usb3 asix ax88179 keep losing connection: problem and solution

USB Network Adapters USB3-E1000
1

I had the same problem with my USB 3.0 ethernet/usb hub adapter (AX88179) losing network connection, as reported by more than the few folks, as can be verified with a quick Google search.

My brief setup:

  • Windows 10 Pro x64
  • Dell XPS laptop

I was also running VirtualBox VM (virtual machine) running a Linux guest. The VM only supports USB 1.0, by default, and I guessed the conflicting mode between the VM and Windows, which was running USB 3.0 caused the conflict. Installed the VirtualBox extension that supports USB/2.0/3.0 and the connection is stable now - hasn’t dropped in several hours which is several hours longer than before.

2

UPDATE: my above work-around above didn’t work for too long. Lost connection the few more times since. Disabling all power saving mode on the USB controller and “Energy Efficient Ethernet” mode on the ethernet adapter itself now. Seems stable for over an hour now.

3

Hello Pax,

I appreciate the information provided here. May I also ask if you were making settings changes just on the VirtualBox host system, or the Linux virtual machine that was running as well? Also, what version of Linux were you using (distro version and kernel).