We picked up the Sabrent NT-P10G USB4 to 10GbE Network Adapter to test how well a Marvell AQC113-based external adapter performs over USB4. This is an external USB Type-C device, not a PCIe card, making it useful for laptops and systems where opening the chassis is impractical. We paid $117 on Amazon for this unit making it not as cheap as the Realtek-based solutions, but it can perform better on higher-end ports.
If you are looking for one of these adapters, here is an Amazon affiliate link to where we purchased ours.
Sabrent NT-P10G Hardware Overview
The Sabrent NT-P10G adds a 10GbE RJ45 port over USB Type-C for USB4 and Thunderbolt 3/4 hosts. This compact external adapter features a black aluminum enclosure with ribbed sides for heat dissipation. Heat is a major challenge for 10Gbase-T adapters due to the additional signal processing required.
A 10GbE RJ45 port sits clearly visible on one end.
On top, the branding is simple, and the enclosure is not much larger than the port hardware requires.
That RJ45 port is the reason to buy the adapter. Sabrent lists support for 10GbE along with 5GbE, 2.5GbE, and 1GbE, so this works across many standards. Just to be very clear here, if you are only using this for 1GbE or 2.5GbE speeds, there are many lower-power and lower-cost options out there.
The host connection uses a USB Type-C port labeled for 40Gbps operation. This is the key distinction from PCIe cards like the YuanLey AQC113-X1 we reviewed previously, which requires an internal PCIe slot. If you have a notebook, mini PC, Mac or other system, adding an internal NIC is not really practical.
Sabrent includes a USB Type-C cable, which is a small but useful touch for an external adapter. Since the NT-P10G is bus-powered, there is no separate power brick to carry. The 100W label is a cable rating for power, not how much the adapter uses.
On the bottom, we get the regulatory and model label area. Sabrent also has status LEDs on the enclosure for link and activity checks.
Next, let us plug this in and see how it performs.
Is it actually USB4, or is it Thunderbolt 3? If it’s Thunderbolt 3, it means I’d be able to use it with a Thunderbolt 2 machine behind Apple’s TB3 to TB2 adapter as long as I can find a way to power it.