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Which USB 3.0 Hub? [MERGED]

nas7y

nas7y

macrumors newbie
Nov 11, 2019
21
9
Moscow
I, like and guy with state of mind : “if i can improved it - i must do it.

I was charmed like this amazing things work. It cost all of it money.
Testes yesterday - connect to thunderbolt1 imac 21,5 and 27 2011. It is working! I just have another hub with 3.0 ports and we connected it to one usb3.0 port on kanex device. All of the units we connect work at that speed (3.0). E-sata was tested too.
I was charmed like this amazing thing. It cost it money.
Everyrhing would be 3.0 if you connect it to your usb3.0 port.https://www.kanex.com/products/item.aspx?id=5042
 
J

joevt

Contributor
Jun 21, 2012
6,658
4,077
nas7y said:
I, like and guy with state of mind : “if i can improved it - i must do it.

I was charmed like this amazing things work. It cost all of it money.
Testes yesterday - connect to thunderbolt1 imac 21,5 and 27 2011. It is working! I just have another hub with 3.0 ports and we connected it to one usb3.0 port on kanex device. All of the units we connect work at that speed (3.0). E-sata was tested too.
I was charmed like this amazing thing. It cost it money.
Everyrhing would be 3.0 if you connect it to your usb3.0 port.https://www.kanex.com/products/item.aspx?id=5042
Click to expand...
If you have a Thunderbolt Mac, then you can get faster than USB 3.0 (5Gbps) with a Thunderbolt 3 device or dock connected with a Apple Thunderbolt 3 to Thunderbolt 2 adapter. It will support USB 3.1 gen 2 (10 Gbps).
 
T

toke lahti

macrumors 68040
Apr 23, 2007
3,270
502
Helsinki, Finland
Is there a list somewhere or perhaps a thread here in MR,
on which usb chips are working perfectly with macs?

I've had years one with VIA "0x0812" and it handles attached storages ok, when I put mac to sleep.

Now I have a new one with GenesysLogic "0x0612" and it ejects all attached storages, when going to sleep, everytime.

(These with macmini2018 & Mojave 10.14.6)
 
J

joevt

Contributor
Jun 21, 2012
6,658
4,077
toke lahti said:
Is there a list somewhere or perhaps a thread here in MR,
on which usb chips are working perfectly with macs?

I've had years one with VIA "0x0812" and it handles attached storages ok, when I put mac to sleep.

Now I have a new one with GenesysLogic "0x0612" and it ejects all attached storages, when going to sleep, everytime.

(These with macmini2018 & Mojave 10.14.6)
Click to expand...
There's a thread for USB controllers but I don't think there's one for USB hubs. Generally, USB hubs should have fewer/no problems.

Are there externals differences between the VIA and GenesysLogic hubs (i.e. does one have external power and the other does not? )
 
T

toke lahti

macrumors 68040
Apr 23, 2007
3,270
502
Helsinki, Finland
joevt said:
There's a thread for USB controllers but I don't think there's one for USB hubs. Generally, USB hubs should have fewer/no problems.

Are there externals differences between the VIA and GenesysLogic hubs (i.e. does one have external power and the other does not? )
Click to expand...
Both of mine have aux power and I've only used external disks that also have own power source (3.5").

5 years of fluent work:
Anker AK-68ANHUB-S7EA
www.amazon.de

Anker® Bus-Powered USB 3.0 7 Port USB 3.0 Hub Portable Aluminum Hub with 1 m Cable (Apple Style) (Silver)

Anker® Bus-Powered USB 3.0 7 Port USB 3.0 Hub Portable Aluminum Hub with 1 m Cable (Apple Style) (Silver)
www.amazon.de

Problems from the start:
Icy Box IB-Hub1701-U3
www.amazon.de

ICY BOX IB-Hub1701-U3 7-fach USB 3.0 Hub und Ladegerät, An-/Ausschalter für jeden Port, Netzteil (12V/4A), Aluminium, Ladestandard BC 1.2, grau

The USB extension IB-Hub1701-U3 is connected via USB cable (approx. 75 cm length) connected to a computer, notebook or Mac device. It has seven USB 3.0 ports that can achieve a maximum transfer rate of up to 5 Gbps. Since the USB hub has seven on/off switches, each USB port can be switched indivi...
www.amazon.de
 
R

rbf1138

macrumors 6502a
Dec 22, 2007
521
62
Can anyone recommend from the following (for an M1 Air) or suggest something different if I haven't listed it here? I'm especially looking for one that doesn't end up disconnecting/losing connections with devices.

