@nbi1 Here's the complete dmesg output. This driver appears to be buggy. As this is for kernel 5.18 I have to assume it's the most current.

[   38.383020] usb 4-3: new SuperSpeed USB device number 3 using xhci_hcd
[   38.405786] usb 4-3: New USB device found, idVendor=0b95, idProduct=1790, bcdDevice= 1.00
[   38.405793] usb 4-3: New USB device strings: Mfr=1, Product=2, SerialNumber=3
[   38.405795] usb 4-3: Product: AX88179
[   38.405796] usb 4-3: Manufacturer: ASIX Elec. Corp.
[   38.405798] usb 4-3: SerialNumber: 007CC2C6432927
[   38.736057] ax88179_178a 4-3:1.0 eth0: register 'ax88179_178a' at usb-0000:00:14.0-3, ASIX AX88179 USB 3.0 Gigabit Ethernet, 7c:c2:c6:43:29:27
[  107.122374] ax88179_178a 4-3:1.0 eth0: ax88179 - Link status is: 1
[  109.878936] usb 4-3: USB disconnect, device number 3
[  109.879200] ax88179_178a 4-3:1.0 eth0: unregister 'ax88179_178a' usb-0000:00:14.0-3, ASIX AX88179 USB 3.0 Gigabit Ethernet
[  109.879284] ax88179_178a 4-3:1.0 eth0: Failed to read reg index 0x0002: -19
[  109.879296] ax88179_178a 4-3:1.0 eth0: Failed to write reg index 0x0002: -19
[  109.914931] ax88179_178a 4-3:1.0 eth0 (unregistered): Failed to write reg index 0x0002: -19
[  109.914941] ax88179_178a 4-3:1.0 eth0 (unregistered): Failed to write reg index 0x0001: -19
[  109.914945] ax88179_178a 4-3:1.0 eth0 (unregistered): Failed to write reg index 0x0002: -19

As we can see it blows up immediately upon registering. FYI, I blacklisted the r8169 driver which handles the native Realtek ethernet port. That shouldn't be necessary, but just to be safe I removed that driver from the picture - that made no difference.

  @nbi1 Having researched this further it turns out this is an old problem dating all the way back to 2014. For this problem to have festered for 8 years while tp-link markets these adapters as linux compatible is fraudulent as it clearly fails the use cases for many users. Mine is going back for a refund. tp-link will not bamboozle me again.