Almost all modern communication needs can be met with a wireless solution. File transfers, video streaming, peripheral connections – it can all be accomplished without a physical connection. However, ports still exist. Take a look around your home office, and you’ll probably find all sorts of cables leading to various ports: USB, HDMI, Thunderbolt, and more.
Physical connections are still the fastest and most reliable way to transfer data. It’s always important to know which cable or plug goes where and which version of cable you need to get the most out of your computer. Let’s clear things up and make room for some modern insights into old-fashioned connections.
USB
A Universal Serial Bus (USB) would be a good model for super villains around the world. He promised to conquer the world. So it was done. It took over a decade, but it happened. FireWire is basically obsolete. External SATA is almost extinct. Thunderbolt alone can present a serious challenge, but it is still years away from widespread adoption.
USB ports come in various forms, though the most common are USB-A and USB-C. USB-A is an oblong, non-rotating connector with right-angled corners, while USB-C is a newer, reversible alternative with rounded corners. Both can operate at different speeds, depending on the generation of USB technology they support. USB 2.0 is the slowest commonly found today, at just 480 Mbps.
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USB 3.0 ports, officially now known as USB 3.2 gen 1 (we know, it’s confusing), are often USB-A type and are blue to distinguish them from USB 2.0 and other ports. USB 3.2 Gen 1 ports can run up to 5000 Mbps or 5 Gbps.
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USB 3.1 (officially USB 3.2 Gen 2) is even faster, running at up to 10 Gbps, while USB 3.2 (officially 3.2 Gen 2×2) can run up to 20 Gbps under certain circumstances.
You must plug a compatible USB 3.x device into a compatible USB 3.x port to take full advantage of its build speeds. USB is fully backward compatible, but is limited by the speed of the older generation in the chain of devices and ports.
USB 4.0, now officially known as USB4, is also on the horizon, and while it probably won’t be faster than USB 3.2 2×2, it will unify the standards to make the naming scheme less confusing and improve device compatibility. Device manufacturers will have the option to offer cross-compatibility with Thunderbolt 3.
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Thunderbolt is a new type of connection developed by Intel under the code name Light Peak. As the name suggests, Thunderbolt was initially intended to be an optical connection capable of 10 Gbit/s (nearly double the bandwidth of USB 3.0). However, Intel engineers figured out how to achieve this goal using only copper wire. This made Thunderbolt cheaper and gave it the ability to deliver power, a key feature for any connection that dreams of widespread deployment.
The current main generation, Thunderbolt 3.0, uses a physical USB-C interface and is capable of data transfer rates of 40 Gbps. This connection also serves as a DisplayPort 1.2 compliant A/V connection. It is possible to daisy chain up to seven different devices (displays and peripherals) from a single Thunderbolt port, although there are limitations depending on the types of connected devices.
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You can use Thunderbolt to connect to any USB device, display, or Thunderbolt product, and it’s proven to rival USB technology in speed and versatility. However, USB 4.0 could include Thunderbolt technology, so we could see unified standards in the future.
Apple was the first to include it in production computers. Other manufacturers are beginning to follow suit, but only in high-end products. Even if it does have a port, there’s not much to hook it up to other than DisplayPort-compatible monitors and a small (but growing) selection of external hard drives.
Thunderbolt 3 is set to be replaced by the new Thunderbolt 4, which will remain a proprietary connection that will interface directly with USB4. Thunderbolt 4 is very similar to Thunderbolt 3, but it upgrades the minimum video requirements and pushes the limits on the upper limit of data speeds. It also makes it easy for manufacturers to include Thunderbolt ports on their devices, allowing accessories with additional ports.
display port
DisplayPort was one of two A/V ports (the other being HDMI) developed in the middle of the last decade. This connection was developed specifically with computer monitors in mind and should be a complete digital replacement for DVI.
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On paper, DisplayPort is a technical masterpiece. It combines video and audio in a single connection and offers much higher bandwidth than HDMI on comparable generations. DisplayPort 1.2 was capable of handling 4K connections at 60Hz in 2010, while HDMI struggled even at 30Hz. Today, the most capable DisplayPort is version 2.0, with a maximum data transfer rate of up to 77. 3 GB per second at full capacity, which is enough for multiple 4K monitors on a single connection, or up to a 16K display with compression enabled. Like its Thunderbolt sibling, DisplayPort allows daisy chain configurations.
HDMI
High Definition Multimedia Interface (HDMI) was introduced in 2003 as a replacement for all previous A/V connections. It is designed to be an all-in-one cable, combining uncompressed audio and video for maximum image quality. It has largely succeeded in this end, becoming the most common connection for PCs and game consoles around the world.
This connection can handle audio and video with a single cable. Even better, the connector is slim and flat, making HDMI great for laptops and other small systems.
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Despite being technically inferior to DisplayPort in some ways, HDMI is more than adequate for most users. It is a simple and straightforward plugin that can handle high screen resolutions. Its drawbacks, such as the inability to chain and shorter cable length, are generally not a cause for concern. The latest generation, HDMI 2.1, has also made great strides in closing the performance gap with DisplayPort, making the new generation HDMI 2.1 devices more than capable of handling high-resolution, high-refresh-rate content.
ethernet
Wi-Fi may be the most popular way to connect to the Internet, but when it comes to faster speeds and reliability, Ethernet still reigns supreme. This simple connector, which looks a bit like a phone jack, has served the needs of networks for three decades.
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Ethernet is most often used to connect to the Internet, but it won’t make your connection any faster if you have a decent Wi-Fi network. that that can do, but make data transfer on the local network much faster, supported on some devices up to 10 Gbit.
Ethernet is also more reliable, making it easier to connect from the other side of thick walls or when other Wi-Fi networks are flooding your radio waves. It is also more private. It is much more difficult to spy on an Ethernet connection than a wireless one.
Today’s Ethernet cables are generally known as Gigabit Ethernet, which means they are rated for speeds of at least 1 Gbps (and often much higher). Ethernet cables are divided by Cat or Category, so when you search for them you will see options like Cat 6, Cat 6a, Cat 7, etc. Ethernet standards have gotten a bit confusing about Cat 6 and Cat7, but these days if you’re going to buy a new Ethernet cable, you should stick to the latest Cat 8 standard, a shielded cable with maximum speeds of up to 40 Gbps over 30 meters and a maximum bandwidth of 2000 MHz.
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