[HN Gopher] USB-C hubs and my slow descent into madness (2021)
___________________________________________________________________
USB-C hubs and my slow descent into madness (2021)
Author : sneakymichael
Score : 302 points
Date : 2022-04-04 20:29 UTC (2 hours ago)
(HTM) web link (overengineer.dev)
(TXT) w3m dump (overengineer.dev)
| sandreas wrote:
| If you also need a monitor for your office tasks, try the Dell
| P2720DC. Its a Monitor including a USB-C Dock and it just works.
| jeffbee wrote:
| How much of the ethernet problems are due to these hubs and how
| much is due to ethernet autoneg just sucking? On my mac mini with
| whatever ethernet hardware they use, the link randomly negotiates
| 10, 100, full duplex, half duplex, flow control on or sometimes
| off. It's all coin tosses.
| Nextgrid wrote:
| Potentially, but the problem is that now you had no choice.
| Back then, your laptop would come with a reputable (most likely
| Intel) Ethernet controller that you would use so you had no
| reason to buy an external one and bear the risk of getting a
| shitty one. Now, more and more laptops don't have an Ethernet
| controller, so you have no choice but to roll the dice and
| churn through multiple dongles until you get one with a
| controller that doesn't suck.
| Saris wrote:
| A good NIC doesn't have any of those issues. It all comes down
| to their poor choices in what ethernet IC to use.
| jeffbee wrote:
| These Macs have Broadcom NICs so I'm not sure if it's quite
| as simple as buying reputable brands.
| pjsg wrote:
| All I wanted for my Macbook Pro (with 4 USB-C) was to get one
| USB-A and power passthrough. The USB-A would then get chained to
| a genuine USB-A hub.
|
| After two years, I'm now on my third hub. The second one was made
| by EUASOO and it died not being able to pass power through from
| the USB charger (it also wouldn't let the Mac boot when it was
| plugged in!). The first one (that I can't find) never really
| worked at all. The third one is branded OMARS and has survived
| maybe a month. On the plus side, it does actually let the Mac
| boot.
| tim-- wrote:
| The Dell DA310 is the best all in one USB hub that I have ever
| purchased. Works fantastic on Apple devices. Been using a number
| of them for a decent amount of time.
|
| Sure, it also uses an RTL8153, and might need the Realtek drivers
| to work (out of luck if you are on macOS 11+) but it was the
| first USB hub that I used forever, where everything just worked.
|
| I don't use it for PD, I don't trust that on any hub.
| vorpalhex wrote:
| Adding my own to the list -
|
| + Belkin's thunderbolt dock - Ethernet is a mess and takes down
| my network switch when my macbook goes to sleep. This seems like
| a common issue. The fix is to "unplug ethernet when putting
| laptop to sleep".
|
| + Anker's bigger usb c dock - actually this one works for me,
| though I am using it with an XPS 15.
|
| + The spouse has a CalDigit 3. She says it has no issues.
| holdenk wrote:
| I like the tear-down approach, I wish it was more common for
| these devices to say what chips they used.
| orheep wrote:
| I'm using a Kensington SD5700T and I have nothing but good to say
| about it.
| dwighttk wrote:
| Seems like it should be Realtek RTL8153 and my slow descent into
| madness.
| ok123456 wrote:
| I ran into a problem with one of these docks where the network
| adapter would randomly start flooding the network if it was left
| plugged in after the computer was disconnected. It didn't happen
| every time, maybe once every few months. The guy who had this
| thing would take off for the day a little before 5 and then total
| chaos by the time he was pulling away in his car.
| fooey wrote:
| What I want to know is why no one makes a plain actual hub for
| USB-C
|
| Not a dock, I don't want video, I don't want ethernet, I don't
| want an sdcard reader, I don't need switching
|
| All I want is a powered 1 to many USB-C hub. Maybe my google-fu
| is failing me, but I can't find this category of product and I
| don't know why.
| jmyeet wrote:
| I've gone through a number of Thunderbolt docks over the last few
| years. I tend to prefer docks to hubs because you tend to use
| your laptop at several fixed positions, each of which might have
| 1 or more monitors, a network cable, accessories (eg keyboard,
| mouse, camera) and so on. It's easier to just plug in one cable
| from the dock to the Macbook that'll do everything including
| power it.
|
| A good example of this is the Caldigit TS4 [1]. All the ports you
| could possibly want. Here's what I've learned.
|
| First and foremost, you'll be surprised at how many issues come
| down to a given cable being bad. It's gotten to the point that
| whenever I buy any sort of cable I typically buy 2 or even 3 at
| the same time because I assume 1 will be bad or will go bad.
|
| Second, also to do with cables, don't use any cable to connect
| from your dock to your laptop longer than a foot. These cables
| that can take power and full bandwidth for displays and
| accesories are the most technically demanding. Keep them as short
| as possible. And again, have spares.
|
| Third, while I'm a traditionalist and like a wired connection
| (and thus an Ethernet port), it's really optional now,
| particularly at home where you have some control over the
| network. Like I can get easily get 500+ Mbps over Wifi at home.
| This of course assumes a sufficient Internet connection but if
| you don't have that then Ehternet is even less necessary.
|
| If you have flickering display in particular, your first instinct
| should be to blame the cable.
|
| [1]: https://www.caldigit.com/thunderbolt-station-4/
| j_crick wrote:
| > All the ports you could possibly want.
|
| No HDMI.
| jmyeet wrote:
| True. Personally, I never use HDMI but YMMV. You can of
| course use a USB-C to HDMI cable however.
| shitlord wrote:
| I also prefer docks to hubs, for the same reasons you
| mentioned. There are still some pretty big gaps which need to
| be addressed before we can use a single cable for everything.
|
| First, Mac OS still doesn't support DisplayPort MST. If you
| have two or more non-Thunderbolt monitors, you'll need to use
| more than one port.
|
| Second, many companies require their employees to use tokens
| such as Yubikeys, which are USB devices plugged into a laptop
| operating on human touch. Even if you dock your laptop, you
| will need to keep it within arm's reach so you can touch the
| Yubikey. You could remove the Yubikey from the laptop and plug
| it into your dock, but that defeats the purpose of docking.
|
| Ultimately, I just want more desk space, and I consider both
| the dock and the laptop to be clutter.
| ubercow13 wrote:
| >If you have two or more non-Thunderbolt monitors, you'll
| need to use more than one port
|
| Is this still true with TB4? TB4 docks can have 3 downstream
| Thunderbolt ports and afaik each of them can power a single
| DisplayPort display without MST being involved, and without
| the display having to be a 'Thunderbolt' display, which I
| think just meant that they had a TB3 hub in to allow
| daisychaining.
