USB C hub with wireless mouse receiver is laggy intermittently

[Camarillo Brillo]

I'm using an RCA usb c hub on my 2019 16" macbook pro to connect an HDMI monitor, usb keyboard and a usb wireless mouse receiver. Sometimes, the mouse is very laggy, to the point of being unusable. The cursor will stop moving every few seconds. But it usually stops happening if I either switch the usb receiver to a different port on the hub, or move the hub to a different usb c port on the computer. It's not consistent which ports work, sometimes it works one way, then I come back later and have to change ports again to get it to work. Right now everything is plugged into the hub and it's working great, but it's likely i'll have to rearrange everything again after letting the computer go to sleep.

If I plug the USB mouse receiver into its own USB C port (using another adapter) it works perfectly every time, but it's annoying having to take up a whole usb c port just for a mouse, when I have other things I want to have plugged in at the same time.

Is this the fault of the RCA usb c hub I'm using? Is it a fault of the computer? I want to try a different hub but I'm seeing some reviews complaining about this same issue with usb wireless mouse receivers, on a bunch of different hubs, not to mention they are all unknown engrish brand companies. Can anybody recommend a hub that you know works well with a usb wireless mouse receiver?

 

[smarvin]

Hi. I'm guessing this is happening since you switched to MacOS Big Sur? I've been running a similar configuration, with four USB devices, HDMI monitor and even power delivery using one USB-C hub. This includes a mouse, too. Whilst this config worked more or less pretty well in Catalina, I'm experiencing similar issues in Big Sur, just as you are describing. Let me know what operating system you're on. Maybe this is something Apple resolves sooner rather than later.

Kind regards

 

[Lansing]

This has been my ongoing nightmare with the MBP 16 and Catalina, doubt it will be any better under Big Sur.
USB C/Thunderbolt just has lots of complexity and the “single wire solution” feels like a lie.
Using a Belkin thunderbolt 3 mini dock to connect two display outs and plug in a usb 3 hub (with its’s own dedicated power) and there’s nothing but issues with Logitech receiver stutters and yeti mic audio drop outs and buzzing.
So the usb 3 port on the dock goes unused because it seems like it can’t do both display out and USB at the same time.

I’m glad I have four ports at least, because I have to dedicate them each for different things. Power, Display output, USB C to A to USB 3 Hub for microphone and Logitech receiver, USB C to A to external drive for time machine (Having it on the same hub seems to cause more interference and stutters).

I’d love to try other more robust Thunderbolt docks, but they cost way to much to just be stuck with the same flakey results.

 

[Camarillo Brillo]

Thanks, yes actually I’m still on Catalina, the latest version.

Sorry to hear that this might be a problem with the computer and not the hub, but not surprised, I had a feeling...

 

[smarvin]

Thanks for the further info. I guess I figured that the issue had to have come from the update. Another variable I've added is an external hard drive, so this might be the cause of my issues. I'll probably use my raspberry pi to configure the hard drive as a network accessible device. This should at least eliminate the lagging. Like you said, it's a shame that a pro laptop makes one put up with this stuff, but oh well.

Kind regards

 

[me55]

2.4GHz wireless mouse receivers and USB 3.0 is always finicky, regardless of operating system or computer. Logitech for example used to send out free USB extension cords just because of that.

 

[smarvin]

Hello again. It's been some time, but I've now contacted apple support because it's really started bothering me a lot.

TL;DR Don't use a G203 Mouse on MacOS. Swap out your plugged in USB-devices.

So, I tried every step they've instructed me to do (Reset the SMC, an so on...) but nothing really worked. So, faced with the real possibility of having to re-install MacOS, I tried out some of the most unlikely things I could. Somehow, I started suspecting the mouse itself. The mouse works fine during low workloads on the Mac and other PCs in general, by the way. My roommate incidentally also uses a MacBook running Big Sur, and never had a similar issue as described. So, he plugged in my mouse gets *exactly* the same issue. Replaced the mouse and everything's running buttery smooth. I can only imagine that the mouse I used (Logitech G203) ****s up system I/O so bad, that any other task running concurrently is forced to yield to these very I/O computations. I have no idea, how this is possible in an operating system this sophisticated, but it certainly happened here.

I hope this helps anyone facing a similar issue.

 

[Camarillo Brillo]

My solution to this problem was to just use a whole thunderbolt port for my USB mouse (with an adapter). I'll probably eventually get a bluetooth mouse or maybe magic trackpad so I can free up the port again. Until then I'll just let the dumb mouse hog a thunderbolt port. I have zero issues unless it's plugged into a hub, and I don't need that port freed up urgently.

 

[ArturBalthazar]

So, I have a Macbook Air running Monterey 12.0.1 and I'm having a terrible time with lagging mouse cursor. I have a Logitech M280 with usb plug and a cheap chinense bluetooth mouse, both are lagging and stop functioning randomly. I have a simple USB-c hub with 3 USB ports, HDMI and SD cards. I also have a CalDigit TS3 Plus Dock which is much more robust and more ports available. If I plug my Logitech mouse in either of these hubs I'll get the lagging issue. If, instead, I use my bluetooth mouse, I also experience the same lagging. My brother also uses these docks and hubs and don't have any problem. When I plug the mouses in my windows notebook all works great.

My conclusion is that the problem is not with the USB-c or the hubs and docks, it seems more like incompatibility between the mouse and MacOS, some mouses work, others don't, which is a shame. Apple seems to forget the world is bigger than their belly button and keeps releasing products with many incompatibilities.