There is however a reliable fix. Plug in your usb adapter with a live ethernet cable.
Apple Usb Ethernet Adapter
Macbook air usb ethernet adapter not recognized. Apple offers a number of steps to take in order to regain connectivity as outlined in their support page. Hit the button in the bottom right select the usb 20 10100m ethernet adapter and hit add. If you want a usb to ethernet adapter for your macbook air that offers more than just an ethernet port you may want to consider this adapter that converts one of your macbook airs usb type a ports into an ethernet port plus three replacement usb ports. Simply create a new location in network preferences. Open system preferences and go to the network pane. User stephen coulson puts it i plugged the adapter into a usb 30 port on my macbook pro mid 2015 and it immediately started working 3.
The problem isnt the usb ethernet adapter since it works when plugged into other apple notebooks just fine. Belkin usb type c to gigabit ethernet adapter. The final step is to begin plug your usb 20 ethernet adapter to your macbook with your usb type c adapter and go to system preferences network click a plus icon on the bottom to add ethernet connection. Open your browser to test the connection. Anker 3 port usb 30 portable data hub. Usb c adapters for macbook proairmac dongle with 3 usb30usb c to hdmi usb c to rj45 ethernetmokin 9 in 1 usb c to hdmi adapter100w pd charging usb c to sdtf card reader usb c hub 45 out of 5 stars 76.
If 3281 is installed and no wifi is available will have to use a wifi adapter to connect to the internet in order to download kernel version 3282 which addresses the ethernet issue across all macs.