I got myself a new C850B797 toshiba laptop with an i7-3630QM processor and 16GB of ram (coz it’s cheap), the C850B797 is the grey edition in the C850 series, the processor is a 22nm Lithography and everything is very good as far as i can see, but then i realized that the laptop had one very serious issue, i am limited to 100mbit Ethernet, and i really do move plenty of files around all the time (many gigabytes), so i needed to get gigabit, but how ?
Usb speed is 480mbit/second, much of that goes overhead, so the Ethernet controller would probably be USB3 which would block my only usb port, so the answer is to get a USB3 hub and connect the USB gigabit ethernet to it, but it turns out that the hub followed by gigabit eithernet is already on the market from one of 2 providers.
The first, the one i got is the StarTech ST3300U3S USB hub and Ethernet controller, that uses ASIX AX88179 for gigabit Ethernet after a VIA VL811 USB3 hub, the question is, will i be getting the speeds i am hoping for from this ?
I will be running tests concerning reliability of the combo (since both are connected in serial) and let you guys know.
1- StarTech ST3300U3S USB hub and Ethernet controller – Power adapter included = $55, Also happens to be the same exact thing as the SYBA inf@zone (infozone) with the same chips and the same plastic casing, the SYBA infozone will sell at $33 if you buy 3 together, i found 3 for $98.99 on ebay, making it much cheaper than the $66 each for the same exact thing from StarTech, SYBA labels it as SY-HUB50056.)
AX88179 — USB3.0 to 10/100/1000M Gigabit Ethernet Controller
VIA VL811 – SuperSpeed USB 3.0 Hub Controller
The other options on the market are…
2- Kanex DualRole Gigabit Ethernet with 3-Port USB Hub (USB3GBITX) – Power adapter not included – $40
AX88179 — USB3.0 to 10/100/1000M Gigabit Ethernet Controller
No idea about the hub chip yet.
Please bare in mind that this same combo but with USB 2 and a 100Mbit eithernet adapter should not cost more than $10, it is the USB 3 and gigabit Ethernet that are expected to be this expensive.
Via also produces the VL812 which is almost identical to VL811