# USB Gigabit network adapter dropouts



## gpw928 (Oct 11, 2022)

I'm seeing my new USB Gigabit network adapter bouncing every hour or so:
	
	



```
# uname -a
FreeBSD sherman.my.domain 13.1-RELEASE-p2 FreeBSD 13.1-RELEASE-p2 GENERIC amd64

# ifconfig ue0
ue0: flags=8843<UP,BROADCAST,RUNNING,SIMPLEX,MULTICAST> metric 0 mtu 1500
        options=8000b<RXCSUM,TXCSUM,VLAN_MTU,LINKSTATE>
        ether 8c:ae:4c:d6:75:df
        inet 192.168.1.27 netmask 0xffffff00 broadcast 192.168.1.255
        media: Ethernet autoselect (1000baseT <full-duplex>)
        status: active
        nd6 options=29<PERFORMNUD,IFDISABLED,AUTO_LINKLOCAL>

# grep ue0 /var/log/messages | tail -10
Oct 11 03:01:21 sherman kernel: ue0: link state changed to DOWN
Oct 11 03:01:21 sherman kernel: ue0: link state changed to UP
Oct 11 06:07:40 sherman kernel: ue0: link state changed to DOWN
Oct 11 06:07:40 sherman kernel: ue0: link state changed to UP
Oct 11 07:49:43 sherman kernel: ue0: link state changed to DOWN
Oct 11 07:49:43 sherman kernel: ue0: link state changed to UP
Oct 11 08:40:14 sherman kernel: ue0: link state changed to DOWN
Oct 11 08:40:14 sherman kernel: ue0: link state changed to UP
Oct 11 10:36:39 sherman kernel: ue0: link state changed to DOWN
Oct 11 10:36:43 sherman kernel: ue0: link state changed to UP
```
It's plugged into the same Netgear switch as the Intel card it replaced, which was problem free.  The problem is specific to the USB adapter:
	
	



```
# lsusb
Bus /dev/usb Device /dev/ugen0.2: ID 0b95:1790 ASIX Electronics Corp. AX88179 Gigabit Ethernet
```
This adapter uses the AX88179 chipset, and it plugs into a USB 3.2 Gen 2 port.  I have never experienced dropouts or interrupted service, but the interface is most usually only used for ssh login connections, so one might not expect to notice.

Does anyone know if this behaviour is expected or common?


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## sidetone (Oct 11, 2022)

When things like that happen, a configuration needs to be fixed or improved.
I had similar problems with my wireless card, and improving the configuration and troubleshooting, and making the settings more specific to the hardware or signal made it work better without dropping. That may not be specifically helpful to the pinpointed problem, but it will be helpful to know that an improved setting should fix that, unless it's the drivers that are faulty.

It's like every time it drops off, the broken setting has been come across, while the rest of the settings are making it work or work again. Alternatively, it could also be the behavior when the hardware or process doesn't get a poll or ping, and the driver decides to turn it off as a response.


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