Can I create a wired network between a PC and a Mac via USB or Thunderbolt 2 -> 3?

Question

I have two computers:

1. MacBook Pro (Retina, 15-inch, Early 2013)
2. Backpack PC (MSI VR One 6RE running Windows 10)

I do not have any keyboard/mouse/monitor regularly plugged in to the Backpack PC except for an HTC Vive. I do have these available for occasional one-off tasks, but not as a permanent solution (KB & mouse are very cheap quality, not good for prolonged use, monitor is actually a 1080p projector which isn't ideal for working on)

I currently use Remote Desktop to control the Backpack PC from my Mac over wifi. This is a good solution but I would like it to be faster so am investigating whether I can set up a wired connection between the two.

Neither has an Ethernet port (and my router is inconveniently placed and only has one free slot available). The Macbook has Thunderbolt 2 and regular USB ports. The Backpack PC has regular USB ports, one USB-C / Thunderbolt 3 port and a Mini Display Port (which has the same connection as the Thunderbolt 2's I believe, but probably won't be useful?).

I am looking to essentially use the Mac as a keyboard / mouse / display for developing in a native Windows environment via the Backpack PC.

Are there any sensible ways of creating a wired connection between these machines to speed up my remote desktop activities?

Solution

Yes.

Macs have done IP over Thunderbolt since they first included Thunderbolt in 2012, and Intel created a Windows driver to do this sometime around mid 2014. Thunderbolt IP networking uses a 10 gigabit Thunderbolt channel, so it could be up to 10x as fast as your typical gigabit Ethernet dongle that you can get for either Thunderbolt 2 or USB-C.

To do Thunderbolt IP between these devices, you'll need a Thunderbolt 3 to Thunderbolt 2 adapter (which looks just like a USB-C male to Mini DisplayPort female adapter, but is different on the inside), and a Thunderbolt cable (which looks just like a Mini DisplayPort male-male cable, but is different on the inside).

I know on the Mac this is plug-and-play, and I believe the same is true on Windows nowadays but I'm not sure. For a while after Intel first delivered this driver for Windows 8.x, you had to install it yourself. I'm hoping it's built into Windows 10 by now.

Note that although these interfaces show up as Ethernet interfaces and go 10 gigabits per second, this does NOT require you to get any kind of 10 gigabit Ethernet (10GBASE-T) adapters. It's doing 10gbps IP networking over Thunderbolt directly.

As for performance, I hooked up two random Macs via Thunderbolt networking and ran a quick iPerf TCP/IPv4 performance test, and got around 8Gbps.

Comments

[Admin]

You can get usb to ethernet dongles.

[Admin]

Had thought about that, would it be a sensible option? Could I then just run an ethernet cable between two dongles and have it all just work? I've not used wired ethernet for a long long time, are there complications to connecting a PC and a Mac to each other directly like that?

[Admin]

Aha, yes, looks like I can