| CharlesW wrote:
| > _If you have flickering display in particular, your first
| instinct should be to blame the cable._
|
| Any recommendations? I'm very happy with Monoprice's TB cables
| (https://www.monoprice.com/product?p_id=24721), which start at
| $27 but are a _lot_ cheaper than Apple 's.
| jmyeet wrote:
| So for things like iPhone cables, I just buy whatever nylon-
| braided cable Anker is selling now. I've been using Anker
| cables for years now and they've been reliable.
|
| But for things like TB and DP cables, I don't have any
| particular brand recommendations. I'm not sure it matters. I
| just find something with a good rating on Amazon and buy 2 of
| them. Whatever gets labelled as Amazon Basics has thus far
| seemingly worked well enough.
| fatnoah wrote:
| I hear you on the cable. Even with the dock I got working, I
| was still banging my head against the wall for a bit until I
| tried a different Thunderbolt cable.
| HNHatesUsers wrote:
| btgeekboy wrote:
| I mostly agree with this, but not necessarily the part about
| the Ethernet connection. If you do a significant number of
| meetings with video conferencing, you'll be much better off
| with a wired connection where the latency and jitter are both
| lower than over the typical WiFi. It's one of the easiest
| things you can do to improve how your face and voice appear to
| your colleagues.
| [deleted]
| synicalx wrote:
| FWIW, I've been using a Samsung S65U monitor which has a built in
| USB hub, Ethernet, audio out and connects downstream via USB-C
| with something like 90w power delivery (it might be 65w, can't
| remember). So far after a couple of months it's been absolutely
| flawless with Macbooks and Windows laptops and in it's "high
| resolution display" mode I can get 100hz even over USB-C. It does
| only have 3 USB ports and plugging any kind of USB-A hub or port
| multiplier in seems to freak it out a bit, so as far as I can
| tell you're stuck with the 3 ports it comes with.
|
| LG and Dell also make similar USB-C hub type monitors as well, in
| a few different sizes but AFAIK none of Ethernet ports on them if
| that's important to you.
| someotherperson wrote:
| The whole time I was reading this I was hoping that the author
| would have found something good at the end. This is unfortunate.
|
| I had the same initial hub as the author, and like the author, it
| died. I think it was branded UGreen or something. I've currently
| got a Baesus. Likely it's all the same trash.
|
| I had a Dell USB-C dock last year which worked quite well, but
| it's a chunky thing that isn't great for travelling.
|
| I wish there was a similar guide that ends with finding a product
| that actually performs. It would be great to see Apple or
| something try to address this issue without having to buy three
| dongles.
| steveBK123 wrote:
| Shitty USB-C is incredible. I have some docks/SD-card reader
| devices that somehow only work when plugged in with side A facing
| up despite the port allowing plugging in either way.
| dervjd wrote:
| If you're purchasing something to use permanently at your desk,
| it's worth spending more for a Thunderbolt dock. Most USB-C hubs
| are total crap.
|
| You'll get far faster transfer speeds, more ports, charging (and
| at full speed), proper display output (dual 4K/60hz) and better
| components/reliability. The CalDigit TS3 Plus[1] is what I've
| used for several years - first with a 2019 Intel MBP and now with
| my new 2021 M1 Pro MBP. It's pricey compared to a USB-C dongle,
| but rock solid.
|
| [1]: https://amzn.to/38sFDZk
| paisawalla wrote:
| Their entire product line seems to be "currently unavailable"
| on Amazon.
| physhster wrote:
| I have one of those Anker x-in-one hubs and it works well, minus
| the Ethernet which it capped at 300Mbps due to [checks notes] a
| USB 2.0 interconnection.
|
| Why?!? I ended up getting a separate sub $20 USB-C to Ethernet
| adapter from a random Amazon brand called Uni. Get full gig,
| every time despite it having a Realtek 8153 chip in it. So, there
| might be more to it.
| thedougd wrote:
| Many laptops can't handle more than USB 2.0 when outputting
| display over the same port. Those that can need a certain
| protocol (too lazy to look up). There's a better protocol that
| allows both, but now you're in the $100+ range of hub/docks
| that can handle it.
| codeulike wrote:
| "What Shopping On Amazon Feels Like"
|
| https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nQpxAvjD_30
|
| I saw this a few months ago and it really lays bare a lot of the
| crazy stuff we've just got used to with amazon
| Saris wrote:
| I feel like if you need ethernet, hdmi, DP, etc you should buy a
| laptop that has those ports on it in the first place.
| peepop6 wrote:
| My dream laptop is something with the performance of the M1 but
| with the modularity and freedom of old ThinkPads.
|
| I'm just hoping that by the time I stop using this M1 laptop
| there will be alternatives because there's really nothing I
| like about Apple other than their SoC.
| dml2135 wrote:
| Does anyone know if it's possible to drive three HD/QHD monitors
| via a single thunderbolt port on an M1 Mac, and if any docks
| exist that would support this use case?
|
| Many of these docks and Apple support documents say they support
| dual displays at 4K resolutions, but it's difficult-to-impossible
| to find information on # of displays supported at lower
| resolutions.
| noobee wrote:
| I am using the USB-C 4K with an M1 Mac Pro (Pro CPU), driving 2
| _4k@60Hz (via DP) and 1_ 4k@30Hz (via HDMI):
| https://plugable.com/collections/docking-stations/3x-display...
| snvzz wrote:
| This seems ripe for some Maker to design a reliable alternative
| as OSHW.
|
| I'd buy it in an eyeblink, from whatever shop the author prefers
| me to use.
| Nextgrid wrote:
| I wonder how much e-waste this USB-C bullshit idea generated.
| It's not even a one-off, "early adopter" problem, considering
| that even _now_ it 's hard to buy something that actually works
| and you have to churn through many attempts before getting lucky.
|
| In contrast, I can't remember the last time I bought a USB-A,
| HDMI or Ethernet cable/peripheral that didn't work, partly
| because those specs are self-contained and simple enough that
| even the cheapest manufacturer will typically do a good enough
| job.
| moduspol wrote:
| I still get the same issue with HDMI cables when you want to do
| more than 4K (like 4K60 4:4:4) with a cable that's more than
| half a meter long. Cable length apparently significantly
| impacts throughput.
|
| It's even worse on Amazon when a seller will list multiple
| lengths of the same cable, as there'll be reviews about how
| this works great for (e.g.) Dolby Vision on an Apple TV 4K, but
| that was for the short cable. That doesn't imply the longer
| version of the same cable will work for the same application.
| npunt wrote:
| Big picture, USB-C is set to considerably reduce ewaste given
| that more and more consumer electronics products are
| standardizing on it as a charging solution, eliminating custom
| chargers and letting manufacturers get away with not including
| a charger. This is likely to be accelerated by regulations in
| the EU. The last time we had this level of standardization was
| probably the AA battery. Not saying things are perfect (because
| they obviously aren't) but computers - and especially finicky
| docks and high performance cables - are just one part of a much
| much bigger market for USB-C.
