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So how long can a USB-C cable be? USB-IF, which is the USB Implementers Forum, has guidelines on USB cable length (Table 3-1, pg. 37, pictured below) based on the transfer rate. It dictates that USB 3.1 Gen 1 (5 Gbps) cables should be at most 2 meters, while USB 3.1 Gen 2 (10 Gbps) cables can reach up to 1 meter. That’s around 3 feet. Though not widely used for data transfer, USB 2.0 cables can be up to 4m long due to their slow transfer rate of 480 Mbps. It’s also important to note that the USB-C port in your laptop may be much more than a USB port. That’s because of the fact that there are other standards that use the USB-C connector - namely, Thunderbolt 3. While we’re specifically discussing USB cables here, we’ll also go into the maximum length of a Thunderbolt 3 cable. How long can a USB-C cable be?
Obviously, as a charge cable it’s terrible for data transfer and can’t drive Thunderbolt devices nor your monitor, but as a charging cable it’s excellent. Keep in mind that the hub’s power port is for taking power into your laptop, and not outto a phone. But your hub may still be able to charge your phone, with some caveats. A “bus-powered” USB hub connects to your laptop and pulls power from it, which it has share with several devices—and it won’t do it that well. Before we dive into the actual maximum length of a USB-C cable, it’s important to note what USB-C actually is. USB-C isn’t really a standard of USB data transfer. Instead, it’s a standard of connector - and usually, that connector uses the USB 3.1 standard but can carry other standards as well. Depending on the capabilities needed, the maximum length may change. In the end, Apple’s USB-C Charge Cable won us over and is actually our recommended cable for those who want a big name on the box and intend to use it for mostly charging. When we say the box, we mean it, because Apple oddly doesn’t include any branding on the cable itself, which is a mistake because you just might mix it up with a lousy cable. Of course, you may be wondering what actually happens if a cable is too long. The reality is that you may have cables that are too long without ever even realizing it – especially if you really only use your cables for charging. Most USB-C/ Thunderbolt 3 cables can support 60W charging up to 4m with no problem. A cable with an electronic marker can even support charging up to 100W.We then looked at how fast the cable would charge and transfer data, and whether it supported an alternate mode to run a monitor, using real-world hardware.
For charging speeds we recorded the maximum wattage at which the cable could charge an Asus ROG Strix 15 gaming laptop over its USB-C port using USB-Power Delivery with an Aukey 100 watt USB-PD charger as the source while the laptop was under load.USB-PD today is limited to 100 watts (with a 240-watt spec on the way). Any USB-C to USB-C cable should handle 3 ampsat 20 volts, or 60 watts.All of the USB-C to USB-C cables fell into the standard 60-watt or 100-watt camps. For Thunderbolt 3, generally speaking, the maximum length of a passive Thunderbolt 3 cable is around 0.8 meters at maximum 40Gbps bandwidth or 2 meters with 20Gbps bandwidth. What happens if a cable is too long? We looked at how SD cards were inserted—you’d be surprised how many don’t work unless they’re inserted upside down! We conducted standardized tests to transfer a file from the SSD to the laptop; from the hard drive to the SSD; and then from an SD card to the PC, while simultaneously transferring files from the hard drive to the SSD. In some cases we used AJA’s System Tool app to run read and write tests on connected drives. In almost all cases, the performance was identical, with a spread of about 3 percent—good news for you, as that’s one less thing to worry about.Lasuney’s 10-in-1 hub (two USB 3.0 ports, two USB 2.0 ports, two HDMI 1.2 ports (4K@30Hz), DisplayPort gigabit ethernet, microSD/SD, USB-C power input) offers a lot for your money, including an unusual mix of not one, but two HDMI ports, and even a DisplayPort. Thanks to ethernet support, the hub can replace many of your wired connections. Power input is rated at 100W in, with about 87W available to the laptop. Long USB-C cables that come with a carrying wrap like the Anker Powerline+ are ideal for travel, but when you're looking for a long cable to snake from the wall plug to your bed, you'll want the rugged reliability of Uni's Type-C Charging Cable, which also has the benefit of coming in a 15-foot option if you need the absolute longest cable you can without giving up charging speeds. Some USB-C cables feature a chip or e-Marker that contains information the device reads. This two meter cable’s e-Marker is incorrect. Still, for Windows laptops, MacBook, and Chromebook users who only need a couple of reliable ports, this makes it onto our list of best USB-C hubs.
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