So good I bought a second.
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...
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.
Do not waste your money on high end consumer stuff, the enterprise stuff is better and the market is flooded with disposed units…
I just had to get IT to swap mine out at work last week.
We have hundreds of CalDigit and OWC docks.. tons have failed. I had an OWC one fail a couple years ago as well.
And yah, these things cost as much as a Chromebook or a cheap windows notebook.
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.
Two of them would buy a complete Ryzen mini-PC, which could be another way to convey how hard it must be to make a “decent” thunderbolt dock.
I had two of them with 3 Sabrent Thunderbolt SSDs each. So when you setup a RAID level and then copy data from A to B, it did crash for me each time. For copy I used "Carbon Copy Cloner"
In fact I go so far to say Thunderbolt is not reliable at all for 24/7 use, as it gets much hotter and currently would require active cooling to prevent throttling.
On my M1 Mac mini, between the OWC dock and another dongle (bus powered) and the remaining ports on the Mac, I can run 10+ drives with no problem plus multiple peripherals. That may seem excessive, but when you’re juggling between drives trying to find old projects for people or trying to build a demo reel, it speeds up the process immensely. It also enabled me to consolidate a bunch of old 1 to 3 TB drives onto a couple of master 16 TB drives with everything in front of me at once, saving a ton of time, stress, and double checking.
Frankly it’s just nice not having to unplug something two or three times a day just to be able to plug in something else. I always have an available port now and it’s got me so much better organized.
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.
If it needs to be Thunderbolt and money is no object, there is the Apple Studio Display with 3 USB-C ports.
Gets a solid 980Mbits symmetric on the ethernet port, 90W of power delivery, etc. It's a lifesaver swapping just the one cable between my PC and laptop.
Works in USB-C mode too.
With this dock, I was able to run:
- 2 4K monitors - Gigabit Ethernet - USB-A - Audio connection for speakers - Power
all on one USB-C cable to the laptop. It also has an SD slot and a front-facing USB-A port for thumb drives, etc.
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.
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.
I went through 2 of these and finally bought generic usb C hubs and run 2x usbc->HDMI for 2x displays.
This is cheaper in the same way I don't use a KVM and instead change the inputs in my monitor (Also, I'd have to figure out what DP KVM supports G-Sync and 1440p 165hz).
So now, comically, I have to have a type-C Ethernet adapter connected to the back of my Thunderbolt dock...
It has some Windows specific features that don’t work with Apple machines. So DYOR.
Even the OWC brand one I had was flakey, at similar $200-400 price point.
is there a USB-C option for me, or is my best bet a USB-A hub, a USB a-to-c adapter, and a usb c-to-a adapter.
https://www.fivebelow.com/products/4-port-type-c-charging-hu...
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.
It is important to note that the cheapest, unbranded (or counterfeit) products may actually miss components. Looking at the PCB, you may see an empty slot where a MOV or a filtering cap should be, underspecced components or blatant counterfeits (no, that cap is not a Nichicon!). They may be from the same factories, but brand names usually don't get that low, and they have people on site making sure the factories don't pull these stunts on their batch.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
USB-C has been such a massive disappointment.
Bought a USB-A hub because I needed a few extra ports for low speed devices; didn't work... turns out all the D+ and D- lines had a very high resistance to the point there the USB protocol just wouldn't work. HDMI cable, didn't work for anything beyond 720p. Ethernet cable, didn't work beyond 100Mbit, turned out to be a crappy CCS/CCA cable, said copper on the packaging, had copper in the connectors. Cutting the cable showed it was just a clad cable and the ends were dipped so you can't see it in the connector.
And returning them, the replacements almost always had the same issue because it was a bad design in the first place and you just had to get lucky that you got the "least broken" one in the batch. It wasn't a price point thing either, all of them are just crap until you get to the "we cannot afford to shit on our brand name" products.
The only HDMI cables that I had 100% success with, were the ones that came bundled with A/V equipment, even if some of them look like bottom shelf stuff.
HDMI: HDMI will silently degrade to lower versions of the spec over bad connections, so it might just be that the bad cables are invisible.
