I have ethernet running in to my docking station, and from the docking station I have connected a single USB-C to USB-C cable, which is powering my computer just fine, but not getting any ethernet. With the ethernet cable connected to the docking station there is a solid green light and a flashing amber light.
When I connect the very same ethernet cable to my laptop (with an ethernet-to-USB adapter it works fine, quite well in fact, so I know its not the ethernet cable. But my understanding is that I SHOULD be able to get wired ethernet through the docking station via the USB-C cable, am I right?
As we’ve done in the past if you recall, the first steps we like to take with this sort of issue is to re-install the dock’s DisplayLink driver. This DisplayLink driver is responsible for the displays, Ethernet, and audio, so ensuring it is working in a clean, updated state is helpful to move forward with an Ethernet issue. To do this, please follow these steps:
Disconnect the dock from the system and please remove the power cable from the dock so it turns off completely (this is important so the unit resets). Please keep it disconnected until the last step
Uninstall any and all software with ‘DisplayLink’ in the title that is present from within the Control Panel > Programs and Features. Don’t worry if these entries are not present or if the process does not work, just move onto the next step
Since that didn’t help, I’d like to request some logs from your system to investigate further. Could you please keep the Plugable dock (with the Ethernet cable still attached), then navigate to our PlugDebug tool and follow the instructions there? You’ll likely need to download the diagnostic tool first, then attach the Ethernet cable.
Please send the ZIP file created to us directly at support@plugable.com, and include “Ticket #340233” in the subject line so we can match it up to this post.
I’ve received those logs, thank you for capturing those!
Looking through the log contents, I’m not seeing the dock’s Ethernet interface recognized at all (assuming it was connected at the time of log capture).
I’d like to clarify a bit more regarding the Ethernet connection. Is the Ethernet cable connected to the dock directly connected to your modem or router? Or is there a networking device in the middle?
Pending that clarification, the next steps we’ll want to try is to manually set your Speed & Duplex setting. To do so, please follow these steps:
Connect the dock to your system and ensure the Ethernet cable is connected to the dock (even though its not working)
Navigate to Control Panel > Network and Internet > Network and Sharing Center > Change adapter settings
Right-click on the wired Ethernet connection, then choose Properties
Choose Configure… , then navigate to the Advanced tab
Locate the Speed & Duplex option and select 100 Mbps Full Duplex
Disconnect and reconnect the dock from your system
That’s the problem, even though the ethernet cable is connected to the docking station and the green light is on and the amber light is flashing, the the ethernet adapter does not show up in the Network and Sharing Center. It DOES show up if I take the same ethernet cable into a ethernet-to-USB adapter into the computer though, so I know the connection and the cable works.
My setup that I have is not connected straight into the modem or router though. I have my whole home wired through MoCA adapters. At this point it is coming straight out of the MoCA adapter, though once I got it all set up I was going to have a switch here.
If it is not too much trouble, is it possible at all to try bypassing those MoCA adapters and connect an Ethernet cable directly from the dock to your modem/router to see if that works?
The Ethernet port on the UD-ULTCDL dock doesn’t always behave properly when connected through certain network devices, such as a VoIP phone or a network device that supports half duplex only, so this can help us isolate the problem.
OK, this is weird as hell. I took my laptop and the docking station out to the living room, where the modem and router is. I plugged straight into the modem, nothing else in the way at all, not even the router. I did not work.
I brought it back in here to my bedroom where I intend on using it and hooked it back up so it least I could get power while I troubleshoot the next steps. When I plugged it in I went back into the networking center because I was going to enable the Wifi, and it said the ethernet was not plugged in. For days now it was not even there, and now it is showing up. I didn’t do anything different, no cables or anything were changed.
The only issue I have now is that the ethernet is “slow”. That is a relative term. I have 1 gig internet here. If I hook up to my laptop through an Amazon ethernet-to-USB adapter, I’m averaging around 950 Mbps over several speed tests. Connected to the Plugable ethernet port, I’m averaging around 150 Mbps. Interestingly enough, if I go from MoCA adapter --> ethernet-to-USB adapter --> USB port on the Plugable, I’m averaging around 300 Mbps. So I don’t know what’s going on with that exactly. I’m definitely not going to be going straight to my laptop with the adapter, I’ll be going through the docking station, I just hate to burn up one of the USB ports for ethernet when it has an already working (though slower) ethernet port.
Certainly strange to hear this is now working all of the sudden. We’ll go ahead and move on to Ethernet speed issue you mention.
You mention that when the Ethernet connection is connected to Ethernet port on the dock, we’ve averaging 150Mbps. To clarify, is that when the Ethernet cable is going through your MoCA adapter? Is this 150Mbps measurement still accurate when directly connected to the router or modem?
Next, as a temporary test, what if you disconnect all other USB devices and displays connected to the dock, then perform the speed test? I ask because since all of the connected devices will be sharing the same 5Gbps of USB 3.0 bandwidth, the USB bandwidth could be saturated which could result in reduced network performance.