sec 0 1.71 MBytes [ 5] 3.00-4.00 sec 11.2 MBytes 94.3 Mbits/sec 0 2.27 MBytes [ 5] 4.00-5.00 sec 10.0 MBytes 83.9 Mbits/sec 0 2.83 MBytes [ 5] 5.00-6.00 sec 11.2 MBytes 94.4 Mbits/sec 0 3.02 MBytes [ 5] 6.00-7.00 sec 11.2 MBytes 94.4 Mbits/sec 0 3.02 MBytes [ 5] 7.00-8.00 sec 11.2 MBytes 94.4 Mbits/sec 0 3.02 MBytes [ 5] 8.00-9.00 sec 11.2 MBytes 94.4 Mbits/sec 0 3.02 MBytes [ 5] 9.00-10.00 sec 11.2 MBytes 94.4 Mbits/sec 0 3.02 MBytes - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - [ ID] Interval Transfer Bitrate Retr [ 5] 0.00-10.00 sec 115 MBytes 96.3 Mbits/sec 0 sender [ 5] 0.00-10.27 sec 115 MBytes 93.7 Mbits/sec receiver iperf Done.
Excellent speed, how-ever 10x slower of course then the Linksys alternative.
Conclusion
If you need maximum performance, use the adapter suited for the job, how-ever when performance is not critical the older adapter are also still well suited for the job, how-ever bear in mind potential issues with USB devices dropping out, so (stress-)test your hardware before using it.
Fun fact: All USB Ethernet dongles roughly costed 20-25 EUR the moment I bought them, which makes interesting to see that technology really ages quickly, since the old dongles are basically worth-less :-).
