Thunderbolt/USB dock/hubs

Chewie5150

Chewie5150

Fractal Fanatic
I'm considering 'upgrading' my trusty old Aluratek 10 port USB 2.0 hub to future proof and line up with my newer mac. I have loads of peripherals that are really only running USB 2.0. My mac mini (2018) has 4 USB-C(thunderbolt) ports and only 2 USB-A ports. (at minimum i need a total of 7 USB-A connections)

Considering the Caldigit TS4 dock: it boasts 18 ports. Mainly giving me more USB-C for future proofing which is nice and total of 5 USB-A (3.0); Looks great but holy Sh*t balls the price.
https://www.caldigit.com/thunderbolt-station-4/

Part of me wonders if its really necessary at this point since most of my peripherals are using USB 2.0 and even though the dock is capable of high speeds my peripherals are still limited at the same throughput of 2.0 speeds is my understanding of how hubs work. The advantage of the dock listed above is I gain more USB-C ports

Any favorite hubs/docks amongst you chuckleheads? pls share
 
Given the rate at which technology evolves, I generally prefer to buy things to accommodate current needs and specific future needs that are at least reasonably plausible. It is a very impressive dock but I don’t think you should attempt to future proof.
 
iaresee said:
Are you out of TB ports? Those I seem to have enough of on my iMac. I just run a USB 3 hub since that seems to be the port that's always in short supply for me. I use this:

Amazon product ASIN B00VDVCQ84
And I have a monoprice holder thing:

Amazon product ASIN B07H47ZR1Q
So it sits on the top of my studio rack like so:

View attachment 106739
Click to expand...
Cool setup. I like the holder idea. True its mainly USB-A ports that I'm always needing more of. That Anker would easily cut the mustard and a fraction of the cost of the dock I was looking at. I am currently maxed out on TB ports but no need for any TB/USB-C peripherals for now. Technically I have one avail TB port on my Apollo X6 so that could hold me over for one more future addition. The Dock might only be handy if i were to add some HD displays but thats not in the works anytime soon.

I wish my mac mini had more USB-A ports as i have to decide which two devices get priority (direct to computer); obvs the hub gets the one connection (provided i'm using a USB style hub) and that leaves me the one avail port which i'm giving my logitech unifying reciever for wireless connection to my mouse/keyboard, otherwise connected to my hub i've been getting some erratic behavior. Also, as of recent, I've picked up a Roland td17 drum kit with USB and connecting that to my hub hasn't been optimal. That's kind of what spurred me looking into hub/docks again
 
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I run all my Fractal devices off the hub FWIW. And over some long USB cables too. And all at once (three of them). Works awesome.
 
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