I am using a macbook pro with one thunderbolt port. Quite a few thunderbolt devices have only a single thunderbolt port (don't support daisy chaining).
Does anyone know of a thuderbolt hub that adds additional thunderbolt ports?
If such a product does not yet exist, is it at least technically possible?
Thanks!
In theory, if a hub is available then devices should be able to be chained or connected via the hub. Thunderbolt is so new it will take time to get all the peripheral equipment available. A part of that is getting more widespread use by other equipment manufacturers than just those supporting Apple products.
Have you checked the Apple on-line store to see if they have options available?
Promise Techonologies SanLink
This should help you in daisy chaining your devices.
alexgrainger wrote:
Quite a few thunderbolt devices have only a single thunderbolt port (don't support daisy chaining).
Does anyone know of a thuderbolt hub that adds additional thunderbolt ports?
If such a product does not yet exist, is it at least technically possible?
(1) Thunderbolt does support daisy chaining up to 6 devices to the MBP's port (with some limitations). See
<http://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/io/thunderbolt/thunderbolt-technology-dev eloper.html>
<http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?path=Mac/10.7/en/mh35952.html>
<http://www.macworld.com/article/158145/2011/02/thunderbolt_what_you_need_to_know .html>
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thunderbolt_(interface)>
(2) Note that daisy chain and hub are not the same. However, my understanding is that, in principle, a Thunderbolt hub is feasible. I'm not aware if such a device is already on the market. I guess that whether or not Thunderbolt hubs will be eventually available depends on the demand.
Thanks for the tips.
Unfortunately none of the above really answers my question.
The reason a hub is needed is when you want to connect 2 devices to one thunderbolt port, where both of the devices are 'end of chain' devices i.e. they have only one thunderbolt port.
Hopefully someone will bring out a hub soon, so that we can have the flexibility of adding these devices into the same thunderbolt port, and let the hub worry about the daisy chaining.
I understand the difference between star and a linear topology. My point is a tb hub could be produce which internally uses a linear "daisy chained" config, allowing you to connect multiple end of chain tb devices to one port. I have not yet found such a product unfortnately.
Don't use more then one End Of Chain products. If you buy another device make sure it has 2 ports so it can be connected to another device. There is your hub.
Suggesting "Don't use more than one End Of Chain products" doesn't really help me. The fact is I have 2 products in this category and would like to use both simultaneouly. I can't without a hub. Such a hub doesn't seem to exist at the moment - let's home someone creates one asap, as there are a number of devices which don't support daisy chaining.
P.S. Sorry for my typos above!
Well isn't that really a manufacturers problem? The whole idea and concept of thunderbolt is to connect many devices to one port one after the other. IMHO there should not be any thunderbolt device made with only one port. That totally defaets the purpose of thunderbolt.
Good luck in your quest.
End-of-chain devices are called that because they can't be daisy-chained, and in most cases that's because they don't have any Thunderbolt port, let alone two Thunderbolt ports. My 27" non-Thunderbolt LED Cinema Display is one such device. It can go on the end of a Thunderbolt chain, but there would be no point in putting a second mini-Displayport on it, because MDP is not daisy-chainable. alexgrainger hasn't said what his two end-of-chain devices are, but I suspect there's probably a reason why they don't have two TB ports. It may just be impossible to use them both at once.
So it's NOT a thunderbolt device. Not sure that is what the OP is talking about but OK I see that problem.
Like I use the TB port for a monitor thjat is DVI input. I can't have a second Non TB device connected, like another display, because there is only one TB port on my computer.
alexgrainger wrote:
I understand the difference between star and a linear topology. My point is a tb hub could be produce which internally uses a linear "daisy chained" config
Huh?! That doesn't make sense.
You asked if a TB hub was technically possible. The answer was, yes, TB allows for such a device (supports star topology). You asked if such a device was available on the market. The answer was, so far, not to my knowledge. It wasn't the answer you wanted to hear, but facts are facts.
Your problem was that you wanted to connect multiple TB end-of-chain devices to a single TB port. That is only possible with a hub, ie, in a star topology. If a hub is not yet available on the market, your problem cannot be solved at this time. Tough, but, hey, that's life.
Shootist007 wrote:
Well isn't that really a manufacturers problem? The whole idea and concept of thunderbolt is to connect many devices to one port one after the other. IMHO there should not be any thunderbolt device made with only one port. That totally defaets the purpose of thunderbolt.
Good luck in your quest.
I agree it is a manufacturers problem. Here are just a few examples of thunderbolt devices which do not have 2 ports, and therefore currently need to be at the end of the chain:
http://www.sonnettech.com/product/echoexpresscard34thunderbolt.html
http://www.matrox.com/video/en/products/mxo2_mini/
http://www.blackmagic-design.com/products/intensity/
And if you want to add a non thunderbolt monitor (such as my 27inch 2009 imac) to the end, of cause I can't if there is already an end-of-chain device such as the Matrox MXO2, because I only have the one thunderbolt port! I would need to spend £900 on a thunderbolt monitor.
Why can't they make every thunderbolt product have 2 ports? Wouldn't that make life easier!?
It's been fun discussing. Let's see what the future brings.
This is a helpful clarification of your needs. I understand your frustration better now, and agree that it seems chintzy at best for the maker of any TB-equipped not to make it daisy-chainable unless there's some insurmountable obstacle to doing so.
There really should be multiple thunderbolt ports on the laptop or a hub available, as there are USB ports. For instance, I have a Macbook air, and I want to connect a display as well as use the thunderbolt to ethernet adapter. As it stands, I have to chose between using a display and getting faster internet speeds, which are really not good options.
How to daisy chain thunderbolt devices with only one port
