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Super Sticky Thread for USB-C Docks, Cables and Accessories [MERGED]

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I’m about to get my 2018 MBP, with all-USB Type-C, so I need some Type-C to HDMI adapters and a Tyoe-C to DP Cable and maybe a small dock for Home.

I already have a Belkin Thunderbolt dock which worked with my older TB-equipped MacBooks, so I’m hoping I just need a Type-C to Thunderbolt Cable to use it.

There are so many brands on Amazon — most I’ve never heard of — so I don’t know where to begin. Suggestions for good quality cables and products?
 
Alameda said:
I’m about to get my 2018 MBP, with all-USB Type-C, so I need some Type-C to HDMI adapters and a Tyoe-C to DP Cable and maybe a small dock for Home.

I already have a Belkin Thunderbolt dock which worked with my older TB-equipped MacBooks, so I’m hoping I just need a Type-C to Thunderbolt Cable to use it.

There are so many brands on Amazon — most I’ve never heard of — so I don’t know where to begin. Suggestions for good quality cables and products?
Click to expand...

Did a ton of research. Ended up with Caldigits TS3 Plus. Very happy with it.
 
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AdamA9 said:
I have this: https://www.kingstongo.com/us/hub/nucleum-usb-type-c-hub
Click to expand...
I decided to give this a try. Should arrive in a couple days, and hopefully it should work well.

From what I read everyone said it runs cooler than most other hubs, and it has the 60W pass through charge so that checks most of what I wanted. Doesn't do dual display support, but until I can afford the $300 for a Caldigit TS3+, this should do.

Just curious, is there any reason to not trust using the pass-through charging feature of these docks?
 
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Painter2002 said:
Doesn't do dual display support, but until I can afford the $300 for a Caldigit TS3+, this should do.

Just curious, is there any reason to not trust using the pass-through charging feature of these docks?
Click to expand...

Effectively you end up with a two-cable setup for dual displays -- one for the hub and the 2nd for a 2nd display. Not too bad a trade off if the TS3+ isn't in the cards for now.

I'm pretty sure the power delivery is negotiated, so there shouldn't be any issues with the pass-thru charging.
 
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deeddawg said:
Effectively you end up with a two-cable setup for dual displays -- one for the hub and the 2nd for a 2nd display. Not too bad a trade off if the TS3+ isn't in the cards for now.

I'm pretty sure the power delivery is negotiated, so there shouldn't be any issues with the pass-thru charging.
Click to expand...
Yeah that’s what I was figuring for the dual monitor setup.

And I was mainly asking on the pass thru charging because I don’t want to risk it frying the I/O ports on the Mac at all.
 
Painter2002 said:
I decided to give this a try. Should arrive in a couple days, and hopefully it should work well.

From what I read everyone said it runs cooler than most other hubs, and it has the 60W pass through charge so that checks most of what I wanted. Doesn't do dual display support, but until I can afford the $300 for a Caldigit TS3+, this should do.

Just curious, is there any reason to not trust using the pass-through charging feature of these docks?
Click to expand...

Cool, hope it works out. I still have mine and working just fine.
 
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Was wondering if anyone with a TS3+ could test something for me and see if they have the same issue.

Basically, I cannot boot from the USB C 10GBPs port on the rear - The drive does not appear when you power on with Alt held down. The port itself I think is OK because I can access drives connected to it if already in MacOS.

I've drive 2 different drives (different brands) and they both boot fine from the front USB C port or the any of the older style USB ports using an adapter.

It also works from the Thunderbolt port but I use a 4k display in that. Would prefer to use the 10GBPs port than the 5GBps ones to get the full SSD speed.
 
fruitbat04 said:
Would prefer to use the 10GBPs port than the 5GBps ones to get the full SSD speed.
Click to expand...

