The one I tried requires a driver that is not included with Windows 8. I think it was a Plugabble brand. When I plugged it in, it showed up in device manager as an unknown device and could not find a driver on the system..I don't think it matters. I sort of picked one at random from the selection at Amazon and it works fine.
None should require drivers.,
Slight flaw in that logic. Windows can not download the driver for their usb Ethernet dongle if they are not online, and to be online the usb dongle's drivers would have to already be installed. A bit of a Pandora boxThe way many devices appear to not need a driver download is that, when you plug them in, they quietly download and install the drivers from Windows Update. You just don't have to manually download the driver because it silently does it for you in the background.
That's what I use and I didn't have to install any drivers and it's been working great.For those of you who have a StarTech USB 3.0 to Gigabit adapter, there is an updated ASIX driver ver. 1.16.9 dated 3/21/13 on the asix site.
ASIX AX88179 - ASIX AX88179 - USB3.0 to 10/100/1000M Gigabit Ethernet Controller
Yes, I know. That's why it failed to work on a Surface Pro I tried it on one that was not connected to wireless.Slight flaw in that logic. Windows can not download the driver for their usb Ethernet dongle if they are not online, and to be online the usb dongle's drivers would have to already be installed. A bit of a Pandora box
W8 is pretty good about having the drivers for a lot of random hardware. If your usb adaptor's drivers aren't already on windows it would be pretty easy to go to a McDonald's or any other place that has free WiFi and use it to dl the drivers while grabbing a snack.
Amazon or Newegg would be a good place to check. Find the one that is cheap and has a ton of positive reviews.