Thunderbolt Bridge Not Connected (But Is)

Question

Created Nov ’21

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On my previous Macbook Pro 16in Intel (Monterrey) and before, have always had my computer connected to OWC thunderbolt dock, and thunderbolt usb-c 10g ethernet attached to the dock getting me about 1.7gbps.

On the new M1 MacBook Pro 14 (Monterrey - Stable version shipped with), it still works but now in Preferences > Network > Thunderbolt Bridge shows as not connected (even though it is). The problem here, is even though I have that set to override wifi, wifi appears first in the list and thus uses the wifi because it thinks the ethernet isn't connected. If I disable wifi, then thunderbolt bridge is on top, still says not connected, but able to get full ethernet speeds. But then when I unplug and want to use wifi i have to manually re-enable wifi.

Not sure why system preferences thinks the Thunderbolt Bridge (10g ethernet isn't connected when it is on my new M1?) Is this solved in the 12.1 beta, if so will update to that.

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Answer 1

ChrisC OP

Nov ’21

Also just tried plugging it direct to the Mac to rule out the OWC Dock as being part of the issue specific to M1, but same issue when connecting direct. Tried deleting the thunderbolt bridge and re-adding in the Network panel and restarting and no resolution. Also if it matters using the pluggable 2.5g thunderbolt ethernet for the past couple years with no problems. It's based on realtek I believe.

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Answer 2

ChrisC OP

Nov ’21

While I wanted to get back on the stable track until next June, bit the bullet and upgraded to the 12.1 beta in hopes that would fix this Network panel issue. Thankfully it does. Upgraded and now Network Preferences properly shows the ethernet as green/connected. For those on the stable version, perhaps someone will have a workaround to suggest here in the meantime.

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Answer 3

raffetazarius OP

Jan ’22

Have you tried changing the priority of the Thunderbolt to be higher than WiFi?

https://support.apple.com/en-me/guide/mac-help/mchlp2711/mac

Doing this may “force” your Mac into prioritizing the faster connection via Thunderbolt.

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Answer 4

Kylek OP

Feb ’22

I see this same behavior, output from ifconfig is here:

en4: flags=8863<UP,BROADCAST,SMART,RUNNING,SIMPLEX,MULTICAST> mtu 1500 options=567<RXCSUM,TXCSUM,VLAN_MTU,TSO4,TSO6,AV,CHANNEL_IO> ether 00:01:d2:1a:02:1a inet6 fe80::1caf:692e:898b:1271%en4 prefixlen 64 secured scopeid 0x7 inet 192.168.1.48 netmask 0xffffff00 broadcast 192.168.1.255 inet6 fd40:ebe4:8b95:4898:ce3:f0b2:b12d:931f prefixlen 64 autoconf secured nd6 options=201<PERFORMNUD,DAD> media: autoselect (10Gbase-T <full-duplex,flow-control>) status: active

But in System Preferences it shows as "not connected"...I am on 12.2.1...so maybe this just reverted. I don't THINK this was happening on 12.2, my update was in the last 24 hours...

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Answer 5

Kylek OP

Feb ’22

This is (quite literally) hit or miss, sometimes it honors that setting...and sometimes it just does not. #frustrating

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