| HNHatesUsers wrote:
| legitster wrote:
| I have never trusted one of these hubs to pass power through
| after feeling how hot mine got. That seems to have prolonged the
| life on mine.
|
| The decision of Amazon to allow foreign sellers directly on their
| platform really degraded the quality of their offerings overall.
| While I understand they had to to stay competitive with other
| retailers, the race to the bottom on some of these offerings is
| making me care about brand names more than I ever expected to.
| thedougd wrote:
| I have found that Macs are far less tolerant of USB-C devices
| than other machines. I have crap dongles that work with PCs,
| Chromebooks, even Chromecast and Nintendo's, but not correctly
| with a Mac. I've seen the same with Intel and M1 Macs.
| Roritharr wrote:
| 7 years ago I wrote a comment, dismayed about the coming USB-C
| insanity and was made fun of.
|
| Here we are.
|
| https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=9645013
| spicybright wrote:
| See you again in 7 years! :(
| post_break wrote:
| I'm currently using a UNI usb C hub that has worked flawlessly. I
| think it's bespoke because the port layout is nothing like all
| the clones and the reviews seem to show it's not flaky.
| loudthing wrote:
| Interesting how slow USB-C adoption has been so far, which is a
| shame because the connector and concept are a great standard, but
| the implementation of various busses (Thunderbolt, PCIExpress),
| video adapters (Displayport, HDMI 2, 2.1), USB versions (trying
| to be inclusive of USB 1 through 3 and all its flavors) is
| maddeningly complex, and unappealing to the typical consumer.
| NaturalPhallacy wrote:
| OMG. That might explain why the piece of shit dongle my work
| provided managed to bring my entire internet connection down for
| all the devices on it by downloading multi-gig OS update from
| Apple at a screaming 1.2MB/s (yes, one point two megabytes per
| second) over my _symmetric gigabit_ internet connection.
|
| Somehow I couldn't ping google from my windows desktop connected
| via ethernet, or access the web via my phone or ipad via wifi.
| The router itself couldn't even ping anything.
|
| The weirdest thing was the update never so much as paused and it
| wasn't using even 3% of my bandwidth. I'm not network engineer
| enough to even guess how the fuck it did that.
|
| Once the update was done I just unplugged the Ethernet and used
| built in wifi cause I needed the HDMI/USB 3 ports on it. Zero
| problems thereafter. Internet was fine on every device.
|
| It was shaped just like the pieces of shit in this article.
| jcelerier wrote:
| even without USB-C, I'm under the impression that somewhere in
| the stack there's an overflow: _every single_ of my USB3 hubs
| after some time (a few weeks not being turned off) enter into
| some locked state where they just don 't work anymore, on all of
| my computers
| ApolIllo wrote:
| > I appear to be paying a lot of money for products that I could
| buy for cheap on random websites is starting to piss me off a bit
| at this point.
|
| The last 5+ years as an Amazon customer have me feeling this way.
|
| > Realtek RTL8153
|
| Could the Realtek issues be related to power?
|
| I have a Tbolt dock which is powered using a DC barrel jack
| (6.5amps @ 20V). The comparison is not great as the dock
| (TBT3-UDZ) is not a USB C dock and uses the Intel i211 nic.
|
| The author appears to have found stability with the Anker
| PowerExpand 8-in-1, which has the buck converter with power
| management components.
|
| I've had terrible experiences with the Satechi Multiport Adapter
| V2 and ICY BOX USB-C type adapters.
|
| I suspect that the issues can typically narrow down with any dock
| to bandwidth or power.
| bombcar wrote:
| Power is a real concern - and if you have something pushing
| lots of pixels or data you should be suspicious of it if it
| doesn't have a power brick.
| ChrisMarshallNY wrote:
| This exemplifies the issues I see with a lot of this stuff.
|
| The other day, I was looking at TB4 hubs, and noticed that Every.
| Single. One. had the exact same layout of ports, with different
| cases around them. The price range was damn wide, too.
|
| The different one was CalDigit. That does seem to be a good
| company; though pricey.
| randomblock1 wrote:
| > I appear to be paying a lot of money for products that I could
| buy for cheap on random websites is starting to piss me off a bit
| at this point.
|
| It seems like if you bought an accessory that's just a PCB (which
| means excluding headphones, storage, etc) within the last 5
| years, there's like a 90% chance of it being dropshipped.
|
| At this point, I've just given up and ordered right from
| AliExpress. I can't even name any good accessory manufacturers
| off the top of my head.
| Doctor_Fegg wrote:
| I have a USB-C hub for my Macbook which isn't any of these (it's
| a "VMade") but looks exactly the same.
|
| It's a heap of crap. (Or, at least, the conjunction of it and
| Monterey is a heap of crap.) If I leave it plugged in when the
| Mac goes to sleep, eventually the Mac will kernel panic and force
| a restart. The ethernet just randomly dies, such that I now run
| the Mac permanently off wifi even though I have a superb fibre
| connection. The USB connections do at least work, but that's
| about all I can say of it.
| Spooky23 wrote:
| You get what you pay for! Look at the HP USB & thunderbolt
| dock. They are pretty stable.
|
| In my experience (my team has deployed about 50k in 3 years),
| the thunderbolt ones are more reliable, even if the laptop
| doesn't have thunderbolt.
| mulderc wrote:
| I must be some USB-C unicorn as I can't think of ever having any
| issues.
|
| I have had a couple of USB-C hubs and they have worked for both
| me and my partner. All my work machines are USB-C only and
| literally the only issue I can remember is where in one
| conference room the USB-C to HDMI output only went to 2 of the 3
| screens on the walls but I think that was something unrelated to
| the USB-C connection.
|
| Now I don't push my USB-C hubs hard but did run ethernet, HDMI,
| and USB-A device or two pretty often and everything worked as
| expected.
| cortesoft wrote:
| The author's main complaint is that the network was being
| downgraded to 100baseTX. If you aren't doing a lot of heavy
| local network activity, you might not notice if you are being
| downgraded.
| mulderc wrote:
| Since much of my USB-C hub usage was during COVID and work at
| home, I did do a ton of speed tests and don't remember seeing
| any issues with being downgraded but if it was random then I
| might not have noticed.
| JonChesterfield wrote:
| Lenovo dock gen 2 here. Running power, three monitors, ethernet,
| misc low bandwidth usb peripherals. Totally robust on windows and
| linux, I don't have an osx box at present.
|
| It was not competitively priced and I feel a lot better about
| that after this post.
| drzoltar wrote:
| Sad to see Anker on the list. I used to think of them as a pretty
| reliable electronics manufacturer in a sea of low quality
| chargers and hubs.
| InTheArena wrote:
| I have their TB4 dock. It works well with a Intel mac. Not so
| well with a M1 mac.
