How can I add an additional USB-C port?

Ed McCauley · Saturday at 5:01 AM

24H2 - Win 11 Pro

My Dell Precision 3541 Laptop has only one USB-C port. I'd like to add at least one more USB-C port so I can copy directly from one External HDD to another. I don't need any additional USB-A ports, HDMI, microcard, etc.

Can anyone recommend a specific option to accomplish this?

cereberus · Saturday at 5:07 AM

You could buy a powered usb hub but unless the main port is a thunderbolt port, do not expect very fast speeds.

CountMike · Saturday at 5:45 AM

Amazon.com

Berton · Saturday at 11:06 AM

Ed McCauley said:
My Dell Precision 3541 Laptop has only one USB-C port. I'd like to add at least one more USB-C port so I can copy directly from one External HDD to another. I don't need any additional USB-A ports, HDMI, microcard, etc.

Can anyone recommend a specific option to accomplish this?

There's not much one can do with a Notebook/Laptop in adding features, just no room. And not much one can do with ports without having to design a new case. I have Notebooks with and without the USB-C port, usually only one and the USB-A port/s may be USB 2, USB 3 or a combination of both. I use a Self-powered USB-C Hub on the workbench when needing more but also keep USB-A to USB-C adapters with me when calling on clients.

Amazon.com

Anibor_11 · Saturday at 11:47 AM

cereberus said:
You could buy a powered usb hub but unless the main port is a thunderbolt port, do not expect very fast speeds.

Even a 5G (USB 3.0 port) is fast enough for copying from one HDD to another.

antspants · Saturday at 12:07 PM

I keep a bag of these around, and one on my keyring.

USB C to USB A Adapter Type A Male to C Female Adaptor Fast Charge and Data Transfer

cereberus · Saturday at 1:18 PM

Anibor_11 said:
Even a 5G (USB 3.0 port) is fast enough for copying from one HDD to another.

That is opinion - with only one port, the port has to read and write at same time and usb 3.0 will struggle to copy files from one usb drive to another, especially if a lot of data, with small files.

However, as a laptop (as stated by others) not much else that can be done.

Ed McCauley · Saturday at 2:26 PM

cereberus said:
You could buy a powered usb hub but unless the main port is a thunderbolt port, do not expect very fast speeds.

A quick perusal online tells me that Thunderbolt is "fast", but not much else. Given my Laptop specs:
Dell Precision 3541 Laptop
Device Manager --> System Devices --> Thunderbolt(TM) 15D9
Installed Apps: Thunderbolt(TM) Control Center

would a "powered USB hub" allow me to connect two USB-C HDDs for data transfer at "high speeds"?

bobkn · Saturday at 2:57 PM

Ed McCauley said:
A quick perusal online tells me that Thunderbolt is "fast", but not much else. Given my Laptop specs:
Dell Precision 3541 Laptop
Device Manager --> System Devices --> Thunderbolt(TM) 15D9
Installed Apps: Thunderbolt(TM) Control Center

would a "powered USB hub" allow me to connect two USB-C HDDs for data transfer at "high speeds"?

According to our friends at Google, that's a Thunderbolt 3 controller. Spec'd at about 40Gbps (5GBps).

You might want a hub that can exploit that.

For comparison: USB 3.X is rated at 5Gbps. USB 3.2 Gen2 does 10Gbps. USB 3.2 Gen2X2, 20Gbps. What do you regard as "high speeds"?

antspants · Saturday at 6:54 PM

Ed McCauley said:
would a "powered USB hub" allow me to connect two USB-C HDDs for data transfer at "high speeds

There was a long discussion on hubs, powered or otherwise. I can’t find it.
Firstly, it really should be powered, you’re trying to transfer between two SSD Externals. Power will be needed.
I can tell you that not all USB hubs will take two SSD’s. I don’t care what anyone else says, I know for a fact from my personal experience. It matters which hub you buy.
Having said that, I can’t advise you on which one to buy.

I ended up getting a pack of 6 USB-C to USB-3 Adapters (as pictured above)
Transfer speeds were fine, my opinion. But I don’t sit at my laptop or PC counting the seconds it takes to transfer files. There are people here way to concerned with that stuff, I’ll never know why.

You have 2 USB3 ports from what I can tell. Would cost you under $8 for 3 (possibly more) adapters

Berton · Saturday at 7:05 PM

Ed McCauley said:

would a "powered USB hub" allow me to connect two USB-C HDDs for data transfer at "high speeds

I make no comment on the "high speeds" part but my Desktop has a Self-powered USB 3 Hub with switches for the 4 USB-A ports to turn On or Off without unplugging. I have 2 x 4TB WD HDDs, 1 x 1TB WD MyPassport plugged in plus a 2-bay drive dock, don't have any issue transferring or just accessing data on them. Using USB-A to USB-C adapters doesn't cause an issue. If anything, the number of files and their sizes can affect the speeds.