One of the USB-A ports on the rear of the TS3+ is actually on the same USB Bus as the 10Gbps USB-C port, here's a diagram on the Caldigit site:
http://www.caldigit.com/KB/index.asp?KBID=220&viewlocale=1

If I can recall correctly, when I did a Blackmagic Speed Test several months ago using a G-Technology external SSD, I got similar speeds from that "Group 3" USB-A port as from the 10Gbps USB-C port (using the relevant cables included with the SSD, no adaptor). Both "Group 3" ports were faster than the other 5Gbps USB-A ports, but I didn't take any screenshots or record any numbers sorry. Maybe test it out with your particular external SSD.

The performance might also be affected by what else is plugged in to the same USB Bus on the TS3+ so use the diagram linked above to put your most demanding devices on separate USB buses.

fruitbat04 said:
The drive does not appear when you power on with Alt held down
Click to expand...

Does it work if choosing it as the Startup Disk in MacOS settings then restarting?

fruitbat04 said:
Was wondering if anyone with a TS3+ could test something for me and see if they have the same issue.
Click to expand...

My bootable backup is off-site at the moment, but I can try testing it later this week. I assume you're trying to boot MacOS?
 
fruitbat04 said:
Was wondering if anyone with a TS3+ could test something for me and see if they have the same issue.

Basically, I cannot boot from the USB C 10GBPs port on the rear - The drive does not appear when you power on with Alt held down. The port itself I think is OK because I can access drives connected to it if already in MacOS.
Click to expand...

Just tested my Samsung T5 bootable backup via the TS3+ and I get the same situation as you - it cannot boot from the TS3+ rear USB-C port when holding Option (Alt) at startup. It does show up fine within my normal instance of MacOS, and even appears as an option for the Startup Disk in System Preferences, but choosing it then restarting doesn't work either. The T5 does boot from other USB ports on the TS3+.

Maybe get in touch with Caldigit, their support team is very prompt at replying and they might be able to shed some light on the issue for you.

iAussie said:
One of the USB-A ports on the rear of the TS3+ is actually on the same USB Bus as the 10Gbps USB-C port, here's a diagram on the Caldigit site:
http://www.caldigit.com/KB/index.asp?KBID=220&viewlocale=1

If I can recall correctly, when I did a Blackmagic Speed Test several months ago using a G-Technology external SSD, I got similar speeds from that "Group 3" USB-A port as from the 10Gbps USB-C port (using the relevant cables included with the SSD, no adaptor). Both "Group 3" ports were faster than the other 5Gbps USB-A ports, but I didn't take any screenshots or record any numbers sorry. Maybe test it out with your particular external SSD.
Click to expand...

I just did some quick Blackmagic Disk Speeds tests with the Samsung T5 (250GB) connected using the relevant USB-A or USB-C cable included with the SSD (no adaptors). Here are the read speeds:

T5 connected directly to MBP = 490 MB/s
T5 to TS3+ rear USB-C (Group 3) = 490 MB/s
T5 to TS3+ rear USB-A (Group 3) = 390 MB/s
T5 to TS3+ rear USB-A (Group 2) = 275 MB/s

The write speeds were a bit unstable and fluctuated a bit (both direct & via the TS3+) so I won't put specific numbers to it, but the write speeds followed a similar trend to the read speeds across the various ports.
 
iAussie said:
Just tested my Samsung T5 bootable backup via the TS3+ and I get the same situation as you - it cannot boot from the TS3+ rear USB-C port when holding Option (Alt) at startup. It does show up fine within my normal instance of MacOS, and even appears as an option for the Startup Disk in System Preferences, but choosing it then restarting doesn't work either. The T5 does boot from other USB ports on the TS3+.

Maybe get in touch with Caldigit, their support team is very prompt at replying and they might be able to shed some light on the issue for you.
Click to expand...

Thanks very much for that test. I've reported it to them but will also flag up that it's not just me affected.

Do you mind testing the USB A port on Bus 3? I see you get quicker speeds, but I think it might be impossible to boot from that bus, rather than specifically the USB C port.
 
fruitbat04 said:
Do you mind testing the USB A port on Bus 3? I see you get quicker speeds, but I think it might be impossible to boot from that bus, rather than specifically the USB C port.
Click to expand...