Vava USB C 9-in-1
Totu USB C 9-in-1
Anker USB C Hub adapter PowerExpand+ 7-in-1 60W power delivery
Anker USB C Hub adapter PowerExpand+ 7-in-1 100W power delivery

Additionally, are there any super portable/compact dongles that would give me just 2 or 3 extra USB ports (maybe a combo if C and A) when I didn't need to take one of the above out and about with me?
 
jboyzh

jboyzh

macrumors member
Oct 27, 2003
54
8
This USB-C hub, Club 3D CSV-1592 does 4k60Hz. While not the cheapest, it works well here on a MBP 13 2020 without getting too warm, all ports working reliably.

(Ports: HDMI 4k60Hz, 2xUSB-A, USB-C PD 3.0, SD/MicroSD, Ethernet RJ45.)
Club 3D CSV-1592
 
J

joevt

Contributor
Jun 21, 2012
6,658
4,077
jboyzh said:
This USB-C hub, Club 3D CSV-1592 does 4k60Hz. While not the cheapest, it works well here on a MBP 13 2020 without getting too warm, all ports working reliably.

(Ports: HDMI 4k60Hz, 2xUSB-A, USB-C PD 3.0, SD/MicroSD, Ethernet RJ45.)
Club 3D CSV-1592
Click to expand...
It can only do 4K60Hz if the computer supports DisplayPort 1.4 because it is a USB hub that supports USB 3.x which means there are only two lanes of DisplayPort.

Two lanes of DisplayPort 1.4 is 75% the bandwidth of the normal four lanes of DisplayPort 1.2 so it will only be able to do 8 bpc for a DisplayPort output using 533 MHz (540 MHz is the theoretical max). However 4K60Hz via HDMI 2.0 is usually 594 MHz, so in that case it requires chroma sub sampling or DSC. The product description says it supports DSC, so that should be ok (DSC is a visually lossless compression algorithm).

I suppose if you're going to get a USB-C hub instead of a Thunderbolt dock for display output and USB 3.x, then you can't get any better than one that supports DisplayPort 1.4 and DSC (if your GPU supports those).

There also exist USB-C hubs with only USB 2.0 so that DisplayPort can have all four lanes.
 
alexjholland

alexjholland

macrumors 6502a
May 3, 2011
835
788
Bali, Cambridge, Sydney.. anywhere.
joevt said:
First, facts:
  • It supports USB 10 Gbps.
  • HDR requires 10bpc.
  • HDMI 2.0 4K 60Hz 10bpc requires 4:2:2 chroma sub sampling
Second, assumptions:
  • It's a USB-C dock, not Thunderbolt.
  • It doesn't use DisplayLink.
Then, conclusions:
  • 10 Gbps & USB-C & no DisplayLink means it only has two lanes of DisplayPort.
What can be done with two lanes of DisplayPort:
  • Two lanes of DisplayPort 1.2 can do:
    • 4K 30Hz 10bpc 4:4:4 (not HDMI)
    • 4K 30Hz 8bpc 4:4:4
    • 4K 30Hz 12bpc 4:2:2
    • DisplayPort 1.2 does not support 4:2:0 but that can't get you to 4K 60Hz 10bpc HDMI timing anyway. So the answer is not DisplayPort 1.2.
  • Two lanes of DisplayPort 1.4 can do:
    • 4K 30Hz 12bpc 4:4:4
    • 4K 60Hz 8bpc 4:4:4 (not HDMI)
    • 4K 60Hz 10bpc 4:2:2 (this is probably the answer)
    • DisplayPort 1.4 supports DSC which compresses more than 4:2:0 but is superior in quality to 4:2:2. Not all GPUs that support DisplayPort 1.4 support DSC. Big Sur may not support DSC in all cases. It's possible they could use DSC. If there does not exist a DisplayPort to HDMI 2.0b converter that uses DSC, then they could pair a DisplayPort 1.4 MST hub that supports DSC with a converter that doesn't support DSC. The MST hub can convert 2 lanes of DisplayPort 1.4 with DSC to 4 lanes of DisplayPort without DSC. If they included the MST hub, then they would have added additional display output ports (unless size or power or macOS considerations).
Basically, this dock is the same as the Apple USB-C Digital AV Multiport Adapter except the dock uses a gen 2 hub with more ports instead of a gen 1 hub with one port.
www.apple.com

