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| Realtek RTL8157 USB 5GbE Ethernet on Windows 7/8 https://board.eclipse.cx/viewtopic.php?t=929 |
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| Author: | the_r3dacted [ 20 Dec 2025, 12:20 ] |
| Post subject: | Realtek RTL8157 USB 5GbE Ethernet on Windows 7/8 |
| I had gotten curious about USB Ethernet adapters, and found RTL8157 based adapters are pretty cheap now. They can be found for below $20 on eBay and AliExpress, at least here in the US. I also noticed the Realtek drivers for Windows 7 and 8 list three device IDs for the RTL8157, but the entries are all commented out. So I got one, and got testing, and found if you uncomment those entries, it just works. My main PC has been using an RTL8157 exclusively for over a month now and it's been fine. I'm not sure why these entries exist but are commented out if it works. Maybe someone could contact Realtek and get them to release a driver with these entries uncommented. (It would also be cool to get working XP/Vista drivers, but idk if that's asking too much.) Since the process is so easy, I've opted to release the process on how to do it rather than release pre-modded drivers. Maybe it could be worth releasing modded drivers if someone could sign the modified inf. Step 1: Get the drivers for your respective OS version from Realtek, https://www.realtek.com/Download/List?cate_id=585 Step 2: Extract the drivers, and the exe installer with 7-zip. Step 3: Inside the driver installer is a Win7 or Win8 folder, and inside this folder are 64 and 32 folders. 64 for 64 bit, 32 for 32 bit. Open the folder for your respective OS and type. (This may also work for 32 bit, it has the same entries, but i have not tested it.) Step 4: Edit the rtump*sta.INF, remove the `;` behind all the `RTL8157X` entries, and save. Step 5: Install the drivers with device manager, https://board.eclipse.cx/viewtopic.php?t=758 (Since the drivers are unsigned, you will need to do the have disk method, and for Windows 8, you will need to reboot in Disable Driver Signature Enforcement mode to install the drivers.) Now you should have cheap and easy working 5GbE Ethernet on Windows 7+ on any USB 3 system. However do note you may get some duds. So far I have gotten four adapters, and two of them I have had to return. They showed issues even on Windows 10 and Linux. However for the price and the ease of returning dud products, at least here in the US, it's worth it for me. Also on the topic of Linux, we have a driver install guide for it too, located here. It's also possible the RTL8159, 10GbE Ethernet, can be had this way too. Also commented out are entries for a "RTL815X", and these correspond to the RTL8159 device IDs, but I don't have the money yet to drop $70+ on an RTL8159 adapter that may not even work. |
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