Drying out of electrolytic capacitors is a single largest cause of failure of electronic devices these days (apart from physical damage). My friend is in the business of restoring vintage tape recorders and audio amplifiers (from 80s and 90s) and what he does is he just replaces all electrolytes without even looking at them. This usually brings these machines back to life immediately. Resistors usually can handle the heat for extended periods of time: even if some of them bear marks of overheating, they are mostly fine.
He must burn himself a lot. It's hard enough to solder components when you are looking at them.
Intel doesn't make USB ethernet controllers, they only do PCIe. Realtek has a near monopoly on USB Ethernet, the only other supplier I can think of is SMSC/Microchip LAN7500, and I'm not sure it's any better.
> There’s also a second USB hub, but only a 2.0 one, same vendor, but 0x2817 as the product ID. That slower hub was used for the SD and microSD card reader.
That's the same hub, USB 3.0 just bolts on to USB 2.0 additively & the USB 2.0 world exists in parallel. Both hubs are contained in the same physical chip.
And ASIX.
And then there’s the specs. Which DisplayPort version does my laptop support? The answer may surprise you. I have experience with Dell laptops. Rather recent devices still only support DP 1.2 over USB-C. How can this be? GPU and everything supports DP 1.4, and have been for years.
Because most DisplayPort over USB-C equipment only carries two DP lanes, using DP 1.2 massively limits the possible display configurations. Adapters that forego USB SuperSpeed+ for more DP lanes are extremely rare. Finding them is next to impossible too, because who puts that in the specs?
With DP 1.4 you can easily power two 1440p DP 1.4 displays using one USB-C connection and still have USB SuperSpeed+. How nice that would be. I don’t need expensive Thunderbolt devices!
USB-C can do everything and it works well. However, for consumers, it’s just a big bag of incompatibility and opacity.
Worse is that, to a search engine, every USB product is exactly the same. Search engines take very specific queries and overgeneralize them to the point of uselessness. In the case of USB cables, basically every conductor fits--yes, even the god damned Romex. Some hyperbole sure, but it's hard to find a cable that can do more than charge a phone. "Smart" search engine "AI" has "learned" that SuperSpeed = USB = Wire = Romex. Auh god it's hard to put down the bitter sarcasm.
Having to click hundreds of product pages to look for specifics that a search engine stripped away is hell. It's not even like it's limited to USB. Try finding memory... surprise! Just like everything is a USB.... everything is a DDR. ECC, the very specific thing you need, is DDR. It literally doesn't matter if you put ECC in your query. Because DDR = DDR.
Specs don't help sell the product because search engines will take all of that spec sheet and decide it's exactly "USB."
And don't get me started on bad product pages that claim to sell "SuperSpeed 480 Mbit/s charging cables" Yup, Optimized. What does a search engine learn about that product page? Some people buy it therefore: relevance +9999. "I was tricked" never makes it back to the engine. You can't even flag a product page as inaccurate anymore.
I'm so exhausted that I don't want to buy anything anymore. Search engines were better when they gave you two results for some queries. At least then you knew that the engine wasn't capable of servicing the query in a useful way. You used to be able to hone your "search skill." No longer. You don't need to because now we have learning machines that... can't tell the difference between "gave up in futility" and "found what I was looking for."
What a spectacular failure search is today.
/rant
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.
though of course my laptop's intel GPU + mesa drivers tears drawing to the screen, but i generally don't care and don't watch video or play games on the laptop
KB/mouse -> switch -> desktop/monitor
Monitor <-> laptop (usb-c)
Desktop -> monitor (HDMI)
The downsides are that it only supports 45W charging, and you can't really use dual monitors.
Ideally I could use a KVM so everything is switched in one device. But USB switching is cheap and reliable (my switch cost $25 and has been rock solid), whereas the cheapest KVM I could find to do this cost $150, doesn't support 144hz, is stuck on hdmi 2.0, etc.
This route doesn't have to be expensive either, my 1440p, 27 inch Philips docking monitor cost $270, basically the price of mediocre level docking station.
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.
In exchange you get a lot more expensive hubs, stiff, expensive cables, and a much more limited computer compatibility.
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-...
Here we are.