|
| Might be a issue on the other end of the thunderbolt connector.
| spyspy wrote:
| For what it's worth I have the Anker 777 I bought with my WFH
| budget and it's been fine with my M1.
|
| https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0928W3XHD
| kmeisthax wrote:
| Oh hey, Realtek networking. That's _the_ thing that made me give
| up on trying to Hackintosh back in the Snow Leopard days. The
| weird ported-from-Linux kexts that existed at the time would just
| give up and kill the network after a few GBs transmitted - not
| even enough to download contemporary Xcode. Glad to hear even the
| official experience with these chips is just as bad /s
| LeoPanthera wrote:
| This is a weird post, because as far as I can tell, his final
| purchase (the Anker hub) never went wrong. He just took it apart
| for the hell of it.
|
| Shouldn't the summary be "Hey, this Anker hub which looks quite
| different to the other two is actually pretty good"?
| Evidlo wrote:
| Why do people buy laptops that don't have this stuff already on
| it?
|
| I run an engineering course and it's almost comical how often
| students have to set aside their $2000 Macbooks and use the
| desktop workstations because they forgot their dongles at home.
|
| My Thinkpad has 6 USB ports (2 USB 3.0), SDCard, DisplayPort,
| VGA, ethernet and also e-sata and Firewire which I've never used.
| hpb42 wrote:
| I got a new laptop for work that has: 1 USB3 type A, 1 USB-C, 1
| Thunderbolt4 in USB-C connetor, 1 HDMI, 1 audio jack, and 1
| Power connector. No ethernet. My boss bought me a caldigit
| element hub to be able to connect mouse and keyboard... We were
| all disappointed when we realized there was not enough "normal"
| USB ports.
| kuschku wrote:
| The T470 is IMO the percect thinkpad.
|
| 3x USB 3.0 1x Thunderbolt 3 (with USB-PD support) Lenovo
| Charging port Lenovo Docking port HDMI, SDcard, Ethernet, SIM,
| SmartCard
|
| It works with the oldest thinkpad docks and the newest
| thunderbolt docks at the same time.
| loudthing wrote:
| Honest answer: Apple is a lifestyle brand, however they manage
| to offer a superior product to the layman because they have
| tight control over both hardware and software codevelopment. In
| my experience, people tend to also like Apple hardware because
| Apple stores are ubiquitous, so when you need a repair done,
| you just take it to your local mall and get it fixed rather
| than mailing it away to Lenovo and hoping for the best.
|
| Out of curiosity, in your engineering course, what are students
| expected to used to their own computers for? In my experience,
| any engineering course with labs that would require dongles
| supply desktop computers anyway. Your school doesn't have
| desktops in the classroom right? What equipment are you
| interfacing with that would be easily both mac and pc
| compatible anyway?
| bastardoperator wrote:
| I had this issue too. I switched to a dell monitor that used
| USB-C for video and then plugged my other useful devices into the
| monitor. I have two other monitors that use USB-C too, but I
| opted for a DVI to USB-C for the two monitors. I still have two
| available USB-C ports and if I'm in a bind I use one of these
| crap adapters via USB-C but that hasn't happened in quite some
| time.
| Jhsto wrote:
| If you use a laptop with an external monitor, a better idea is to
| get a premium monitor which handles charging, video, and data
| transfer of USB devices connected to the monitor for you. This
| allowed me to get rid off the wonky USBC hubs, but before my
| employer got me a Dell monitor I didn't know that a single USBC
| connection can deliver all three.
| certifiedloud wrote:
| I had several dongles and wires handing from my laptop until I
| read your comment just now. thanks!
| FemmeAndroid wrote:
| I went this route. I have a supposedly good Dell monitor where
| one of my devices will connect via video but not recognize
| attached USB devices 4 out of 5 times so I need to plug and
| unplug a bunch of times every day. It can take over 15 attempts
| on a bad day. Never again.
| cortesoft wrote:
| This doesn't help for travel.
| fivea wrote:
| > If you use a laptop with an external monitor, a better idea
| is to get a premium monitor which handles charging, video, and
| data transfer of USB devices connected to the monitor for you.
|
| I made this mistake, and I ended up with a grossly overpriced
| monitor which fails to charge a MacBook Pro and whose video
| through USBC support is hit-and-miss, in the sense that it
| doesn't always work.
| theta_d wrote:
| I've had this Thunderbolt Doc for over a month now and I love it.
| https://www.owcdigital.com/products/thunderbolt-dock
| eckza wrote:
| One of the biggest reasons that I went through the trouble of
| switching to a Surface Book 3 + Surface Dock 2 was to make _damn
| sure_ that my desk docking station setup worked well. (Plus, I'm
| a sucker for the Surface Magsafe-ripoff connector.)
|
| I'm running a Dell 27" 4K monitor and a ViewSonic 15" portable
| 1080p monitor along with the internal display full-time, with
| both external displays plugged in via USB-C on the Surface dock;
| and it's been reasonably reliable.
|
| I don't have any other USB-C peripherals plugged in to the dock,
| and I haven't tried a fourth display; but so far, so good, no
| complaints.
| mherdeg wrote:
| Kind of surprised the author didn't describe getting refunds --
| the behavior here seems like it should have triggered European
| consumer protections.
| moritonal wrote:
| If you want a decent dock you have to spend a bit of money. I
| went through this pain before accepting the cost and buying a
| CalDigit Thunderbolt 4 Element Hub[1]. Run's two 4k displays at
| 60Hz, any peripheral and charges my laptop.
|
| So good I bought a second.
|
| 1. https://www.caldigit.com/thunderbolt-4-element-hub/
| nerdawson wrote:
| As I was scrolling through the article, I was hoping to see the
| TS3 amongst the docks torn down.
|
| I was happy with mine until I started using an extra display
| with it recently. The main display is hooked up via
| DisplayPort. The problem arose when I added a second display
| over USB C.
|
| For some reason, when I plug the monitor into the dock, there's
| a faint electrical noise. If I plug the monitor into a USB C
| port on the laptop instead, it's perfectly quiet. Maybe I
| should attempt HDMI instead. Either way it's frustrating.
| steveBK123 wrote:
| Basically one of the few that actually does what it says on the
| box reliably.
|
| Even the OWC brand one I had was flakey, at similar $200-400
| price point.
| xattt wrote:
| I ended up getting a Lenovo USB-C Gen 2 hub a couple of years
| ago, and it's still on sale. Also very satisfied.
|
| I'm able to switch my personal (Lenovo) and work (Dell)
| laptops, mostly without issue. I say without issue because the
| Dell/Intel only supports HBM2 so won't do two monitors if one
| of them is more than 1080p.
|
| I settled on using the HDMI out from the laptop to split the
| difference in frustration and convenience.
