USB-Ethernet adapter performance

Yes, you should be able to. But to make sure, look for a review of the adapter you plan to buy on the same operating system you plan to use.

Bulk throughput could be the same depending on the adapter and should probably be withing say 90%, but in my experience it does has more of an effect of slightly increasing latency, which can in turn influence throughput as well.

If you have a good adapter and a USB3.0 is reasonable as well, it should not make a significant difference for most use cases. Remember though that USB3.0 is known to interfere with 2.4GHz radios, so once again, a quality adapter (and notebook) with good shielding is recommended if you wish to use Bluetooth or wireless dongles.