Need a Thunderbolt 3 Hub w/ Multiple Thunderbolt 2 & USB 3.1 Ports

[jsdigital]

Hi! I need a USB C hub with at least (3) USB 3.1 ports and at least (1) Thunderbolt 2 port for external drive and peripherals that do not have pass-throughs. I've been unable to find this so far. Does anyone know of something for this?

Something like this would be PERFECT if only it had a Thunderbolt 2 port in addition. Robot Check

Thanks for your help

 

[krs]

Do you only have one USB-C port on your Mac?
These guys seem to have pretty much every combination except what you need
https://www.primecables.ca/en/c-19948-usb-type-c-adapters?see_all=true&view=grid

What is the TB2 port used for - maybe some other connectivity could be used.....

 

[ferrarr]

This might be the closest you will find, Thunderbolt 3 (USB-C) to Thunderbolt 2 Adapter - Apple. Then you may need another adapter as well?

 

[jsdigital]

This might be the closest you will find, Thunderbolt 3 (USB-C) to Thunderbolt 2 Adapter - Apple. Then you may need another adapter as well?

Thanks, guys. I already have (2) Thunderbolt 2-to-3 adapters on my 2019 iMac. These are currently in-use with (1) my audio interface and (2) daisy-chained large external RAID arrays. That leaves me with no more Thunderbolt 3 ports, but I need to add some Thunderbolt 3 SSD's to the mix for high-speed 5K RAW video post, so I'm stuck.

From what I can gather, it sounds like I'm SOL.

 

[krs]

Maybe rethink all of your connectivity including the current one.
This TB3 dock seems to be highly recommended - probably pretty pricey
CalDigit | Thunderbolt 3 Dock | TS3 Plus

 

[jsdigital]

Thanks for the rec. I've looked at this one. It would be perfect if it had one more Thunderbolt port. The problem is I need to add a TB3 (or TB2 port). A dock like this would work if I could find a Thunderbolt 2 or 3 splitter, but I'm not having any luck with that either.

 

[ferrarr]

Thanks for the rec. I've looked at this one. It would be perfect if it had one more Thunderbolt port. The problem is I need to add a TB3 (or TB2 port). A dock like this would work if I could find a Thunderbolt 2 or 3 splitter, but I'm not having any luck with that either.

You may not like it, but buy two of them, it seems like the only option available, at this time.

 

[krs]

Thanks for the rec. I've looked at this one. It would be perfect if it had one more Thunderbolt port. The problem is I need to add a TB3 (or TB2 port). A dock like this would work if I could find a Thunderbolt 2 or 3 splitter, but I'm not having any luck with that either.

I don't have any first hand experience with Thunderbolt, but as I understand it, TB3 uses the 'daisy chain' concept to connect multiple TB3 devices, same idea as Firewire, so TB3 devices should have an in and out port for daisy chaining same as FW400 and FW800 devices had, well many of them, not all.
So I doubt you will ever see a TB3 splitter
For Thunderbolt 2 there is the odd device that gives one two TB2 outputs like this one
Thunderbolt 2 Displayport/HDMI 4Kx2K Docking Station | Laptop Docking Stations | StarTech.com
maybe that can help you with your connectivity - sorry, I'm not familiar with the devices you have so I can only provide some options that may be of some use.

 

[jsdigital]

Thanks all. Again, with these docks, the 2nd TB port is used to connect to the computer, so it is not actually adding a TB port.

 

[MacInWin]

To expand on what krs said in post#8, all TB designs are for daisy chain, from TB to TB2 and now TB3. You can daisy chain different devices, like a display and a drive, for example, with no problems with either (I'm doing that right now with TB2).

So I would suggest you reexamine the way you are configuring things to make use of the daisy chain that is built into the TB protocol.

 

[jsdigital]

What am I misunderstanding here? I'm trying to add a Thunderbolt port. There are only 2 on the 2019 iMac. I cannot find a dock or hub that adds a TB port. There are docks with 2 TB ports, but they do not add one because one TB port is used to connect to the computer and the other port washes out mathematically with the one the dock is plugged into. So there is a net gain of 0 TB ports. My TB devices do not have a TB passthrough port, so they are a dead-end and I can't daisychain anything else onto them. I can't figure out why everyone's saying I should reexamine how I am configuring things. There is no way to configure them that adds a TB port.

 

[MacInWin]

Sorry, I took this:

I need to add some Thunderbolt 3 SSD's to the mix for high-speed 5K RAW video post

to mean you were looking to buy these devices. All I was suggesting was that you get at least one of them with a daisy chain potential.