USB-C Digital AV Multiport Adapter

USB-C Digital AV Multiport Adapter lets you connect your USB-C– or Thunderbolt 3 (USB-C)–enabled Mac to a HDMI display, standard USB device and charging cable. Buy now at apple.com.
www.apple.com
Click to expand...
Wow. Great answer.

Would you buy it?

Or, would you stump-up for a Thunderbolt dock - and if so, which one?

I've already ordered the official Apple AV HDMI adapter. Was that a good choice?
 
J

joevt

Contributor
Jun 21, 2012
6,658
4,077
alexjholland said:
Wow. Great answer.

Would you buy it?

Or, would you stump-up for a Thunderbolt dock - and if so, which one?

I've already ordered the official Apple AV HDMI adapter. Was that a good choice?
Click to expand...
It depends on how much you want to spend and what you want to connect to it and how portable you want it to be.

The Apple AV HDMI adapter will work without power. It allows 5 Gbps which is fast enough for most needs.

For the dock, I did not see in the description if it works without the power connection. It allows 10 Gbps but the extra speed is just icing on the cake for most people and not truly necessary.

If you want HDMI 2.0b 4K 60Hz 10bpc and have DisplayPort 1.4, then these dock/adapter are sufficient. Otherwise (for DisplayPort 1.2 or 8bpc 4:4:4 or HDMI 2.1) you can get 4 lane DisplayPort to HDMI adapters.

For Thunderbolt + portability, the following seem interesting (I haven't tried them - I like the size and the NVMe slot and 10 Gbps USB and DisplayPort 1.4 output):

The Anker PowerExpand docks (USB-C or Thunderbolt) have an interesting look:

Hubs and Docks

Discover our collection of hubs and docks at Anker.com and maximize your workstation.
www.anker.com

OWC is the first to have a dock with multiple (3) downstream Thunderbolt ports:
eshop.macsales.com

OWC Thunderbolt Hub - Add Three More Thunderbolt (USB-C) Ports

Add three Thunderbolt 4 (USB-C) and one USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-A port to your Mac or PC and connect more storage, displays, and accessories.
eshop.macsales.com eshop.macsales.com
eshop.macsales.com

OWC 11-Port Thunderbolt Dock for M1 and Intel Macs and Thunderbolt 4 (USB 4) PCs

Add three Thunderbolt ports, 4 USB ports, along with Ethernet, audio, and card reader functionality to your Thunderbolt-equipped Mac or Thunderbolt 4 PC.
eshop.macsales.com eshop.macsales.com
 
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alexjholland

alexjholland

macrumors 6502a
May 3, 2011
835
788
Bali, Cambridge, Sydney.. anywhere.
joevt said:
It depends on how much you want to spend and what you want to connect to it and how portable you want it to be.

The Apple AV HDMI adapter will work without power. It allows 5 Gbps which is fast enough for most needs.

For the dock, I did not see in the description if it works without the power connection. It allows 10 Gbps but the extra speed is just icing on the cake for most people and not truly necessary.

If you want HDMI 2.0b 4K 60Hz 10bpc and have DisplayPort 1.4, then these dock/adapter are sufficient. Otherwise (for DisplayPort 1.2 or 8bpc 4:4:4 or HDMI 2.1) you can get 4 lane DisplayPort to HDMI adapters.