I got a hub with an external power connector that plugs into wall and it charges my iphone at trickle charger rates.
Meanwhile my "crappy" apple charger seems to blast my iphone up in no time.
One cost me MORE (the hub/dock).
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...
Was it ever frustrating though trying to figure out why my network would randomly decide to just crap out.
My work laptop has Thunderbolt, my personal laptop does not. So this is an issue for me. I have a Plugable TBT-UDZ, which is one of relatively few docking stations that supports both. I can therefore use two 2560x1440 60Hz displays through either laptop.
This isn't without issue. My work PC (Windows) will every other week or so BSOD when connected to it, but, well, it's Windows. My personal personal computer (linux) will not crash, but every other week or so will simply refuse to recognize the docking station. So I have to unplug the docking station and plug it back in. It's annoying, but not the end of the world. I believe these two issues are the same issue, but I haven't bothered to confirm that. I don't have a Mac to try it on.
As far as I understand, Thunderbolt 3 needs to support 4x PCI Express 3.0, DisplayPort 1.2, and USB 3.1 Gen 2 [1] (slides 8, 10-15). And Intel advertises that their Thunderbolt 3 controllers can switch to DisplayPort-only alt-mode [1].
All the Thunderbolt 3/4 Macs that I have had (Intel and M1) definitely supported DP alt-mode (I hooked up a 4k@60Hz that way for years) and also USB-C docks that allocate lanes for DP alt-mode and USB 3.1. Obviously, Thunderbolt docks also work.
[1] https://www.thunderbolttechnology.net/sites/default/files/ID... [2] https://www.thunderbolttechnology.net/sites/default/files/Th....
Are you sure? From what I've seen, it seems common for laptops to support the combination of Thunderbolt and DisplayPort Alternate Mode. (Both my MacBook and my Thinkpad T480s have ports like this.)
Outside of that… some USB-C based docks likely use the above standard internally, plus USB-C spec support for driverless Ethernet, hubs, etc.
That said, there’s always something to complain about with these accessories and cables, it seems…
What Macs don’t support ist DisplayPort MST. So the only way to power two monitors with one adapter would indeed be Thunderbolt.
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
" 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.
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.
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.
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.
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?
Can I ask why you bought a laptop that doesn't have that already on it?
3× USB 3.0 1× 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.
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.
I got a USB-C Satechi hub, for some inexplicable reason, the webcam didn't work and other devices were super flaky. Maybe faulty unit? I returned it anyway.
I got another USB-C hub with HDMI and it didn't really work well with my monitor -- it turns out my monitor is 3440x1440, but has an HDMI port which does not support that resolution at 60Hz, so the HDMI is unusable. Oh well, not the USB-C hub's fault, but it still turns out I can't use one with this monitor.
So I got a Thunderbolt one. But that didn't work because it's Thunderbolt 4, and my laptop is only Thunderbolt 3. Of course, both are identical cables, and Dell's website doesn't explain this anywhere -- I only figured it out thanks to Reddit.
Okay, so I got another Thunderbolt one -- TB3 this time. That does mostly work -- except that when the laptop goes to sleep, the hub disconnects the keyboard that goes through it, so pressing keys won't wake up the laptop again. Oddly, the hub DOES feed power to the keyboard, it's just the data connection to the laptop that goes to sleep. I've to open the lid and press the internal keyboard. Meanwhile, the keyboard's power LED remains on.
I also have a monitor light connected to the hub, and it causes the opposite issue: the hub keeps powering the light when the laptop goes to sleep, so the light stays on. If the laptop turns of for any reason during the night, the light turns back on and STAYS on after that.
USB-C is a blessing and a curse. It looks like everything is interoperable, but it rarely is, and it's not at all obvious what products work together and which ones don't. Some cables charge my JBL USB-C speaker, but most don't. Some cables are Thunderbolt, some aren't. Some work with the webcam, some don't. Half these issues I have a mild idea why, half I don't.
I buy computers with the ports I need. No need for a hub at all. Even my MBA (from 2015) has an SD slot and regular USB ports. This USB-C only thing Apply tried was a big mistake.
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.