| conradev wrote:
| CalDigit's TS3, TS3 Plus, and now the TS4 are all incredible
| products.
|
| I have used them with my MacBooks over the years as well as my
| gaming PC (ASUS ProArt B550 motherboard), and they are the most
| reliable part of my desktop setup. They are not just reliable,
| but reliably fast. I get full gigabit ethernet speed, fast USB
| transfer speeds, and fast SD card reading, without fail, every
| time.
| bsder wrote:
| For the sake of anecdata, I found that even the Caldigit docks
| fail to work on the Intel Macbook Pros (I only have a single
| data point about the M1s and they didn't work there either).
| When I hook even basic things like my keyboard and mouse up to
| the USB A ports, things work for about 20 minutes or so (varies
| widely) and then the USB A ports go dead requiring a reboot to
| restore.
|
| This is a known failure mode, but it doesn't hit everybody. It
| is _solely_ an Apple software fault as older OSs do not exhibit
| it. I _really_ wish I knew what the issue was.
|
| On the plus side, I found this so infuriating that I finally
| threw all in and switched to Linux full-time (Lenovo X1 Carbon
| with a ThinkPad dock) and haven't looked back since.
|
| Side note: practically every thunderbolt dock I have works fine
| with every x86 laptop I have running either Windows or Linux
| (including the Caldigit!). YMMV.
| iends wrote:
| My entire team and a few other developers I work with have
| had zero issues with CalDigit TS3 on Intel Macs. At least 10
| TS3s over the period of several years.
| zeristor wrote:
| Don't you mean "so good you bought the company"?
| buggeryorkshire wrote:
| Good to see you again Victor!
| whatever1 wrote:
| What network controller does it have? Is it the same realtek ?
| whatever1 wrote:
| Replying to myself. From a tear down it seems like the TS3
| plus version uses an intel network controller!
|
| https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8f6Zs1JyZBQ
| TheNewAndy wrote:
| It is missing Ethernet, which seems to be important to the
| author.
|
| Having heard positive things about caldigit, I got their USB-C
| Pro Dock and I get frequent screen blanking with my M1 Mac, and
| often some of the USB ports fail to work. I don't use the
| ethernet port, but I think it is a Realtek (so likely the same
| thing the author is complaining about)
|
| I have spoken to caldigit support and so far they have replaced
| the dock once, and now have gone pretty quiet.
| dntrkv wrote:
| Their TS3 dock supports ethernet. I've had mine for well over
| 3 years now and it still works great. Can't say the same for
| the 5+ other docks I had before this one.
| CharlesW wrote:
| > _It is missing Ethernet, which seems to be important to the
| author._
|
| CalDigit's TS4 has Ethernet (2.5 GbE). I've been a happy TS3
| user for years.
|
| https://www.caldigit.com/thunderbolt-station-4/
| iends wrote:
| I have a TS3, but it's been hard to get a second or a TS4
| lately.
| manyxcxi wrote:
| I've got the TS 3 Plus dock (which has Ethernet) and it has
| been working flawlessly on my 2020 MBP (Intel) the entire
| time. I _think_ there was a firmware update in the early days
| that unlocked the 85 or 90 watt charging. I had heartburn
| about the price, but it's been worth every penny.
|
| I'm not pushing 4K though, so mileage may vary. I've got a
| 27" TB2 Apple Cinema Display via TB2 to USB-C and a Dell via
| Display port.
|
| As a guy working with Raspberry Pi and 3D printers a lot in
| my free time it is SO NICE to have the card reader right up
| front and easy to access. I also love un/plugging just one
| cord when I'm on the go.
| moritonal wrote:
| For the Ethernet I enjoyed the fact the dock was clean and
| unopinionated, just providing USB ports so I could use a USB-
| C-to-Ethernet adapter.
|
| Your comments about the Screen Blanking sound bad and are are
| likely correct, I only have an Intel Mac to compare.
| TheNewAndy wrote:
| I have used the dock with windows and Linux machines and
| seen solar issues btw. So I would expect the same with an
| Intel mac
| watermelon0 wrote:
| Does it have an audible coil whine?
|
| I've tested 5+ TS3 Plus docks, and all of them have a coil
| whine, which can be heard in a quiet room, without playing
| any music.
|
| Sometimes I like to work in silence, and the coil whine
| really bothers me.
| conradev wrote:
| I usually can detect coil whines to an annoying degree, but
| I don't hear one in my TS3 Plus. Maybe your ears are more
| sensitive than mine!
| generallee5686 wrote:
| I've had my ts3 for a couple years now. I just noticed a
| pretty bad coil whine on mine lately. I'm not sure if it's
| always been there and my environment's changed or the
| device just suddenly started making the noise.
| cmckn wrote:
| I got a thunderbolt 4 dock from Razer[0] that has all the
| bits and bobs (and it looks really nice). Almost bankrupted
| me, but as the GP says, this is just the reality at this
| point.
|
| [0]: https://www.razer.com/gaming-pc-accessories/razer-
| thunderbol...
| serverlessmom wrote:
| Opened this for the express purpose of plugging caldigit. A
| device that improves on these other devices with a massive
| upgrade in engineering. Full teardown
| https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8f6Zs1JyZBQ&ab_channel=Camer...
| wwalexander wrote:
| I'd just like to chime in with the Kensington SD5700T [1]. I've
| tried a CalDigit TS3 Plus, an Anker PowerExpand 13-in-1, and
| the Kensington has by far been the most reliable.
|
| It doesn't have built-in HDMI/DisplayPort out, but it's easy to
| buy the appropriate cable to connect to your monitor (I
| recommend Club3D [2]). Especially if you're trying to use an
| HDMI 2.1 or DisplayPort 1.4 display, as I've found most built-
| in ports on these hubs don't support these latest standards or
| have weird issues with them.
|
| It also has a nice mounting bracket [3] that lets you hide the
| cable mess under your desk or behind your monitor.
|
| [1] https://www.kensington.com/p/products/device-docking-
| connect...
|
| [2] https://www.club-3d.com/en/cat/cable/usb_type_c/1606/301/
|
| [3] https://www.kensington.com/p/products/device-docking-
| connect...
| Sophistifunk wrote:
| For the sake of anecdata, I have a CalDigit TB3 dock that's
| been working _reasonably well_ for a few years now, which is
| actually pretty high praise given the competition, and I 'll
| probably stick with CD when I get around to replacing it.
| LocalPCGuy wrote:
| I don't like the idea of having to chain multiple dongles(I
| know the advantages, being able to choose a good network
| adapter, etc.) but I'd still pay decent money for a single
| device that I can leave on my desk with everything plugged in
| without the need for additional interconnects. (I do see that
| they make actual hubs as well, might check those out.)
| [deleted]
| morninglight wrote:
| My kid wanted a USB hub, so I got this at the local $5 store.
