Multi USB 3.0 Connections to One USB-C Port

[FreakinEurekan]

I DO NOT NEED THAT!!! As I have stated a few times, I already have a USB 3.0 hub with 8 USB ports. Getting a hub like you suggest would do nothing for my situation, as again I state, NONE of those devices have USB-C Connectors. About the only purpose it would serve is that I would be utilizing the USB-C ports n the Mini, yet that's not necessary.

Man, difficulty understanding that? Again, 1 + 1 = 2!

So... you have an 8 port hub, and a 2nd USB-A port. So you have 9 USB-A ports. How many do you need?

Assuming your hub has a cable that plugs in for its input, you could buy a USB-C version of that cable, to free up one of your built-in USB-A ports by moving your hub to USB-C. If it does unplug, it's probably USB-B 3.0 or USB Micro 3.0. Keep in mind, it's not going to work any faster if you do that. The hub's speed is what it is, changing the input cable won't make it any faster.

If there's some device that is a high-bandwidth item that you don't want to run through a hub, you could similarly buy a new cable for it (or, yes, a USB-C to USB-A adapter is a cheaper method... personally I'm moving to USB-C cables since I also have a MacBook with USB-C and it's simpler).

I'm assuming at least "Some" of your devices use a cable, and don't have a "USB-A" plug just built into them, such as a flash drive would. The connector that's on the device, will not be USB-A. It might be USB-B, or USB-C, or USB-Mini, or USB-Micro - possibly a 2.0 or 3.0 version of any of those, other than USB-C which is at least 3.0. The CABLE that connects to that device, happens to have a USB-A on the other end of it right now. If you replace the cable, you can get it with a different connector. So stating that "none of your devices have USB-C connectors" is really saying, none of your CABLES have USB-C connectors. That's simple to remedy.

 

[honestone33]

In actuality, the only USB-B peripheral that I use all the time, and is connected to the hub, is my Apple Extended keyboard. Given that my Canon printer is turned off most of the time, and the DVD drive is turned off about 99.999999% of the time, only the port for the keyboard is actively being used.

Regarding connectivity and speed, I thought I was clear. But I'll try again. In order for me to obtain USB-C speeds, 1) the device itself must have that capability (someone already pointed out that my 3 Samsung SSDs are not capable of that), 2) the enclosure would need to have a USB-C port, and 3) a USB-C to USB-C cable would be required. None of my devices nor enclosures satisfy any of those.

I do understand that I could use 1) a USB-B to USB-C cable, or 2) a USB-B to USB-C adapter, and then connect any of my devices to any of the USB-C ports on the back of the Mini. But of course none of that will get me USB-C speeds.

For now, the hub works fine, and I am good to go.

 

[Stephen.R]

USB-C speeds

the enclosure would need to have a USB-C

USB-C to USB-C cable would be required

No. USB Type-C connectors don't specify, nor do they allow a faster connection than other 'modern' USB connectors do, unless you're talking about Thunderbolt 3, or USB3.2/USB 4 (which you aren't).

USB 3.1 Gen2 Speeds (10Gbps) can be made between any of the connector types that support the 5Gbps of USB 3.0 - namely Type-A, Type-B (the larger Type-B introduced with USB 3.0 in ~2011) or Type B Micro (again, the larger Type B Micro introduced with USB 3.0) or Type-C.


For completeness: Type-B connectors of both variants are deprecated as of USB 3.2, and Type-A connectors will be deprecated as of USB 4.0.

 

[stiligFox]

Just to throw a thought in the ring - it doesn’t matter with the devices you’re using now, but keep in mind that the hub you’re using is limited to the max speed of the one Mac mini port across all of its ports.

So if you have a 4 port hub runnkng at 5GB/s on a port on your Mac, and you’re running 4 full speed USB 3 devices on it, you’re going to max out at 1.25GB/s on each of those 4 hub ports, not the full 5GB/s for each device. In this scenario it would be better to use individual USB C > USB A adapters and connect your devices directly to a single port on the Mac.

But this isn’t your use case, so it doesn’t affect you.

 

[honestone33]

No. USB Type-C connectors don't specify, nor do they allow a faster connection than other 'modern' USB connectors do, unless you're talking about Thunderbolt 3, or USB3.2/USB 4 (which you aren't).

But the 4 USB-C ports on the back of my 2018 Mac Mini are Thunderbolt 3:

Mac mini "Core i5" 3.0 (Late 2018) Specs (2018, MRTT2LL/A*, Macmini8,1, A1993, 3213): EveryMac.com

Technical specifications for the Mac mini "Core i5" 3.0 (Late 2018). Dates sold, processor type, memory info, hard drive details, price and more.

everymac.com

Hence, with the right "connectivity" (a number of pieces involved with that), I could get Thunderbolt 3 speed (or whatever the designation is of the speed associated with Thunderbolt 3).
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Just to throw a thought in the ring - it doesn’t matter with the devices you’re using now, but keep in mind that the hub you’re using is limited to the max speed of the one Mac mini port across all of its ports.

So if you have a 4 port hub runnkng at 5GB/s on a port on your Mac, and you’re running 4 full speed USB 3 devices on it, you’re going to max out at 1.25GB/s on each of those 4 hub ports, not the full 5GB/s for each device. In this scenario it would be better to use individual USB C > USB A adapters and connect your devices directly to a single port on the Mac.

But this isn’t your use case, so it doesn’t affect you.

Yes, accurately stated. But in order to get the 5 GB/s speed via the hub and its connection to one of the USB 3.1 ports on the Mini, only one device would need to be "active" when connected to the hub. As I mentioned above, for about 99% of the time, that is the case, as my Apple Extended keyboard is connected to the hub, and my Canon Printer is turned off. When the printer is on, of course, the connectivity speed for the keyboard would be less. But even in that case, I really do not see much, if any, speed degradation.