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Comment by Eric_WVGG | Hacker News Reader

oh goodness… yes, fine work, but this site rubs my hugest tech pet peeve today

There is not a single USB-C hub on this site. A USB-C hub would take one USB-C port and turn it into several USB-C ports.

These are what are called port replicators. There are no USB-C hubs in existence, which is a huge reason why the standard is still struggling.

Thank you for putting a selector for "how many USB-C ports" front and center, that at least illustrates the problem…

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(why are there no “real” USB-C hubs? some say that it is due to the lack of the existence of a chip that Intel is going to release "any time now" for like a year now… others say that the power delivery requirements of USB-C make this really tricky)

USB-C hubs are on their way. A couple of IC makers now have parts supporting that, so products using them are in the development pipeline: http://www.genesyslogic.com/en/product_view.php?show=69

I'm actually currently developing one as well that has a unique twist to it.

Cool. It’s about time. After getting a MacBook Pro 2019 I was pretty surprised to find out there are no real USB hubs out there.

Can't wait to see it! I'd love to be on your announcement list.

http://www.simulatechnology.com/Product/Detail/uid/5de9347e-... exists, at least to some extent. It uses the aforementioned chip.

Great question. Been waiting since 2015 on those...

There seem to be several devices that offer two USB-C ports and two USB-A ports. That's pretty inefficient but at least it gets you more ports.

https://www.amazon.com/AVLT-Power-4-Port-USB-3-1-USB/dp/B081...

You're pretty screwed if you want a 4 port hub, yes.

I know you're right, but nowadays, everybody calls them hubs.

But if you really need the hub you describe, here's one that I think conforms to what you describe: https://www.coolgear.com/product/usb-31-typec-4-port-hub-or-...

For a little bit more, you can have 6 USB-C ports: https://www.coolgear.com/product/usb-3-1-dual-type-usb-c-a-8...

my goodness… I wonder if that is legit or if the manufacturer had to break spec… thanks for the link!

If I understand correctly it’s basically a regular hub that has USB C outlets instead of USB A. Useful but won’t do stuff like monitors.

IIRC that's fine according to spec. What you can't do is have a cable with female USB-C on one end.

Could I connect my mbp to this with one cord to get power and external monitors?

Nope

It connects to your computer via USB 3.1 and a USB type-a port. Unfortunately type-a can't power the computer and can't carry video signals.

You would need to stack another adapter on top, but then the combined unit would do everything you want.

That's a USB3.1 hub that has USB-C connectors. While one can get away with that in the whole USB-C mess/confusion, it is usually not what people expect. You can't connect a monitor or power your device with this hub, for example.

At what point did a 'dock' become a 'hub'?

never really thought about the distinction until now, but yes, you are right. But most people don't really care and call it usb-hub, including me^^

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