I have no means of verifying this, but it seems at least a plausible hypothesis.
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.
At that time, comments saying Anker was the best peripheral maker flooded the internet and made me feel like I was crazy.
I know that USB-C can cause interference on Bluetooth/WiFi bands, but this was never an issue with properly shielded adapters.
Might be a issue on the other end of the thunderbolt connector.
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.
If you can find an adapter that uses the Realtek 8156 chipset, which I believe the CalDigit TS4 uses, macOS will utilize the NCM driver and your performance will be rock solid.
ECM is a very primitive USB protocol for ethernet, whereas NCM is a more modern and performant one. NCM is to ECM as UASP is to BOT mode, if you're familiar with USB external drives.
Though, I myself had misfortune buying broken RTL8153 based ethernet NICs. Mismatched coupling capacitors, PCB shorts, possibly broken firmwares.
40%-30% people who do EE in China are just above the Arduino level.
Chinese engineering companies can make good hardware if you pay them, and give time to fix self induced issues coming from rushed development schedules, but in that case, they are not really that ahead from any other EE companies around the world.
The only difference you'd might expect is different QA tiers. But that's not assured.
USB-C is one of the worst in terms of compliance. He didn't even mention the complexity of getting 4k@60hz WITH USB3.0 speeds...
Anyway, for anyone who wants a single plug for Apple devices, any Thunderbolt 3/4 would be more reliable.
It's more expensive, but TB requires more certification and able to pass enough bandwidth for decent performance (even 5k@60hz with USB 3.0).
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.
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.
https://www.apple.com/shop/product/HJKF2ZM/A/belkin-usb-c-to...
USB and the ecosystem is a complete mess. The naming system is horrific (and it keeps changing retroactively). You've got different connector types with different revisions. Controllers and products that are selective on what part of the "standards" they will comply with. The aftermarket cable industry is shady. On top of all that, now you're adding in different power delivery levels.
I’ve been using an HP Thunderbolt G2 dock with my M1 Pro and I get a 95% success rate.
The 5% failure rate is, I suspect, linked to my LG monitor more than the dock itself. I get some flickering sometimes that is resolved by restarting the monitor or restarting the dock. Happens 1 in 20 connections maybe. I also use the monitor with a windows computer and there is some funky color issue going on where if I go back to windows after using the Mac everything is at 200% saturation and 1% brightness or something like that.
Other than that, Ethernet is fast, I connect to 2 monitors at different refresh rates and I have all the ports I need with just one cable connected to the laptop.
I use it to switch between my work and home laptops, and it has worked without issue. Currently running 3 monitors with it (2 1440p 1 1080p), gigabit ethernet, and at least 5 usb devices.
- HDMI 2.2
- DisplayPort 1.4 Input
- DisplayPort 1.4 Output
- USB-C Upstream (PD 90W + DP 1.4 Alt Mode)
- USB-C Upstream (KVM)
- USB-C Downstream
- 5x USB-A Downstream
- Audio line-out
- LAN (RJ-45)
As far as I can tell it has the best connectivity and specs of any mainstream consumer monitor under $1k. It really doesn't feel worth it to spend $250-400 on a dock given the price point of these monitors.
It also doesn't have a power brick, which makes cable management a bit easier too.
https://www.dell.com/en-us/work/shop/dell-ultrasharp-27-4k-u...
Shouldn't the summary be "Hey, this Anker hub which looks quite different to the other two is actually pretty good"?
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.
It requires a strange driver I would've preferred to avoid. I tried a strange workaround on both and neither really works; one still doesn't display through the DisplayPort or HDMI, the other doesn't work with the M.2 2280 built into the dock.
Despite the similarity in name, it has _nothing_ to do with DisplayPort. AFAICT, does a compressed image thing over USB, like VNC. But proprietary, of course. I was also tricked into buying one by the name and was surprised when it didn't work with Linux.
Linux users should buy something that uses DisplayPort, _not_ DisplayLink. See https://www.dell.com/community/Laptops-General-Read-Only/Dem... for details on how USB/thunderbolt and DisplayPort when together.
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.
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.
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.
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.
A hub is an accessory that turns one port into several of the same kind. Everyone understood this back in the USB-A days.
