Best USB Ethernet Dongle For Surface Pro?

[netuser]

Which ones work best?
Are there any that have native driver support in Windows 8 so you don't have to first download driver files to the system before it works? Maybe one that has a built-in flash storage with a working driver stored locally (like many broadband USB sticks)?

 

[jeffskent]

I bought a Sabrent usb to ethernet dongle at Fry's about a month ago. Seems to work flawlessly on the few times I use it. Cost about $12 No drivers or anything else required.

 

[The Toy Man]

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.,

 

[netuser]

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.,

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..
The 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.
This process will not work for me because I will be setting up Surface Pros that are not already connected to wireless and therefore cannot get online to do this silent download. The first network connection will come from Ethernet dongle itself and wireless configuration will be set up automatically after the device is joined to the domain.
Has anyone tried installing one of these USB Ethernet dongles on a system that they are sure does not already have Internet access and had it work with the drivers that are built into the OS on the local drive or else have the drivers stored inside the dongle itself?

 

[jnjroach]

The all seem to use ASIX Ethernet Driver, download it from another machine and install from a thumb drive.

 

[gangolfus]

Just be sure to get a USB 3.0 gigabit adapter. You can buy USB 2.0 gigabit adapters, but the theoretical max of USB 2.0 is .480 gigabit, so you cannot achieve maximum speed.

 

[Brightsurface]

I bought one on eBAy for $3.15, and it works fine without asking for any driver.

Ethernet External USB to LAN RJ45 Network Card Adapter 10 100 Mbps for Laptop PC | eBay

 

[Intangir]

The 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.

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.

 

[olimjj]

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

 

[Nuspieds]

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

That's what I use and I didn't have to install any drivers and it's been working great.

Thanks for the updated driver link!

 

[machistmo]

I use the Dell S2430T Monitor with Docking Station built in. No drivers just touch goodness with GigE.

 

[netuser]

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.

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.
So, you need to either be connected to wireless already or have drivers copied locally for the one I tried.
We would be installing multiple at a time, so it will be added time and work to manually copy the drivers via USB before the Ethernet dongle works.
That's why I wanted to find a dongle that definitely has the drivers locally native in Windows 8 (no silent download of the drivers from Wifi needed).
Has anyone tested one and verified that the drivers were already local on the system (disabled wifi prior to plugging in the dongle for the first time)?