USB-C was supposed to simplify our lives, but instead it’s a total mess

Re:USB-C was supposed to simplify our lives, but instead it’... by CogentHedgehog on Thursday October 01, 2020 @10:55AM (#24651548)

Same, USB-C is one of those things that for me just works.

I buy USB-PD chargers and cables from reputable brands, and everything just charges. When I use the cables for data transfer, it just works -- no muss or fuss like there were with some of the charge-only converter cables for charging micro-USB devices.

Now if I were using Thunderbolt 3, yeah, you need a higher-end cable and there are restrictions on cable length for speed purposes (or moving up to a more expensive active cable). But I think that's a fair trade-off for being able to use that same cable for everything else as well.

We cannot WAIT until our household says goodbye to the last couple devices with legacy ports and we can throw the last few converter dongles in a drawer. Looking at you, Apple and Amazon Kindle -- when are you going to get with the program and ditch your legacy Lightning and micro-USB ports respectively?

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Re:USB-C was supposed to simplify our lives, but instead it’... by texasbigdata on Thursday October 01, 2020 @11:02AM (#24651669)

Ah so that’s why the thunderbolt cables are 1.5 feet :)

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Re:USB-C was supposed to simplify our lives, but instead it’... by CogentHedgehog on Thursday October 01, 2020 @12:49PM (#24653189)

Yes, the signal degrades more with longer cables which reduces the usable bandwidth. Short cables up to about 0.5m (1.5 feet) can use the full 40 Gbps. Slightly longer cables up to 1m can still carry enough signal for Thunderbolt 3 but usually at reduced speeds (20 Gbps).

Above about 1m (3 feet) a passive cable usually isn't good enough for TB3 connections and you have to use a more expensive "active" cable. Active cables have built in signal-boosting circuits -- they're amplifying and re-transmitting signals, not just passing them over the wires.

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Re:USB-C was supposed to simplify our lives, but instead it’... by jorgekong on Thursday October 01, 2020 @03:51PM (#24655464)

Which specific cables (or brands) would you recommend?

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Re:USB-C was supposed to simplify our lives, but instead it’... by CogentHedgehog on Friday October 02, 2020 @09:05AM (#24662159)

Anker, Belkin, and Cable Matters cables are solid. For chargers, Anker and RavPower. Aukey can be good too.

For other brands you need to check the specs carefully to see what the rated power and transmission speeds are (and take anything from a fly-by-night brand out of China with a grain of salt).

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