For Thunderbolt + portability, the following seem interesting (I haven't tried them - I like the size and the NVMe slot and 10 Gbps USB and DisplayPort 1.4 output):

The Anker PowerExpand docks (USB-C or Thunderbolt) have an interesting look:

Hubs and Docks

Discover our collection of hubs and docks at Anker.com and maximize your workstation.
www.anker.com

OWC is the first to have a dock with multiple (3) downstream Thunderbolt ports:
eshop.macsales.com

OWC Thunderbolt Hub - Add Three More Thunderbolt (USB-C) Ports

Add three Thunderbolt 4 (USB-C) and one USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-A port to your Mac or PC and connect more storage, displays, and accessories.
eshop.macsales.com eshop.macsales.com
eshop.macsales.com

OWC 11-Port Thunderbolt Dock for M1 and Intel Macs and Thunderbolt 4 (USB 4) PCs

Add three Thunderbolt ports, 4 USB ports, along with Ethernet, audio, and card reader functionality to your Thunderbolt-equipped Mac or Thunderbolt 4 PC.
eshop.macsales.com eshop.macsales.com
Click to expand...
I think I'm going for the Caldigit Soho.

It's 'Gen 2 USB-C'.

I just ordered a 16-port USB 3.0 Hub for four hard drives, a sound card, and various perhipherals.

I can connect that straight to the USB-A on the Caldigit Soho and also get 4K/60Hz via HDMI or DisplayPort.

Does that sound like a good plan?
 
J

joevt

Contributor
Jun 21, 2012
6,658
4,077
alexjholland said:
I think I'm going for the Caldigit Soho.

It's 'Gen 2 USB-C'.

I just ordered a 16-port USB 3.0 Hub for four hard drives, a sound card, and various perhipherals.

I can connect that straight to the USB-A on the Caldigit Soho and also get 4K/60Hz via HDMI or DisplayPort.

Does that sound like a good plan?
Click to expand...
Sure, why not. The 16-port hub is interesting. Maybe it's four 4-port hubs connected to a 4-port hub? Let us know what the devices look like in the USB tab of System Information.app.

The Caldigit Soho makes no mention of DSC support.
Using two lanes of DisplayPort 1.4 without DSC: 4K 60Hz DisplayPort can work up to 8 bpc. HDMI will use chroma subsampling for 8 bpc and 10 bpc unless you use a DisplayPort timing in which case it can do 8 bpc without chroma sub sampling.
 
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alexjholland

alexjholland

macrumors 6502a
May 3, 2011
835
788
Bali, Cambridge, Sydney.. anywhere.
Cool, will do!

Caldigit Soho seems to combine power/peripherals/monitor in one USB-C slot.

Assuming it does a good job, I'm then free to use USB-C for anything else.

Eg. I could just run a USB-C to DisplayPort cable straight from the MacBook to monitor, instead.
 
Phil77354

Phil77354

macrumors 68000
Jun 22, 2014
1,918
2,006
Pacific Northwest, U.S.
I want to improve the connectivity for my iMac (late 2014, 27-inch) with Thunderbolt 2, so that I can connect newer USB-C hard drives. I purchased a couple of 'portable' USB-C drives, which require power to be supplied via the USB-C connection. I use a couple of external drives for backup and supplemental storage, and I'm out of ports on my iMac.

My conclusion is that a hub such as the CalDigit TS3 Plus will give me plenty of connectivity. I think that I can connect this to my iMac using the Apple Thunderbolt 3 to Thunderbolt 2 adaptor (or equivalent).

I don't really (currently) need the ability to add display(s), or read SD cards, but it looks like any dock that gives me what I need will also have those ports too.

Expensive, but it will be usable for my current setup as well as if/when I upgrade my computer to one that is USB-C/Thunderbolt 3 capable.

As I studied these various docks, it became clear to me that many (most?) of the cheaper docks don't have USB-C/Thunderbolt 3 ports that provide power, and there are other technical details that the CalDigit seems to have that are not present with many of the competitors. There does seem to be a similar Belkin dock but it is just as expensive.

