$10 bought a USB 3.0 Gigabit Ethernet adapter that let the TV bypass its built-in LAN port and finally exceed the roughly 100Mbps ceiling on a 250Mbps connection.
The bottleneck came from the TV's 10/100 Ethernet port, which stayed near 95Mbps even after the owner ran a wired cable for lower-latency Moonlight game streaming.
Higher wired throughput made Moonlight sessions more consistent in fast-moving games, cutting bitrate swings, compression artifacts and occasional stutters.
Everyday use improved too: YouTube reached 4K faster, app updates finished sooner, and the owner said the expensive Mini-LED TV felt less constrained overall.
The experience highlights a broader quirk in smart TVs, where cost-cutting leaves some premium sets with Ethernet hardware slower than modern Wi-Fi.
Why do premium 2026 TVs use outdated ports when a faster one costs just a few dollars more?
How can a $10 accessory unlock more performance from a new TV than its expensive built-in features?