Sonnet Solo2.5G Gigabit Ethernet Adapter adds wired networking to MacBooks
Malcolm Owen
Sonnet's Solo2.5G is a 2.5 Gigabit Ethernet adapter that connects to USB-C, and is compact enough to be easily carried around with a MacBook Pro.
Launched on Wednesday, the Sonnet Solo2.5G is a 2.5 Gigabit Ethernet adapter for connecting computers that lack Ethernet ports to a physical wired network. For Apple users, this gives a way to do physical networking with a MacBook Air, MacBook Pro, or iPad.
Measuring 1.2 inches wide by 2.8 inches long and just 0.6 inches tall, the Solo2.5G is very small and easily stowed away in a bag so it's ready for use. It has a captive 0.3-meter (1-foot) USB-C cable, which connects to either USB-C or Thunderbolt ports.
Bus-powered so it doesn't need a separate power adapter, the unit is also energy efficient and silent, thanks to its fanless design.
The included RJ45 port includes link and activity LED indicators, with support of connections up to 2.5GBASE-T over Cat5e at distances of up to 100 meters. When used on supportive infrastructure, it can max out to its top 2.5Gbps speed, though it will also work with more typical 1Gbps networking infrastructure too.
The Sonnet Solo2.5G USB-C to 2.5 Gigabit Ethernet Adapter is available now from Sonnet, priced at $24.99.
Andrew Orr
Christine McKee
Chip Loder
William Gallagher
3 Comments
Hopefully these are using a newer chipset than the Realtek RTL8125 based ones that have been out for several years. The RTL8125 family powers 95% of the 2.5Gbe dongle adaptors on the market today and they are prone to overheating very quickly during sustained transfers (which is what you want 2.5Gbe or higher ethernet for). When they overheat they throttle down below even 1Gbe speeds, making them WORSE than just using an old school legacy gigabit adaptor that can sustain full speed without ever overheating. I have several 2.5Gbe dongles that I experimented with over the years and most of them work ok if you tear into the packaging and add your own larger heatsinks on the chips. Looks ugly as hell but at least you can sustain 2.5Gbe speeds for more than 30 seconds with the beefier heatsinks. Stock all these dongles are terrible.
You won't notice anything different if you need these for just web browsing, but if you are using them to speed up your local network, spend the extra cash and get a proper 10Gbe ethernet adaptor. Yes they cost more, but they don't overheat.
Fun fact, you can get fast wired networking/internet on iPad if you use these dongles as iPadOS has built in drivers for them.
For $25, this is a decent stop-gap between 1Gig and 10Gig - especially at 10% of the price of their 10Gig adapter. But personally I'd really like to see a 5Gig (or 10Gig) adapter for under $100. That's where things get interesting for me.