| Have not heard any complaints. I am sooo lucky.
|
| https://www.fivebelow.com/products/4-port-type-c-charging-hu...
| Nextgrid wrote:
| That's USB 2 though - it's literally a USB-A hub with the
| connector swapped for a USB-C one. This speaks volumes about
| the beauty of USB 2.0 and the USB-A specs that they withstood
| decades of unscrupulous manufacturers; they're so simple that
| it's literally more effort to screw it up than to do it
| properly, so even the cheapest option will typically work.
| morninglight wrote:
| I know that, and you know that, and by the time my kid
| figures it out....
|
| I'll have saved enough to send him to College.
|
| .
| dogma1138 wrote:
| You can get them on the cheap as you can buy enterprise Dell/HP
| USB-C/TB for like $50-70 on EBay...
|
| Do not waste your money on high end consumer stuff, the
| enterprise stuff is better and the market is flooded with
| disposed units...
| alx__ wrote:
| Yeah I've been playing this game for the past two years with the
| MacBook Pro.
|
| Most work fine for a minute and then after a few months seems to
| get cranky and some input will start failing :/
|
| Currently using that Anker hub mentioned. Probably the best of
| the bunch but that's not saying much. Lots of little annoyances.
|
| One thing I found was putting the low powered USB A devices on a
| smaller hub "stick" that's USB-C and daisy chained to the Anker
| one. This has been the most stable setup.
|
| But usually about twice a month stability will wane I'll have to
| unplug everything, restart computer and then plug them all back
| in one by one.
| somethoughts wrote:
| It feels like Apple should have done/should do an official in-
| house docking system instead of outsourcing such a critical
| component in the overall system/value proposition.
| bayindirh wrote:
| Actually they have a simple USB-C break-out adapter which has a
| USB-A port, an HDMI port and power-in. It works extremely well.
| You can connect it to a USB3.0 hub to get a lot of ports. I
| leave it at my office desk for day to day operation.
|
| If you want a proper docking station, a higher end Dell monitor
| [0] will do with USB-C, display daisy chain and USB-PD. It'll
| enable single cable connectivity to anything you care, sans
| ethernet, which can be attached to the monitor's USB hub, if
| you really need.
|
| For my mobility needs, I use a Kingston Nucleum [1] since I
| don't care about Ethernet, but about fast card readers. It also
| supports 60W USB-PD, which is ample for a MacBook Air M1. That
| thing is really high quality.
|
| [0]: https://www.dell.com/en-us/work/shop/dell-
| ultrasharp-27-4k-u...
|
| [1]: https://www.kingston.com/en/memory-card-readers/nucleum-
| usb-...
| kevin_thibedeau wrote:
| There's nothing like having to do Johnny Mnemonic cosplay
| because a manufacturer won't let their product be sullied
| with holes.
| bayindirh wrote:
| I don't think a MacBook Air M1 has a lot places to add
| ports [0]. The latest generation of MacBook Pros bring a
| lot of the ports back [1], so that point doesn't hold
| anymore.
|
| Also, of all the MacBook Air users I know, I'm the heaviest
| user in terms of processor load, and given that it's the
| company computer, it wouldn't be my first choice for a
| personal MacBook (in fact, I have a personal MacBook Pro).
|
| At the end of the day, having a featherweight computer
| which can do all my work related tasks and some heavier
| stuff and doesn't needs its charger and ports most of the
| time is really a spoiling thing. However, for heavy
| development and photographic work, nothing beats on board
| ports and a bigger screen.
|
| [0]: https://www.apple.com/v/macbook-
| air/n/images/specs/mba_charg...
|
| [1]: https://images.macrumors.com/t/MsiVifkTbdhdqh2z2tvJZXI
| uH80=/...
| smoldesu wrote:
| I actually agree. Normally I'm against proprietary ports, but
| vendors that have done this in the past have traditionally
| killed a lot of birds with one stone. Both Dell and Lenovo's
| docking solutions are fantastic, and don't require expensive
| hardware to manufacture docks. As a result, you can get the
| full IO of your computer extended to a dock with 10+ ports for
| less than $30. Pretty great solution IMO.
| zamadatix wrote:
| The downside is all of the hardware ends up inside the laptop
| where you still pay for it and now can't upgrade it
| separately or reuse it with another laptop. Not that I ever
| remember Dell/Lenovo docks being $30 new anyways.
| tinus_hn wrote:
| And if one of the tiny wires breaks and causes a short, not
| only can you cause a fire but you also damage the connector
| in the laptop which can only be fixed by replacing the
| motherboard, which is more expensive than the laptop itself
| and not covered by warranty.
| somethoughts wrote:
| I remember I did receive a Dell dock complete with a spring
| mounted adapter for the actual laptop.
|
| I wasn't thinking that though - I was thinking something
| like the ones reviewed in the article but perhaps with a
| Apple Thunderbolt connector to prevent them from having to
| support Windows PC users.
| zamadatix wrote:
| You can get e.g. a Dell PR02X (traditional docking
| station/port replicator) for $30 or less the last couple
| of years now that they aren't compatible with new models
| but they used to also be upwards of $100 new before that
| ~5 years ago. There was a similar price decrease story
| after the prior generation of proprietary dock was
| deprecated as well and you'd see the same thing if the
| current type-C USB/Thunderbolt docks were replaced with a
| new physical interface. Has nothing to do with the
| hardware design and everything to do with excess
| inventory of an old product.
|
| There is no such thing as "Apple Thunderbolt" just
| "Thunderbolt". It was developed by Intel, Apple was just
| involved early in development with Intel and first to
| market >10 years ago. Most Windows laptops come with
| Thunderbolt and both Dell/Lenovo offer Thunderbolt Docks
| just as much as USB-C docks. Being Thunderbolt or not has
| no impact on whether or not the dock will support
| Windows/Linux vs macOS.
| tossoutaccimade wrote:
| Totally agree. I keep a dock for my thinkpad t420 hooked up
| to 2 27" 1440p iMacs in target display mode. Pop it in, the
| imacs get my laptop's workspaces. I keep a dell laptop docked
| to my tv as a streaming box. Both of these setups give me no
| trouble, and all of these things were being thrown out by my
| university.
| rhinoceraptor wrote:
| Technically they have one, it's built into the displays.
| Obviously it's not a great solution if you want to use your
| existing monitors.
| moduspol wrote:
| They do--they just include the monitor as part of it. That
| seems to have been the vision since at least 2011 [1].
|
| [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apple_Thunderbolt_Display
| btgeekboy wrote:
| That was discontinued over 6 years ago. In 2022, it isn't a
| great monitor, either.
| moduspol wrote:
| They do have a replacement consumer monitor in 2022 [1],
| but in the meantime, they were selling and supporting the
| LG UltraFine 5K [2].