CountMike · Saturday at 10:06 PM

Problem with those hubs, powered or not, is all of it's ports share bandwidth of the port they are plugged in and each active device slows speeds of others by that much.

cheaterslick · Saturday at 10:33 PM

antspants said:
I keep a bag of these around, and one on my keyring.

View attachment 129763

USB C to USB A Adapter Type A Male to C Female Adaptor Fast Charge and Data Transfer

And there's also the opposite

UGREEN USB C to USB Adapter (2 Pack), USB C Adapter USB C Male to USB 3.0 Female Adapter

Ed McCauley · Saturday at 11:50 PM

bobkn said:
According to our friends at Google, that's a Thunderbolt 3 controller. Spec'd at about 40Gbps (5GBps).

You might want a hub that can exploit that.

For comparison: USB 3.X is rated at 5Gbps. USB 3.2 Gen2 does 10Gbps. USB 3.2 Gen2X2, 20Gbps. What do you regard as "high speeds"?

Dell Precision 3541 Laptop
Device Manager --> System Devices --> Thunderbolt(TM) 15D9
Installed Apps: Thunderbolt(TM) Control Center
Device Manager: USB 3.1 eXtensible Host Controller 1.10 Microsoft
computer case: 2 inputs are marked with the USB-SS symbol
1 inputs is marked with the USB-SS symbol followed by what looks like a battery

Q1: Do I have USB 3.1 capability, or is this using the revised naming scheme and I actually have only 3.0?
Q2: What does the above USB-SS with the battery(?) symbol port indicate?

antspants · 2025-03-30T00:14:17-0400

Ed McCauley said:
Q1: Do I have USB 3.1 capability, or is this using the revised naming scheme and I actually have only 3.0?

Yes

Precision 3541: Visual Guide to Your Computer | Dell Australia

Ed McCauley said:
Q2: What does the above USB-SS with the battery(?) symbol port indicate?

SuperSpeed USB

Ed McCauley · 2025-03-30T09:01:20-0400

antspants said:
Yes

Precision 3541: Visual Guide to Your Computer | Dell Australia
SuperSpeed US

The SS port with the battery icon also has Powershare.

Thanks for the link - this has more info than the manual I dl'd when I purchased the computer.

Ed McCauley · 2025-03-30T09:30:43-0400

bobkn said:
According to our friends at Google, that's a Thunderbolt 3 controller. Spec'd at about 40Gbps (5GBps).

You might want a hub that can exploit that.

For comparison: USB 3.X is rated at 5Gbps. USB 3.2 Gen2 does 10Gbps. USB 3.2 Gen2X2, 20Gbps. What do you regard as "high speeds"?

It seems I have 1 USB3.1 Gen2 port w/ Thunderbolt 3, and a USB-C connector; and 3 USB3.1 Gen1 ports w/USB-A connectors. Per your reply, I have 1 10Gbps port, and 3 5 Gbps ports.

Q1. My options appear to be:
1. plug the first USB-C drive into the C connector (10Gbps), and the 2nd drive into one of the USB-A connectors using an adapter
2. purchase a powered USB-C Hub with 2 USB-C connectors (assuming such a thing exists), and plug both External Drives into the Hub
Q2: Presumably, plugging 2 USB-C drives into the Hub would reduce the xfer speed in comparison to only a single drive?

In this particular instance, "High Speed" is the option with the fastest xfer speed possible, compared to an option that what will work, but at a reduced speed. That is to say, whichever of the 2 options stated above results in the fastest transfer speed.

Q3: Is there a software program that will reveal the USB version of an external HDD labelled as USB3?

How can I add an additional USB-C port?

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USB C to USB A Adapter Type A Male to C Female Adaptor Fast Charge and Data Transfer​

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USB C to USB A Adapter Type A Male to C Female Adaptor Fast Charge and Data Transfer​

UGREEN USB C to USB Adapter (2 Pack), USB C Adapter USB C Male to USB 3.0 Female Adapter​

My Computers

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Like a rolling drone.

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USB C to USB A Adapter Type A Male to C Female Adaptor Fast Charge and Data Transfer

USB C to USB A Adapter Type A Male to C Female Adaptor Fast Charge and Data Transfer

UGREEN USB C to USB Adapter (2 Pack), USB C Adapter USB C Male to USB 3.0 Female Adapter