If you have already bought these dead-end drives, then you will need to look for a dock with THREE ports to gain that one you need. I don't know of any with three, as the daisy chain design makes that generally not needed. All of the docks I have seen only have two ports for TB.

Here is an article on the best TB3 docks available as of January, 2019.

 

[jsdigital]

Ok, that's what I thought... The tricky thing for me is that this iMac setup is moving into a recording booth and needs to be silent, so I need to switch external hard drives over to all SSD, and I don't know if any ext drives with passthrough that are SSD. I guess I'm SOL.

 

[krs]

I find that very misleading when a manufacturer advertises a hub with two TB ports and they include the TB port that connects to the Mac.
Those manufacturers really need to spell that out better as some of them do by stating "two Thunderbolt 3 (one for the host cable)"
After all, when I look at a 4-port or 7-port etc. USB dock, I get 4 or 7 ports to connect devices to, the connection to the Mac is not counted as a "port".
For instance:
Robot Check
....but the terminology is always the same.

 

[jsdigital]

Couldn't agree more. I can't imagine how many people have purchased items like that not realizing they weren't really getting that expanded TB connectivity. I almost got duped myself.

 

[krs]

I must have missed something in this thread
In your initial post you stated that the hub you linked to would be PERFECT if it just had a TB 2 port

Hi! I need a USB C hub with at least (3) USB 3.1 ports and at least (1) Thunderbolt 2 port for external drive and peripherals that do not have pass-throughs. I've been unable to find this so far. Does anyone know of something for this?

Something like this would be PERFECT if only it had a Thunderbolt 2 port in addition. Robot Check

That hub has 4 USB 3.1 ports, so I assume 4 USB 3.1 ports plus a TB2 port would meet your needs.
I'm not sure where the two TB3 outputs came from.

But hubs with a TB2 port out and three or more USB 3.1 ports out are definitely available like this one for instance

https://www.cablematters.com/pc-887...al-4k-60hz-video-and-60w-power-delivery.aspx#

 

[MacInWin]

What about swapping the drives for USB3 interfaces? There are a lot of TB3 docks with multiple USB3 ports.

 

[jsdigital]

You're right, I should have said "it would be PERFECT if it just had 2 TB ports. I'm trying to add a Samsung X5 TB3 SSD to the mix here. My current peripheral configs are:

1 TB2 Universal Audio Apollo Audio Interface (connected directly to iMac TB3 Port 1 w/ a TB2>3 adapter)
2 TB2 Daisy-chained RAID arrays (the first in the chain is connected directly to iMac TB3 Port 2 w/ a TB2>3 adapter)
3 USB 3.1 Samsung T5 SSD's

This means I cannot take advantage of TB3 speeds with a Samsung X5 TB3 SSD because there are no available TB3 ports. If I added it to the open port at the end of my RAID array, I wouldn't be getting TB3 speeds, because those drives are TB2. I also cannot add the audio interface to the end of the RAID daisy-chain because I need the RAID's powered down any time the audio interface is in use.

Everyone sufficiently confused yet? Haha.

 

[jsdigital]

What about swapping the drives for USB3 interfaces? There are a lot of TB3 docks with multiple USB3 ports.

Is there are TB2 > USB 3.1 Type A adapter? Or are you recommending I completely swap out the RAID array for USB 3.1 Type A drives? If the latter, that would be cost-prohibitive.

 

[krs]

You're right, I should have said "it would be PERFECT if it just had 2 TB ports. I'm trying to add a Samsung X5 TB3 SSD to the mix here. My current peripheral configs are:

1 TB2 Universal Audio Apollo Audio Interface (connected directly to iMac TB3 Port 1 w/ a TB2>3 adapter)
2 TB2 Daisy-chained RAID arrays (the first in the chain is connected directly to iMac TB3 Port 2 w/ a TB2>3 adapter)
3 USB 3.1 Samsung T5 SSD's

This means I cannot take advantage of TB3 speeds with a Samsung X5 TB3 SSD because there are no available TB3 ports. If I added it to the open port at the end of my RAID array, I wouldn't be getting TB3 speeds, because those drives are TB2. I also cannot add the audio interface to the end of the RAID daisy-chain because I need the RAID's powered down any time the audio interface is in use.

Everyone sufficiently confused yet? Haha.

Thanks, that clarifies things quite a bit for me.

So the obvious solution, ha, ha - thinking outside the box......

Trade you iMac in for a Mac that comes with four Thunderbolt 3 ports, iMac Pro or MacBook Pro.
In the end that may not be much more than buying these hubs (that don't seem to exist) and could also be less of a cable mess.