Agreed, I also can't boot from that USB-A port on Bus 3. In case it helps narrow down the problem, my bootable backup is encrypted (but that doesn't seem to cause any problem when using the other USB ports on the TS3+)
 
iAussie said:
Agreed, I also can't boot from that USB-A port on Bus 3. In case it helps narrow down the problem, my bootable backup is encrypted (but that doesn't seem to cause any problem when using the other USB ports on the TS3+)
Click to expand...
Thank you. Caldigit say they have passed the findings to their senior engineers. I'll reply in the thread with the outcome. Hopefully there will be some kind of firmware update that resolves.
 
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Painter2002 said:
I decided to give this a try. Should arrive in a couple days, and hopefully it should work well.

From what I read everyone said it runs cooler than most other hubs, and it has the 60W pass through charge so that checks most of what I wanted. Doesn't do dual display support, but until I can afford the $300 for a Caldigit TS3+, this should do.

Just curious, is there any reason to not trust using the pass-through charging feature of these docks?
Click to expand...

I’m in the market for a hub as well, have you received yours and are you happy with your purchase? Does the hub cause any interference with Bluetooth or Wifi?
 
appleino said:
I’m in the market for a hub as well, have you received yours and are you happy with your purchase? Does the hub cause any interference with Bluetooth or Wifi?
Click to expand...
I have actually received mine and was pleasantly pleased, but I actually ended up getting a Caldigit dock, and am thinking about trying to sell the Kingston since I end up not using it as much as the Caldigit dock.

As for interference, I experienced no issues at all using the Kingston Nucleum, and I use a bluetooth keyboard and mouse (bluetooth connection directly to MacBook, no dongle). Overall it's a great product, I just don't have a need for it now that I got a Caldigit TS3.
 
Anyone know of a decent type C hub that has additional type C ports? all the hubs I see only have type A ports and one type C for power only.

pretty much all my stuff like USB drives and portable SSDs are USB C so when I use one of these hubs I have to unplug it or find a type A cable for it.
 
Painter2002 said:
I have actually received mine and was pleasantly pleased, but I actually ended up getting a Caldigit dock, and am thinking about trying to sell the Kingston since I end up not using it as much as the Caldigit dock.

As for interference, I experienced no issues at all using the Kingston Nucleum, and I use a bluetooth keyboard and mouse (bluetooth connection directly to MacBook, no dongle). Overall it's a great product, I just don't have a need for it now that I got a Caldigit TS3.
Click to expand...

Thanks a lot, that sounds good and I guess I will get one for myself in that case. Had huge issues with my old USB3 hub interfering with my Bluetooth devices and had to throw it out for that reason (keyboard and trackpad would disconnect every minute when the hub was plugged in).
 
appleino said:
Thanks a lot, that sounds good and I guess I will get one for myself in that case. Had huge issues with my old USB3 hub interfering with my Bluetooth devices and had to throw it out for that reason (keyboard and trackpad would disconnect every minute when the hub was plugged in).
Click to expand...
Yeah, I never had that issue with the Nucleum hub, it seems like it is insulated correctly to prevent any interference on bluetooth devices. For what it is worth, I am using a Logitech MX Master mouse, and a Logitech Craft keyboard, directly bluetoothed to my MacBook Pro.
 
Did a bit more research on the Nucleum and it seems it force ejects already connected usb3 drives if new drives are being plugged in (that is if the hub is connected to a 2018 MacBook Pro I had planned to buy it for). Apparently, Kingston says it‘s Apple‘s fault but this still won’t prevent users from potentially loosing data. The search continues...
 
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appleino said:
Did a bit more research on the Nucleum and it seems it force ejects already connected usb3 drives if new drives are being plugged in (that is if the hub is connected to a 2018 MacBook Pro I had planned to buy it for). Apparently, Kingston says it‘s Apple‘s fault but this still won’t prevent users from potentially loosing data. The search continues...
Click to expand...
That sucks, I can’t say I have any issues like that but I have a 2017 MBP, so maybe it’s specific to just that year
 
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