|
| I haven't bought the new studio display, but the
| Thunderbolt Display was great and the LG UltraFine 5K is,
| too. Used both as daily drivers (and docking stations) for
| years. I only haven't bought the new one because that LG
| one is still going strong.
|
| Regardless: my point is that this certainly seems to be
| "the vision." You don't need a docking station because your
| monitor functions as one. If I had to guess, they probably
| think normal people don't want to buy a docking station and
| then deal with a series of poorly-integrated peripherals.
|
| [1] https://www.apple.com/shop/buy-mac/apple-studio-
| display/stan... [2] https://support.apple.com/en-
| us/HT210205
| tristor wrote:
| I've been through this rodeo myself. I've been happily using for
| years docks made by Hyper over USB-C (and now over TB4). When on
| the go, I use the official Apple dongle for HDMI and USB. If I
| need more ports, Hyper and Anker both make USB-C hubs that are
| very solid and actually work.
|
| I totally agree with the author, most of the products on the
| market are garbage, and many are the same garbage with different
| names. To a large degree to solve this issue you need to stop
| shopping on Amazon. Almost everything listed on Amazon not made
| by Anker doesn't work. Either buy directly for Apple, or buy from
| directly from small companies that focus on solving accessories
| for the Apple market (e.g. Rain Design, 12South, Hyper, CalDigit,
| et al). This is definitely not limited to USB-C hubs, and
| encompasses nearly all products. Buying direct from high-quality
| companies is always better than trying your luck with random
| brand-named Aliexpress specials sold through Amazon.
| rcthompson wrote:
| I've found the Macbook hubs from Hyper to be quite reliable
| over the years. And in addition, they're the only ones that can
| output to 2 monitors at once (one TB3 port, one HDMI) with a
| reasonable resolution and refresh rate, AND allow you to plug a
| charger into the non-TB3 Type C port. I haven't found anything
| else with similar specs in the same form factor.
| austhrow743 wrote:
| Or if you don't want to fork out for premium products, at least
| go straight to aliexpress and pay cheap prices for your cheap
| products.
| trauco wrote:
| The Satechi one creates "broadcast storms" [1] that messed up my
| home network if left it unplugged from the computer but powered
| on and with the ethernet cable connected.
|
| I have an Anker one now, I guess I should expect the same.
|
| I also have a Dell D6000, which is rarely reviewed but has been
| solid.
|
| [1]
| https://www.reddit.com/r/sysadmin/comments/an3nyf/pass_thoug...
| LocalPCGuy wrote:
| I had similar issues with one of these USB-C hubs (not sure if
| it was Satechi or just a similar PCB inside) - just shutting
| the lid of my laptop was enough to cause it to start going nuts
| but only after the Mac actually stopped talking to the hub at
| all. That was a fun one to figure out, I'd lose internet some
| small period of time (but not always the same amount) after
| switching from my work Mac to my PC, both hardwired.
| InTheArena wrote:
| And sadly, I own two out of three of those.
|
| It's worth noting that the Realtek is crap, even ignoring the OSX
| driver situation. I have a few of the 2.5GBe dongles to make my
| synology speak 2.5gb/s (because a modern NAS is 2020 should have
| more then gigabit, but doens't because reasons). The driver in
| Linux is hot mess. I seem to have much more luck then some with
| it.
| jandrese wrote:
| Realtek chips have been garbage since the 90s. But they have
| also been the cheapest option for just as long so you see them
| absolutely everywhere, especially with third party accessories.
| It is typical to see hardware errata documents several pages
| thick from them, if they provide support at all. Getting the
| drivers working well is pure masochism as you have to deal with
| the terrible documentation (if you have it at all) and the
| abysmal quality of the hardware.
|
| But they have turned their garbage products into a multi-
| billion dollar company and that's all that really matters in
| the world of business.
|
| Whichever chip is the cheapest is the one that every accessory
| maker will use. It is rare that a company can break through
| with a product that advertises higher quality components but at
| a higher price, or they end up with such a massive premium on
| what should be a modest increase in BoM that the value
| proposition still doesn't make sense.
|
| As a sidenote this is exactly what I expected to happen as
| laptop manufacturers started aggressively cutting ports from
| their machines. You have to switch to dongles, but dongles
| _suck_ and the total experience is much worse than having a
| laptop that is 2mm thicker.
| ridiculous_fish wrote:
| Do you know of any alternative to the RTL8153 (1Gbe) and
| RTL8156 (2.5GBe) chips? The only competitors seems to be
| AQC111U, which appear to not be supported on ARM Macs, and
| AX88179 whose support appears spotty as well. Any experience
| with either?
| hvs wrote:
| We've only had any luck with Elgato Thunderbolt (not just USB-C)
| hubs with Macs. Everything else has had issues.
| filoleg wrote:
| is it just me or is Elgato Thunderbolt 3 Pro case looks pretty
| much exactly like Belkin Thunderbolt 3 Dock Pro case[0] (with
| the main difference between Belkin having a USB-C port
| replacing one of the USB-A ports, and the SD card reader and
| headphone jack being left-right swapped)? It looks the same
| even down to the curves and materials/colors, and even the
| naming is that close.
|
| No complaints about the quality of the product btw, I have been
| using one myself for almost 2 years. I just found it pretty
| interesting that even the most recommended hub ends up
| potentially being just as suspect in terms of "who made it".
|
| 0. https://www.belkin.com/us/business/hubs-and-docks-for-
| busine...
| fatnoah wrote:
| When work from home started, I went down this road of madness,
| and have a drawer full of docks that didn't work properly for my
| Macbook (properly is defined as works as a USB hub, connection to
| wired network, charges my Macbook, and lets me connect an
| external 4k display @ 60Hz). A Plugable Thunderbolt 3 Dock has
| carried me for 2 years so far.
| kurthr wrote:
| I am assuming you're using Caldigit? I've had good enough luck,
| I'd consider their TS4 hub.
| fatnoah wrote:
| The brand of my dock is Plugable.
| olyjohn wrote:
| I also have a Plugable TB3 dock. I don't know if it's the dock,
| or the laptop... but MacOS won't remember my monitor layout at
| all. Even if the computer just goes to sleep, it wakes up and
| forgets my monitor layout. Gotta fix it multiple times a day
| sometimes. Sometimes one of the monitors doesn't show up at
| all, and I gotta unplug and plug it back in. Sometimes doing
| that, the computer will actually get the proper monitor layout
| on like the 4th try.
| fatnoah wrote:
| Interesting. I have no issues like that. I've even changed
| jobs, so I'm actually on my second Macbook with this hub, and
| my Mac remembers window positions and monitor layouts every
| time (knocking on wood so I don't jinx myself). I rarely
| power all the way down, so usually it's usually just sleep
| mode for me. I am using the USB-C connection for the monitor
| if that makes a difference.
