USB-C hubs and my slow descent into madness (2021) • Hacker News Board

Re: USB-C hubs and my slow descent into madness (2021)

#171

Post by dymk » Mon, Apr 04, 2022, 11:06 PM UTC

loudthing wrote: post #160

Evidlo wrote: post #135

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.

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…

> Apple is a lifestyle brand

If "I want it to just work" is a lifestyle, then yeah, it's a lifestyle brand.

Re: USB-C hubs and my slow descent into madness (2021)

#172

Post by skunkworker » Mon, Apr 04, 2022, 11:11 PM UTC

iends wrote: post #113

CharlesW wrote: post #111

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> 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/

I have a TS3, but it’s been hard to get a second or a TS4 lately.

I have a TS3 for work and looked into the TS4 but it's been out of stock everywhere.

Re: USB-C hubs and my slow descent into madness (2021)

#173

Post by tempnow987 » Mon, Apr 04, 2022, 11:11 PM UTC

Roritharr wrote: post #35

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

Haha... That's pretty perfect. And after 7 years I'm also still playing with stuff.

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).

Re: USB-C hubs and my slow descent into madness (2021)

#174

Post by Bud » Mon, Apr 04, 2022, 11:15 PM UTC

jeffbee wrote: post #17

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.

100% due to the crappy hubs.

I have a gigabit connection and have been using the CalDigit TS3+ since it came out. Zero issues, zero problems with it stepping down to 100 Mbps or anything else. I have GigE plugged in, two monitors, two large disk arrays, sound, and usually a couple other random things. The monitors and all peripherals work flawlessly, wake flawlessly from sleep, etc.

Every time I test the speed, it's around 940 Mbps, which is about the max that a gig fiber connection can actually push to you. Every time.

By contrast, a lot of my IT clients have tried to get by with the crappy cheap USB-C hubs or docks mentioned in this article, and without exception, they always completely suck. Eventually, they start listening to me and they buy a quality dock instead, and then their problems magically cease.

Re: USB-C hubs and my slow descent into madness (2021)

#175

Post by baybal2 » Mon, Apr 04, 2022, 11:16 PM UTC

ApolIllo wrote: post #43

> 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 d…

I am making these Type-C hubs for a living, and indeed RTL8153 is the most trouble free, and cheap chip on the market.

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.

Re: USB-C hubs and my slow descent into madness (2021)

#176

Post by joeman1000 » Mon, Apr 04, 2022, 11:21 PM UTC

It is super frustrating that it’s basically impossible to find good tech (in some categories). How is the author surprised about this though? Surely they knew about white-label alibaba tech, right? It is almost impossible to avoid it. It’s been this way for at least 5 years. I can pick a ‘white-label’ product by sight now. I suggest everyone develops the same intuition and avoids these disappointments.

Re: USB-C hubs and my slow descent into madness (2021)

#177

Post by CobrastanJorji » Mon, Apr 04, 2022, 11:22 PM UTC

paisawalla wrote: post #138

dervjd wrote: post #31

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…

Their entire product line seems to be "currently unavailable" on Amazon.

Looks like they hope to be back in stock late this month. They've got some availability notes on their website: https://www.caldigit.com/an-update-on-ts4-availability/

I imagine they're being hit by the chip shortage that impacted so many other companies. I'm still waiting on a Raspberry Pi, myself.

Re: USB-C hubs and my slow descent into madness (2021)

#178

Post by ydkme » Mon, Apr 04, 2022, 11:22 PM UTC

bayindirh wrote: post #67

somethoughts wrote: post #9

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.

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…

No post body was provided.

Re: USB-C hubs and my slow descent into madness (2021)

#179

Post by rrix2 » Mon, Apr 04, 2022, 11:23 PM UTC

Jhsto wrote: post #5

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.

I've been using a Dell U38118DW monitor for maybe 8 months[ed: purchased it in July 2020 so closer to 20 months!] now and quite content with it. It has an internal USB hub that can be switched between two USB-3a and USB-C depending on which display input is active. I have my desktop attached to one of the 3a and HDMI, and can plug my frame.work laptop in to the USB-C to get 60hz Display Port alt-mode, charging, and all the usb peripherals swapping over.

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

Re: USB-C hubs and my slow descent into madness (2021)

#180

Post by TillE » Mon, Apr 04, 2022, 11:24 PM UTC

dymk wrote: post #171

loudthing wrote: post #160

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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…

> Apple is a lifestyle brand If "I want it to just work" is a lifestyle, then yeah, it's a lifestyle brand.

It's astounding how difficult it is to find non-garbage build quality on, well, pretty much anything. Even just for something as basic as a charger, Apple is probably the only company you can rely on to not use third-rate electrolytic capacitors. Maybe Anker too.