What this article discusses are port replicators. You might wanna call them docks although a pedant might take issue with that.
To the best of my knowledge, six freakin years after USB-C came to the market, there are no real USB-C hubs available. Some Thunderbolt hubs, but not simple USB-C.
I am doing these Type-C hubs, and other small stuff peripherals for a living.
My suggestion, don't look stuff retail, and don't look big brands, even Dell.
Pretty much any "brand business" had zero RnD. Their only feedback channel is the RMA rate. If it gets too bad, they just change the supplier.
Instead, I really suggest going the other way. Smaller makers have no money for big marketing, nor buying ready designs, so they hire people, and let them work until they make something sellable.
House brands often have better QC, because they are already very constrained by their pricing, and RMA will kill them. Thus, they have incentive to spend few extra thousand dollars in engineer work hours than to deal with $100k in returns themselves.
By the time I get around to using these devices, hopefully this kind of crap will get shaken out, and I'll have a nice stable of salvage accessories to choose from.
For now, I'll stick to my (also salvaged) MBP with regular USB, audio jacks, MagSafe, HDMI, SD card reader, and an extra millimeter or two of thickness. :)
I would need to burn through 8~9 $50~60 range alternatives that allegedly "suck" before I see returns, and by that time we would have 3 to 4 iterations of macbook.
I guess if you like peace of mind then this makes sense but I hope nobody drops $500+ on a hub from reading HN comments, the "crappy" ones described work fine, it just that it won't last and creates waste but it would take quite a long time to do so.
Germany is notorious for horrible customer service (e.g. the customer is usually wrong). Does the author assumes that all German companies have the same level of service of a BMW or Mercedes dealership? Hint: those dealerships are in the United States, not Germany.
Well, it's much better than its reputation. It's more a cultural thing. Germans are very direct and hate BS. Also many Germans hate to pay for convenience and aesthetics (that's why they do their groceries in these awful discounter shops where the food is presented in the card boxes used for shipping). That's why customer service workers (if available at all) tend to be more "in your face" but usually they try the best to help you if they can.
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.
But this issue is we see not only with electronics. Amazon (here in germany) is flooded with cheap knockoff products. Everything under 100€ is mostly trash. It gets super annoying to find something for a reasonable price with a somewhat good quality.
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.
I also bought usbc-to-hdmi cables instead of dongles and am very happy with both of these decisions. Everything works a lot better now.
[1] this one: https://plugable.com/products/tbt4-hub3c
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.
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.
I gave up and spent a couple hundred dollars on an ALogic dual-thunderbolt connection dock. Two wires, not one, but perfect for my MacBook. It's been flawless, even after a year (most of the cheap docks I used died after 6 months).
From what others I've spoken to, and myself have worked out, the only "solution" is to spend hundreds of dollars on the high end ones. They seem to be far more reliable (and have better support if something does go wrong).
CalDigit is what most have moved to. My ALogic one is still kicking, so I'll stick with it for now.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B074DRW84M
It worked flawlessly so when I needed another two years later I didn't hesitate.
I'm using both right now to power my MBP (2018 13"), connect some peripherals and two external displays. Has been working flawlessly for years. I took it for granted. From this article and comments, looks like I got really lucky.
Looks like they don't make them anymore. I should have picked up a few more.
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.
It's possible this is because the closed lid keeps heat in. I've also heard that using any external display requires the laptop to use its discrete GPU, and this generates additional heat.
Either way, it's pretty annoying because the laptop starts throttling itself with very modest usage.
I embraced the two-plug paradigm and now use an Anker USB-C adapter _without_ power pass-through. It has worked well with both Windows and Mac laptops. Admittedly, I would not notice if ethernet capped at 300 Mbps.
From Amazon? What are the odds that they were actually Satechi?
Docking Station, 18in1 USB C Docking Station for Windows/MacBook Pro/Air/Thunderbolt 3 Dock with SSD Enclosure 3 HDMI DP100W PD3.0 RJ45 SD/TF Card Reader Audio&Mic 5 USB Ports.