| iblaine wrote:
| I also have a Plugable Thunderbolt 3 Dock, currently powering
| two displays
| iblaine wrote:
| I had 4 monitors going w/Plugable products. I've since gone
| down to 2 and I would recommend Plugable to anyone looking for
| dual monitors on a mac.
| Falell wrote:
| My understanding is that the problem with high
| bandwidth/resolution setups over displayport (which may not be
| your use case) is _in your mac_ , not in your hub. Older
| comment thread here
| https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=29214726
| fatnoah wrote:
| I'm totally not suprised by this. I'm using USB-C between the
| hub and the monitor, and that seems to be working fine, so I
| basically haven't thought too much about it.
| vinhboy wrote:
| > It honestly feels like no matter what you buy, you get more or
| less the same hardware, and you're most likely getting a heavily
| overpriced product just because some company printed their logo
| on it.
|
| Isn't this like a known thing? Almost all peripherals on Amazon
| will have dozens of the exact same form-factor with different
| logos on it. You just buy the one that is the perfect
| intersection of costs, positive reviews, and shipping time. The
| assumption is that they all come from the same factory in China
| anyways.
| ugjka wrote:
| if you go for cheap, you might get someone selling stuff with
| manufacturing defects
| aendruk wrote:
| The most frustrating part is that I want _no_ logo. It's the
| worst of both worlds; no brand reputation, yet still covered in
| ads.
| reaperducer wrote:
| While not the ideal solution to your needs, I've found that
| Brasso does a great job of removing logos from electronics
| with a little elbow grease.
|
| I've used it on my LG television, my Levoit air cleaning
| machines, and other devices.
| avar wrote:
| Or acetone a.k.a. the pure form of nail polish remover.
| blowski wrote:
| A lot of the time, sure, this is exactly what happens. But
| other times, there is a distinct difference in quality. How do
| you know when you're in situation A or B? You can't trust the
| reviews. You can't even trust that the seller will send you the
| advertised product half the time.
| wnevets wrote:
| Amazon is just the dollar store on the internet where every
| product has 4+ stars.
| jvanderbot wrote:
| Just to expand on this: I suspect and have been told that
| almost all powertools follow this model. The markup for most
| tools in the same class is essentially branding only.
| manyxcxi wrote:
| It's _mostly_ kinda sorta like that. There are broad groups
| that are basically the same; Craftsman and Dewalt being owned
| by Black and Decker, for instance. But it's a crazy web
| depending on particular tools or features it goes from a
| couple root manufacturers to a dozen or so. But there's a lot
| of BS.
|
| Pro Tool Reviews did a big break down [0] a while ago that
| was very eye opening for me. It could easily be out of date
| by now but I had no clue how deep the groupings went at the
| time.
|
| [0] https://www.protoolreviews.com/power-tool-manufacturers-
| who-...
| bombcar wrote:
| This is mainly because power-tool quality across the board
| has greatly increased - once you're into a "band" they're
| much the same, though there are differences it's usually one
| of "focus" not of quality.
|
| If you're dealing with off-brand or no-brand tools, you can
| still end up with something entirely usable but crappy. The
| prices usually tell most of the story.
| ineedasername wrote:
| > _costs, positive reviews, and shipping time_
|
| Yes, this. There are a few exceptions, thing like ssd drives,
| ram, sd cards, etc which I buy from companies that I know
| manufacture their own. For random peripherals, I just make sure
| it's Amazon Prime so there won't be any hassle if/when I need
| to return them.
|
| I make an exception for earphones. Unless you're buying off-
| brand, you can be pretty certain that you're not getting white
| labelled. I'm listening to an audio book on Shure TW2's w/
| se215 heads attached... not much chance that's white labelled.
| Same for the lower quality but also lower profile Galaxy Buds
| Live that I use as well.
| djrogers wrote:
| This may sound a bit pedantic here, but this statement:
|
| " I'm writing this on an Apple MacBook Pro, and all I got was
| four lousy USB-C ports"
|
| Is wildly inaccurate, as the author demonstrates in his
| conclusions where he explains that he's settled on a Thunderbolt
| hub.
|
| Yes, they're more expensive, and yes, they're harder to find, but
| the fact is, for this type of use USB-C is kinda junky, and
| Thunderbolt is a much better option.
| dijit wrote:
| This is not the conclusion.
|
| the Dell TB16 is just about the worst docking station I've ever
| used and that was Thunderbolt 3, and their USB-C equivalent
| (WD16 iirc) worked flawlessly.
|
| Likely if you tore down the TB16 you would find the chip
| mentioned in TFA.
| olyjohn wrote:
| I've dealt with a number of these docks. And yeah, it's a
| Realtek NIC on them, and it's a total piece of crap. Endless
| issues with these docks, firmware updates, new drivers
| constantly... None of it ever helps.
|
| I tried using it on my Mac. But it's on some kind of an Apple
| blacklist and won't work on Macs. There was some way to
| enable it, by turning off system protection or some shit...
| But even then, you could not get all the functionality.
| AshamedCaptain wrote:
| I have never gotten the TB16 to work on anything other than
| Dells of around the same era. I don't think it's Apple
| blacklisting it, but rather the dock whitelisting things.
| AshamedCaptain wrote:
| Yes, the TB16 does use a RTL8153, but so does the WD16. This
| is the USB part which is common to both.
| ApolIllo wrote:
| I agree - Thunderbolt is the way to go. It's typically 2 - 3x
| the price of a USB-C dock, but it's well worth it for me.
|
| I have the TBT3-UDV and caldigit TS4 TBolt dock. They both rely
| on DC power supplies and higher quality components (intel NIC,
| for example). Both have been very stable over the last year for
| the TS4 and 3 yrs for the TBT3.
| bombcar wrote:
| Thunderbolt _is_ the way to go - my AKiTiO Thunder3 Dock Pro
| has been doing fine driving monitors and 10GB /s ethernet.
| Kalanos wrote:
| Even with a 2014 macbook I still have to run an oldschool USB hub
| PaulHoule wrote:
| I never saw a multifunctional USB 3 hub (that has anything more
| than USB 3 sockets) where all the features worked on Windows.
|
| One could blame: Windows, crap hardware from Dell, and crap hub
| hardware. I think it is all three.
| vel0city wrote:
| I'm currently using a Lenovo Hybrid USB-C dock in Windows. Dual
| displays, ethernet, USB-3, USB-C, USB 2.0, audio, all working
| fine and have been for >2 years. Its worked with several
| different models of laptops without having to manually install
| any additional drivers and software.
|
| As a note though, its a DisplayLink dock. There's definitely
| performance implications on using a DisplayLink device versus
| USB-C alternate mode, but on the other hand its never had
| problems with the several Windows devices I've used it with.
|
| https://www.lenovo.com/us/en/p/accessories-and-software/dock...
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