What’s a good budget docking station. It needs to be able to plug into two monitors and have a decent amount of ports. I feel like it doesn’t matter if they are expensive or cheap they just usually don’t work great and break easily. The reviews are also terrible every where I look.
The HP USB-C Gen5 Docks are okay. They sometimes get stuck in a half-state where one needs to pull the plug on them.
In case the cable breaks, one screw at the rear back removes the bottom cover, two more release the internal cable clamp. Any C-C cable works as a replacement.
8/10
Tested with a Steamdeck and recent-ish Dell as well as HP, works.
The j5create USB-C Dual HDMI Mini Dock is a solid budget option.
Are there also some docking stations where the cable can be easily replaced? I need one with more then 1m. I have one docking station from Lenovo (ThinkPad Universal USB-C Dock (40AY)), but there you can plugin only cables with small headers.
With 2 DP ports und maybe 10Gbit Ethernet that works on Linux out of the box?
You could take a look at the OWC Thunderbolt 5 Dual 10GbE Network Dock. It uses a regular detachable USB-C/Thunderbolt cable, so you can easily swap in something longer than 1 m.
All you need to know if it works on linux or not is to check if it is labeled as “supported on linux” because if it does, the drivers are in the kernel and everything is just plug and play.
ALWAYS BUY A DOCK WITH LINUX SUPPORT IF USING IT ON LINUX!
HP USB-C Dock G5 (tested working with a Steam Deck) can do this.
There is one screw in the bottom to take off the bottom cover, then two more screws on a cable clamp that retain the USB-C cable to the internal USB-C host-port.
Seen here:
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UNIVERSAL COMPATIBILITY - Works with USB-C and Thunderbolt enabled laptops from HP and other manufacturers; Supports Windows, MacOS, Chrome OS
HP does not provide drivers for linux. Just because it works, does not mean it will work flawless in all situations.
I repeat, if you are going to use it on linux and do not want to rely on reverse engineered drivers, you should choose a docking station that has support for linux where the manufacturers provide drivers for linux.
I am almost certain that the docking-station-hardware situation is almost the same as document scanner hardware: There is two or three chipsets, and if they work, they work.
Currently I have a ThinkPad dock which works well under Windows and Linux, with ThinkPads and Dell Latitudes. Back during the pandemic I had a Kwnsington Thunderbolt SD5550T Dock:
It gave up the ghost after over 3 years of usage, otherwise I was very satisfied with it.
Really, what do you base that on? Your imagination?
Stop spreading disinformation and confirmation biased opinions.
Use hardware where the manufacturers support the platform you are going to use it on, very simple.
Show us on the doll where they hurt you …
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Ok, please link a dock that works on all platforms and fully supported on Linux or for each platform.
The person hurting is you, you are giving really bad advice, and I called you out for it.
Stop acting like a child.
No, do your own research in that matter.
It’s very easy:
- Check product specification
- Look for supported platforms and verify linux is a supported platform.
I spent 20 seconds on a websearch, newegg seams to have a whole bunch of them.
https://www.newegg.com/p/pl?d=linux+laptop+dock
Docking stations are fickle devices. What makes you think that if the manufacturer says it’s Linux compatible it’s going to work in all situations?
By the way a bunch of the docks I. Your link ( I didn’t check all of them,) are explicitly not compatible with Linux probably because they use display link. (Which is awful and I wouldnt recommend) If you are going to be this adamant then you better check if you are right.
What are you fighting about? The thread is just looking for recommendations and discussions about docks.
No they are not, they are just plug and play with no problems at all.
But you probably think that because you use linux with unsupported hardware.
Because THEY PROVIDE SUPPORT FOR IT.
I’m “fighting” because I see someone giving a new linux user really bad advice so I step in with correct information.
What kind of mental gymnastics are you trying here?? Just fkn stop with this stupidity.
Are you also claiming “using memory support list when combining motherboard/cpu/memory is just a suggestion”?!?
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I have given no advice to you or in this thread.
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Lighten up Francis
Ah, so you have zero valuable input? Then stop commenting with nonsense like “hOw Do YoU kNoW tHe SuPpOrTeD hArDwArE wOrKs” & “provide links for me because I can not use google myself”.
If me having WAY more knowledge than you, I suggest you go learn instead of telling people who know what they are talking about to “calm down”. 
Again that wasn’t me there slappy. You may have slight reading comprehension problem there, though I figured maybe the pictures next to the names may help.
edited to add: and you may want to consider calming down
Ah, my bad, I now realize there are multiple people not understanding what SUPPORTED HARDWARE means.
So what is the value in anything you have posted in this thread?
Answer: absolutely nothing other than arguing against “supported hardware should be used”.