I have spent months trying to get something that works. Read through tons of postings and product reviews. Thought I would summarize and save someone else some trouble,
Challenge: Wanted a hub for my M1 Studio Max that had USB C and USB A ports that worked with 10 GBps NVMe external enclosures at 10 GBps. Wanted also something to be able to power the USB C ports at 3A and the USB A ports at 1.5A. PD not required.
Considerations: Understand that a thunderbolt hub at 40GBps would allow me to transfer files from one NVMe enclosure to another at the full 10 GBps for each, but a USB C hub would be limited to a total of 10 GBps, so could only copy 1 device at 10 GBps.
Issue:
1) tried the caldigit USB 4 elements hub because it has 3 TB3 and 4 10 GBps USB A ports. That seemed the best solution based on specs.
But I found tons of compatibility problems with first enclosures and then cables. The USB NVMe enclosures use 3 types of controller chips: JM583, RTL9201 and ASM, in order of how often used in enclosures. The JM583 has quite a few compatibility issues, that are mostly resolved with the most recent firmware updates. Finding and applying the updates is not for the weak willed because vendors dont usually provide them so you need to search the internet and translate french to apply on a windows machine. Once you go thru all that, it works. The RTL9210 is less problematic out of the box, but you will still need to apply updates, not for stability, but if you want trim to work. The nicest USB enclosure for a reasonable price is the Sabrent. After that, you will need a cable. Almost all cables that are USB c to USB C tend to work ok. But if you want to use the USB A ports on the cal digit, most USB C to USB A cables dont work. They hang, slow down and hang or just dont even work on the Cal digit. I tried many many cables and out of 10 cables, I only found 1 that worked reliably. The only other combo that worked reliably was to use a USB C to USB C cable and then an active USB C to USB A adapter. I could not understand what the issue was. So I went and bought a dedicated USB C powered hub next.
2) Tried a Juiced Systems USB C Vertexhub. This has 4 USB C, 4 USB A powered ports. I connected it via a Belkin 10 GBps cable to another hub to my Studio Max. The USB C ports worked fine, but the USB A ports were again problematic, dependent on the cable used. It was more sensitive to the cable compared to the caldigit. Where the caldigit would transfer slowly, the vertexhub would simply hang. I even bought a vertexhub cable USB C to USB A and even then, sometimes it would work and sometimes not. I moved the vertexhub to my intel mac mini 2018. If a cable would work in the Studio Max system, it would work on the mac mini even faster. But if it didnt work on the Studio max, it wouldnt work on the mac mini. I combed all the reviews of hubs on Amazon and one intrigued me based on one review. So I bought the SSK SC109.
3) Tried a SSK SC109 4 port hub. It is not a powered hub. It advertises USB 3.2 10 GBPs. I think it uses the Via VL822 chip. Several things to note with this. On system report, USB, it shows up as "USB3 Gen2 Hub". No other hubs above show this. The caldigit shows as USB 3.0 hub @ 10 GBps, for example. This little and cheap hub works at 10Gbps, is faster than the others. With the good cable, it is faster. With the cables that didnt work earlier, they work with this SSk , albeit at slower speeds. e.g. instead of 900MB/sec transfer read speed, a cable that hung worked at 350MB/sec. So this little hub was the fastest and least sensitive to cables!
Bottom line - If you want to get 10 GBps, avoid as much as possible USB C to USB A cables, and use USB C to USB C cables. If you must have USB A ports, find a hub that uses a VIA Vl822 chip. And test any new cable rigorously. I usually first use Blackmagic disk test and then if it passes that, I use CCCloner to do a sustained write and monitor the speed. I have had cables that after 20 min, overheated and hung.
Challenge: Wanted a hub for my M1 Studio Max that had USB C and USB A ports that worked with 10 GBps NVMe external enclosures at 10 GBps. Wanted also something to be able to power the USB C ports at 3A and the USB A ports at 1.5A. PD not required.
Considerations: Understand that a thunderbolt hub at 40GBps would allow me to transfer files from one NVMe enclosure to another at the full 10 GBps for each, but a USB C hub would be limited to a total of 10 GBps, so could only copy 1 device at 10 GBps.
Issue:
1) tried the caldigit USB 4 elements hub because it has 3 TB3 and 4 10 GBps USB A ports. That seemed the best solution based on specs.
But I found tons of compatibility problems with first enclosures and then cables. The USB NVMe enclosures use 3 types of controller chips: JM583, RTL9201 and ASM, in order of how often used in enclosures. The JM583 has quite a few compatibility issues, that are mostly resolved with the most recent firmware updates. Finding and applying the updates is not for the weak willed because vendors dont usually provide them so you need to search the internet and translate french to apply on a windows machine. Once you go thru all that, it works. The RTL9210 is less problematic out of the box, but you will still need to apply updates, not for stability, but if you want trim to work. The nicest USB enclosure for a reasonable price is the Sabrent. After that, you will need a cable. Almost all cables that are USB c to USB C tend to work ok. But if you want to use the USB A ports on the cal digit, most USB C to USB A cables dont work. They hang, slow down and hang or just dont even work on the Cal digit. I tried many many cables and out of 10 cables, I only found 1 that worked reliably. The only other combo that worked reliably was to use a USB C to USB C cable and then an active USB C to USB A adapter. I could not understand what the issue was. So I went and bought a dedicated USB C powered hub next.
2) Tried a Juiced Systems USB C Vertexhub. This has 4 USB C, 4 USB A powered ports. I connected it via a Belkin 10 GBps cable to another hub to my Studio Max. The USB C ports worked fine, but the USB A ports were again problematic, dependent on the cable used. It was more sensitive to the cable compared to the caldigit. Where the caldigit would transfer slowly, the vertexhub would simply hang. I even bought a vertexhub cable USB C to USB A and even then, sometimes it would work and sometimes not. I moved the vertexhub to my intel mac mini 2018. If a cable would work in the Studio Max system, it would work on the mac mini even faster. But if it didnt work on the Studio max, it wouldnt work on the mac mini. I combed all the reviews of hubs on Amazon and one intrigued me based on one review. So I bought the SSK SC109.
3) Tried a SSK SC109 4 port hub. It is not a powered hub. It advertises USB 3.2 10 GBPs. I think it uses the Via VL822 chip. Several things to note with this. On system report, USB, it shows up as "USB3 Gen2 Hub". No other hubs above show this. The caldigit shows as USB 3.0 hub @ 10 GBps, for example. This little and cheap hub works at 10Gbps, is faster than the others. With the good cable, it is faster. With the cables that didnt work earlier, they work with this SSk , albeit at slower speeds. e.g. instead of 900MB/sec transfer read speed, a cable that hung worked at 350MB/sec. So this little hub was the fastest and least sensitive to cables!
Bottom line - If you want to get 10 GBps, avoid as much as possible USB C to USB A cables, and use USB C to USB C cables. If you must have USB A ports, find a hub that uses a VIA Vl822 chip. And test any new cable rigorously. I usually first use Blackmagic disk test and then if it passes that, I use CCCloner to do a sustained write and monitor the speed. I have had cables that after 20 min, overheated and hung.