Lately I've been wondering whether a simple USB C hub can provide a wired connection for a phone or tablet to the internet, and whether it can handle multiple storage media or USB to UART converters at the same time. These types of capabilities will allow you to revive a tablet with broken Wi-Fi and turn it into your own home automation controller, and without worrying about the failure of the wireless connection. And maybe you can even connect a monitor? Let's find out!
I bought the first better (actually, cheaper) USB C splitter, model BYL-2009 from Zenwire. It is advertised as 8-in-1 - Ethernet, microSD card, SD, TF, four USB (including two C) and one HDMI. The whole thing also supports PD up to 100 W.
Tests with Xiaomi
I verified the hub with my old Xiaomi 11T phone - depending on the phone model, you may get different results. I used the Ultimate USB app to verify.
First a control test - 0 USB devices without the hub:
Now with hub:
The phone already sees the network controller - RTL8152, but will it work? I disabled the Wi-Fi before the test.
Internet is working - now maybe check the storage media.
The memory stick is correctly seen and its contents are available on the phone.
It remains to check the USB to UART converters - one converter, the number of devices found increases by 1, the device is correctly recognised as CH340:
The second converter, CP210x, is also correctly seen:
In summary , I was able to run on this hub:
- wired internet access
- access to storage
- access to USB to UART converters (two types I checked)
My phone could not cope with:
- hDMI monitor
Your results may vary slightly, but I can still say here that there is as much potential as possible to convert the tablet into a controller for some kind of home automation or IoT devices.
PS: I have already tested the support of USB to UART converters from within the app - this is also possible, you can receive and send packets normally. I will present this in a separate topic. The charging issue will still have to be tested, but interestingly enough I have already seen separate adapters for this - the so-called "OTG charger splitter", although often these are not even needed at all.
Have you used USB splitters in the way I have shown?
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