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.
https://pine64.com/product/pinebook-pro-usb-c-docking-deck/
I'm currently using the PinePhone USB-C dock with my Macbook but I don't think it has Gigabit ethernet, but I don't have a cable wired up to my room still so I mainly use it for HDMI and USB type A ports.
First was a Satechi, which overheated and broke just past a year which was the warranty period. I left a bad review on Amazon, and they replaced it. That one broke... just past a year.
Work then gave me another brand that I forget, and those too lasted only a year each or less.
I've finally settled on having two Anker Hubs and splitting the amount of cables going into each.
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.
The USB logo! Because the device would have to comply to have the USB logo printed on it.
That's not much of a guarantee, as it is easily counterfeit, but still better than nothing in this abyss of low-cost high-price devices.
I'd buy it in an eyeblink, from whatever shop the author prefers me to use.
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.
+ 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.
The last time I search for a product like this were only TB3 available. I'm interested in solutions that worked for you in this kind of scenarios.
A laptop isn’t light/convenient if I’m forced to carry an armload of adapters.
It also has issues with sleep and device swapping for random devices not to wake up or a „stalled“ Ethernet Port when doing Teams meetings.
Updating the firmware didn’t help.
Luckily I have not actually spent my money on these.. but we have had hundreds at work. I have had a Thunderbolt dock at my desk at work for about 4 years now, and have had one at home for 2 years now that I was able to expense. I've had both an OWC and a CalDigit Fail. My CalDigit at work failed last week after mostly sitting unused during the pandemic. IT had a rubbermaid bin full of broken ones.
I think the common thing we have is most of us have 2x 4k monitors.. one has to go into a Thunderbolt port and one goes into a DisplayPort. My desk at home only has one external monitor and seems to not generate problems. Usually one of the monitors will start to refuse to work.
The CalDigit has one set of bugs with Intel Macs and a different set of bugs with Apple Silicon IME.
Both of them have RF interference issues as well with things like Microsoft and Logitech wireless mice and keyboards.
It's all too bad cause the user experience is great when they actually work. Single cable to get everything works great.
It was not competitively priced and I feel a lot better about that after this post.
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.
One could blame: Windows, crap hardware from Dell, and crap hub hardware. I think it is all three.
It's worth mentioning that buying the same hardware from a reputable company is not always pointless. At USB 3's data rate, power and signal integrity are a serious concern, stability of the hardware is often sensitive to PCB layout. There are numerous pitfalls to shoot yourself in the foot and they are often not obvious at all. Even with exactly the same chip, or even the same circuit connections, a tiny layout change can be a life-or-death issue.
For example, any change to the data line geometry, such as a connector or capacitor soldering pad, introduces unwanted impedance discontinuities to the transmission line and degrades signal integrity. The best design carefully adds or removes copper around these discontinuities to compensate for the impedance change, on the other hand, it may not be a problem if you are lucky. Nevertheless, to truly ensure the design is not just borderline working but has guaranteed stability, it must be verified by testing, using Time Domain Reflectometer, Vector Network Analyzer, and/or inspecting the actual signal on an oscilloscope using the eye diagram.
Similarly, an incorrectly-bypassed power supply may cause random crashes. Such a bad power supply is easily created. For example, if two capacitor values are combined, at some frequency, the parasitic inductance of the first capacitor resonates with the second capacitor, forming a parallel LC circuit and can create a huge spike in the power supply impedance. If this impedance peak happens to be close the operating frequency of a subcircuit, it creates a serious noise problem. A good design would take these into consideration and ensure the power supply impedance is always below the specified target impedance throughout the frequency spectrum. Again, it may not be a problem if you are lucky, but only proper testing can confirm that.
A reputable company is more likely to validate the design, run a full compliance test, and pass the product certification before start selling this device. Meanwhile a no-name vendor sells whatever that powers on, often without regards to signal integrity, especially when you consider that an oscilloscope capable for testing USB 3.2's eye diagrams need a 10 GHz+ real-time bandwidth and costs up to $10,000. I'm not saying that buying from a reputable company is foolproof - it is not, you see sloppy work from time to time, but the chance of getting a tested system is higher.
If you just want stuff that will work and be supported I just go there.
