So I’m struggling to understand all the different types of usb standards like 2.0, 3.1, 3.2, 4.0, etc. I am interested in only USB c to USB c. I’ve read about higher data transfer speeds? I’m confused by what that actually means. Is that like transferring files from your laptop to an external drive? Basically sending files between devices in the network? I’ve read you can get 8k video resolution? I have no need for that.I just don’t quite know what is best for me.
I have a dell xps 13 9310 laptop and the only two ports on the laptop are usb c. I’ve had major connectivity issues after the years of wear and tear. I just had a shop replace one port, so the major plan is to get a docking station with pass through charging capabilities.
But for now, I feel so foolish I don’t even know what standard or protocol cables I need. Since all of the fancy features like video display don’t appeal to me and I never do file transfers via usb, does that mean all I need is simple usb 2.0 cables for power delivery? Do the newer 3 series standards provide more power and or helpful features? What is the best sort of cable to link my main device, my laptop, to a docking station? I need to start there to reduce wear and tear on the new usb c ports on my laptop.
Any pointers would be great, thanks
USB Type C in theory is the best connector ever, but in reality you need a dissertation to understand it completely. The transfer speed denotes the speed with which the data is able to be carried over the cable.
But generally you can group USB Type C cables in to some small groups:
First you have USB 2 dumb cables. Those are the cheapest and Support the least features. They should be able to charge with up to 60W (20V, 3A), but in the early days of usb C, there were many cables which lacked a certain resistor, which could lead to damage of PSUs or devices (and were a fire hazard as well). Data Transfer: 480Mbit/s (~40 MB/s), most likely no other features.
Then you have USB C 3.0/(3.1 Gen 1/3.2 Gen 1) Cables: Also minimum of 60W, 5Gbit/s Data Rate(~500 MB/s), Support of Alt-Modes like Display signals. USB 3.0/3.1 G1 are the same standards, the marketing gurus of the USB-IF just found the names too logical and thought that (normal) consumers should not be able to understand it.
USB C 3.2 Gen 2: Same as usb 3.1, but up to 10 Gbit/s data rate (1GB/s)
USB C 3.2 Gen 2x2: up to 20 Gbit data rate (2GB/s
USB 4: up to 40 Gbit data rate(4 GB/s), supports Thunderbolt 3 as alt mode. Thunderbolt is a protocol that confusingly uses USB C as the connector since v3. Thunderbolt supports cool stuff like 4 PCIe 3.0 Lanes (I.e to connect an external GPU to your laptop or mini PC. Thunderbolt or USB 4 Cables must support 100W charging, but they are expensive and only available in short lengths (think little more than 1m is the maximum)
Now comes the even more confusing part: every USB type C cable can come with a marker chip that can denote its charging capabilities. If a marker chip is present, then you can charge with more than 60W.
Depending on what kind of docking station you buy, you either don’t need a cable at all (because it’s built in into the docking station itself, I.e the dell USB-C docks (Cable is pretty short, think 0.5m, for the dells also non replaceable), and Lenovos docking stations also come with the cable included). You just need to make sure, that the docking station itself has enough Power Budget for your Laptop ( would not choose one with less than 60W, best would be with 90W+). Then you just need to make sure that you’re either buying a Thunderbolt Dock or a usb c dock. A normal usb c cable could cause issues with a Thunderbolt dock (but not Vise versa!)
Also check the Packaging contents, most of the time a cable is included in the box.
For power delivery you need a cable rated for it. Cables can have the same USB specification but different power limits.
Typically to charge a Laptop you want a cable rated for 60W power delivery or higher. I would just go with 100W rated cable as the price is reasonable.
Also I’ve read 5A is the better choice too, do you agree with that? And also, these cables down too right?
Yes the one I linked was 100W / 20V / 5A
What does this have to do with the selfhosted community?