USB-C cable recommendation

Hello,

Does anyone know a GOOD USB-C cable?

I have a USB-C dock/dongle that have a USB-C cable sticking out of it, the dock itself is OK but the cable is short… so I wanted to just buy extension cable, and I bought two so far, both of them don’t work - I have the display signal and charging, but the devices plugged in to the dock are not showing up.

Here’s my dmesg when I plugged in the dock using the extension cable:

[210670.217388] usb 1-2: device descriptor read/64, error -71
[210670.337496] usb usb1-port2: attempt power cycle
[210671.047414] usb 1-2: new high-speed USB device number 61 using xhci_hcd
[210671.047541] usb 1-2: Device not responding to setup address.
[210671.267570] usb 1-2: Device not responding to setup address.
[210671.487362] usb 1-2: device not accepting address 61, error -71
[210671.637412] usb 1-2: new high-speed USB device number 62 using xhci_hcd
[210671.637546] usb 1-2: Device not responding to setup address.
[210671.857568] usb 1-2: Device not responding to setup address.
[210672.077532] usb 1-2: device not accepting address 62, error -71
[210672.077660] usb usb1-port2: unable to enumerate USB device

Any ideas?
I don’t want to be forced to buy a new dock just because some retard thought that fusing it with a super short cable is a good idea.

P.S

I start to think that USB-C is worse than having separate display cables and data ones, a few years ago a cable transmitting a digital signal either worked or not. Now we have cables everywhere on the working-not working spectrum and you have to know which one is the right one.

how long are the cables you are adding? how long is the docks cable?

maybe its out of spec / has weak signal

The dock cable is like 10-15 cm. Not longer.

And the extension cables, the first one I bought was 1m, the one I tried now is 2m (and labeled as 3.1 Gen 1 5Gbps)

I had a similar issue with my Lenovo usb-c dock. Went through a couple of cheapo cables before I looked at a thunderbolt 3 cable. It is pin compatible but higher quality than a simple usb-c cable.

Mine was a Dell branded cable but when it arrived it was the same OEM as the original Lenovo cable, just longer. Wouldn’t recommend more than 2 metres though.

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You see, the problem here is that I cant just buy a Type-C to Type-C cable, I have to use Type-C to Female Type-C cable.

Finding a cable that is good quality in this exact configuration is quite problematic.

Cookies good job on the edit, but no need to take that tone with someone trying to help

What is the USB 3/Thunderbolt 3 version of your dock, depending on that it could be nigh on impossible for you to get it working.

Also regarding your PS this isn’t necessarily a problem with the type C standard but more so with the botched way of the USB 3.X naming scheme and hopefully that will change soon once USB4 gets widely adopted.

Manufacturer claims it to be 3.1… I don’t know which gen, I would have to google the exact model number, if I remembered it.

I ordered another USB-C Cable, this time male-male and a USB-C (fem-fem) coupler… I didn’t know those were even a thing. But it’s ~8 days before I even get those so I’m still looking for “better” solutions.

I’m kinda mad that I don’t have a soldering iron because I could take that dock/dongle apart and just replace the cable.

I hope USB4 does something with the cable standards… like not allowing to market a cable as USB4 when it’s not gonna allow for the transfer speeds of USB4… however I’m nearly sure that this time it’ll be confused with thunderbolt all the time.

Have you tried a powered usb hub? not sure if it would work but might give you the extra length. Honestly I would just make the other cables longer (ones off the dock, so you cna place it closer to end device) / get a new hub.

No I haven’t, and I dont have any powered hub on hand to test it. However, I dont think you understand how my “setup” is connected, I have a 65W USB-C laptop charger plugged into the dock, and it powers the USB ports even when the laptop is not plugged in on the other end (I tested it many times).
I dont think there’s any chance I could get more power into it… and that dock had things plugged in directly into it, when I use the extension cable my mouse lights up and just stays this way for some time and then it turns the lights off.

You are trying to just make the cable to the dock longer no? (with the hub you would probably lose the power from the dock)

Yeah OK this claim seems to be like everything regarding USB 3.X, meaning just put a name on it and call it a day.

I have just looked at the Type C specification, and first of all let me state that I am by no means an expert, but just a nerd with too much time on her hand. So looking at the spec, your use case seems to be non standard, meaning there is no official specification for a type C plug to type C receptacle cable. So unfortunately everything that is on the market is kind of meh.
So as bullshit as it is your only course of action, if you want a stable connection, would be to buy a new dock. (Long live planned obsolescence :woman_facepalming:t2:)

As of the confusion with TB3 this doesn’t seem to be a problem, at least until they decide that they need to continue with their confusing naming scheme. But both electrical standards are interoperable and the cable constraints, meaning mostly length are similar to the same. So hopefully once USB4 is penetrating the market this whole thing can be forgotten.

So tldr: I don’t think there is a way to extend your cable disregarding the option of putting another dock between your dock and the laptop, which would most probably be as costly as just buying a new dock with all the things you need.

Yes.

USB 4 wanted to merge some of thunderbolt functionality into it… didn’t it?
Wait for USB-C cables marked as “USB-C 3.1 cable works with USB 4!”


Now onto my update on this story:

Cheap ~1m female USB-C to male USB-C cable doesn’t work correctly (I dont remember if I got only display or only devices at this point)
A bit more expensive, ~0.5m female USB-C to male USB-C cable doesn’t work correctly (I dont remember if I got only display or only devices at this point)

Also another of my threads, this exact problem basically. But then I just gave up.

Now for the combo of normal USB-C cable and female USB-C to female USB-C “bridge” I bought.

One of the ends connects to the dock and the other end to the normal cable. Shouldn’t be a problem, right? It is a problem.

Cheap USB-C cable that I don’t think even claimed anything (I bought it to use with my USB-C powerbank) lets me charge the laptop and use USB devices, no display signal.

Baseus 1m breaded USB-C cable with claims of 10Gbps transmission, 4K@60Hz and 100W charging works the same way as the aforementioned no-name cheap cable in this configuration.

!


Moral of the story:

Don’t ever buy, under any circumstances, USB-C docks, dongles, anything, that has a cable fused forever into it.

I have 45 USD (excluding shipping) worth of USB-C cables right now.

P.S
Not marking as solved because throwing away the dock is not a solution.

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