High-quality USB hubs and docking stations do not reduce the data transfer rate from Time Taggers to the PC. We conducted tests using both a USB hub (MCD Elektronik GmbH, model: USB 3.0 HUB 6 ) and a docking station ( Lenovo ThinkPad Tunderbolt 4 Docking Station ) to connect the Time Tagger X to a PC. In both cases, we found that the transfer rate was similar to that of the Time Tagger X when it was directly connected to the computer.
However, it’s important to keep in mind that this might not be the case if other devices are connected to the same hub and are also streaming data at the same time, such as an HD camera.
In cases where multiple devices need to be connected to the same USB hub, e.g., Time Taggers, scientific cameras, laser controllers, etc, using a Thunderbolt 4 docking station is advisable. It offers 40 Gbps of dynamically allocated bandwidth, compared to the 5 Gbps of standard USB 3.