Interestingly, the CalDigit dock is less expensive on Amazon than it is from CalDigit directly, even though the Amazon listing is also CalDigit itself. The Apple adaptor is also cheaper on Amazon (no surprise there).
 
J

joevt

Contributor
Jun 21, 2012
6,658
4,077
alexjholland said:
Apple just screwed-up and forgot to send their official HDMI out dongle.

Should I just buy the CalDigit Soho?

It's superior in every possible way, right?
Click to expand...
Go for it. Let us know how it works.

Compared to the Apple USB-C Digital AV Multiport Adapter:

Superior: USB 10 Gbps, additional USB-C port, DisplaPort 1.4, SD, micro SD​
Same: HDMI 2.0b (supports HDR), USB-A, Power Delivery, Bus powered.​
Inferior: size​
Different: cable​
Not sure about:​
Power Delivery max power difference?​
DSC input/output support?​
 
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J

joevt

Contributor
Jun 21, 2012
6,658
4,077
Phil77354 said:
I want to improve the connectivity for my iMac (late 2014, 27-inch) with Thunderbolt 2, so that I can connect newer USB-C hard drives. I purchased a couple of 'portable' USB-C drives, which require power to be supplied via the USB-C connection. I use a couple of external drives for backup and supplemental storage, and I'm out of ports on my iMac.

My conclusion is that a hub such as the CalDigit TS3 Plus will give me plenty of connectivity. I think that I can connect this to my iMac using the Apple Thunderbolt 3 to Thunderbolt 2 adaptor (or equivalent).

I don't really (currently) need the ability to add display(s), or read SD cards, but it looks like any dock that gives me what I need will also have those ports too.

Expensive, but it will be usable for my current setup as well as if/when I upgrade my computer to one that is USB-C/Thunderbolt 3 capable.

As I studied these various docks, it became clear to me that many (most?) of the cheaper docks don't have USB-C/Thunderbolt 3 ports that provide power, and there are other technical details that the CalDigit seems to have that are not present with many of the competitors. There does seem to be a similar Belkin dock but it is just as expensive.

Interestingly, the CalDigit dock is less expensive on Amazon than it is from CalDigit directly, even though the Amazon listing is also CalDigit itself. The Apple adaptor is also cheaper on Amazon (no surprise there).
Click to expand...
A Thunderbolt 3 dock connected with Apple Thunderbolt 3 to Thunderbolt 2 adapter is best. It will add 10 Gbps USB support and support for USB-C hubs and docks.

All powered Thunderbolt docks should provide at least the minimum required power for the ports they have. 15W for USB-C and 4.5W for USB-A.

Some docks don't have SD card slots. Some Thunderbolt docks have more than one USB-C port. Some docks support 10 Gbps from more than one port. HP Thunderbolt Dock G2 for example.
www.nytimes.com

The Best Thunderbolt Docks

For people using computers with just Thunderbolt 3 or 4 ports, a dock with a wider variety of ports makes a lot of sense. We have options for every budget.
www.nytimes.com www.nytimes.com
 
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alexjholland

alexjholland

macrumors 6502a
May 3, 2011
835
788
Bali, Cambridge, Sydney.. anywhere.
joevt said:
Go for it. Let us know how it works.

Compared to the Apple USB-C Digital AV Multiport Adapter:

Superior: USB 10 Gbps, additional USB-C port, DisplaPort 1.4, SD, micro SD​
Same: HDMI 2.0b (supports HDR), USB-A, Power Delivery, Bus powered.​
Inferior: size​
Different: cable​
Not sure about:​
Power Delivery max power difference?​
DSC input/output support?​
Click to expand...
The Caldigit SOHO has superior video output capabilities to the Apple HDMI/AV dongle?

That's a slam-dunk then.
 
J

joevt

Contributor
Jun 21, 2012
6,658
4,077
alexjholland said:
The Caldigit SOHO has superior video output capabilities to the Apple HDMI/AV dongle?
Click to expand...
The HDMI output is the same. The superior stuff is not superior if you don't use it. Maybe I should have said Extra instead of Superior. In that case, the only thing superior is the 10 Gbps USB.
 
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