Since this chipset is not supported “out of box” by Mac OS X or macOS, it’s necessary to install a driver to get it working. And upgrading to macOS 10.12 “Sierra” unsurprisingly kills this driver.
Both are essentially identical, though, being based on the AX88179 chipset from Asix of Taiwan.
I’ve got a few different USB 3.0 Gigabit Ethernet dongles: One from Cable Matters (from Amazon) and another by j5 Create (from Best Buy). But have no fear! It’s a simple fix! Cable Matters clearly intended to target Mac users with this white Ethernet adapter and its Apple-esque packaging This time it’s many popular third-party USB 3.0 Gigabit Ethernet adapters that don’t work. It’s become routine: Each new update of Mac OS X macOS breaks third-party drivers and applications.
