Compatibility check for new setup

[Invincible Sugar]

Hi guys! I'd like to start by saying this proposal might seem odd, but I have very specific needs. I don't want to get into details, but my use case and internet options where I live dictate this proposal more than cost for hardware or value per dollar. I'm open to advice on parts but really, I know my niche needs well, I'm just worried about compatibility. 

 

I just bought a customized ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 8. It will arrive in mid December, and it includes the i7-10510U option with 16 GB RAM and the Fibocom L850-GL 4G LTE CAT9 chip/modem. My goal is to replace my current desktop PC with this laptop in a docked setup. I realize it's a downgrade in specs (my desktop has a Intel Core i5 6500 with 48 GB of RAM and a EVGA GTX 1070) but as I said, I have niche needs and performance is not my largest concern.

 

I need a docking setup with the following:

• 3 iGPU powered external displays
• 2 Dasiychained Thunderbolt 3 eGPUs
• At least one USB 3.0 A port
• Power to the laptop, 65W minimum

I want to run at least 7 displays off this laptop when docked, maybe more if the laptop can handle it. If possible, I'd also like one cable into the laptop to handle it all. I should be able to do that with dasiychanining as long as the first in the chain is the one providing the 65W power to the laptop. I know from docking with my current Thunderbolt 3 laptop things can get weird if handshakes fail or whatever, because it worked fine at first, but over time things misbehave sometimes, it will just not notice I plugged in the dock, etc.

 

This is my proposed setup:

This dock plugged directly into the laptop via USB C thunderbolt 3

This eGPU enclosure with this GPU plugged in as the 2nd daisychained Thunderbolt 3 device

This eGPU enclosure with this GPU plugged in as the 3nd daisychained Thunderbolt 3 device

This iGPU driven display adapter as the 4th and final daisychained device, with two of these adapters plugged into it.

 

Will that work? I don't care that the eGPUs are low power. I'm not a gamer, I have niche needs. On paper, I think all this stuff should work over one Thunderbolt 3 cable, the 40 GB/s and 4 PCI lanes should suffice for all this, since the iGPU and eGPUs are all just powering extra displays for basic text and web browsing, not gaming or video rendering or anything intense. The laptop does have two Thunderbolt 3 ports but I would really like to just have just one cable for it all.

 

Also, while I will have USB devices in this setup including a few HDDs I just need it to work, I don't really care if my USB 3.0 HDD isn't running at its full 5 GBPS because the bandwidth of the single type C cable is being split by so many things. As long as it works I'm happy. And again, I could use both ports on the laptop, I just don't want to if I can get away with it. I'm not even sure if the laptop would do any better, it might not be able to do a combined 80 GBPS with both ports splitting the docked setup anyhow.

 

Will this combination work? Thanks so much for reading!

[emosun]

9 minutes ago, Invincible Sugar said:

I have niche needs

well.......

Everyone here is gonna need to probably know why your extremely expensive solution to an issue that was solved at airports with cheap office hardware 20 years ago is such a necessity. Because in all honesty your solution exceeds the cost of the proposed laptop you're using , it's overly complicated , it highly relies on proprietary hardware somehow staying operating with constantly changing proprietary software , and relies on a single machine to do two different tasks vs actually using the correct hardware for the correct job in the first place.

So what on earth is so important that requires a laptop to be docked to 7 janky monitors vs any other easier solution?

[Invincible Sugar]

1 minute ago, emosun said:

So what on earth is so important that requires a laptop to be docked to 7 janky monitors vs any other easier solution?

Alright, fair enough.

 

I don't need 7 displays, but my current desktop this is replacing powers 7 displays confidently. I already use my existing thunderbolt 3 laptop to power 5 more displays and a Samsung S10 with DeX for another screen.

 

I work with artists for my web comic website. I like having a lot of monitors, so I can have many things open at once. I only need 4 monitors to comfortably work, but over time I've added more and gotten used to working with many.

 

Having three or four screens each on a different Discord server or channel, so I can moderate my fans chatting and chat with artists over Discord DMs at the same time. Keeping two Twitter screens open, sometimes split side by side on one monitor, for watching notifications and DMs from artists and fans. Having a few screens on Fiverr, to compare gigs and art styles when looking for new talent to hire. Having Photoshop open, and full screen references of characters on a screen next to it, for drawing or editing artist work with text, titles, touchups, etc. A screen, usually DeX, just for YouTube. It's not necessary but I work most efficiency this way.

 

As it is, I don't like having two PCs and a phone in the setup. Sure, I can press a button to change which system I'm controlling with my mouse/keyboard, but files aren't shared automatically, clipboards aren't, and I've tried that before but it's hard when both PCs are on different internet connections.

 

My internet is the biggest issue. My only home internet option is slow DSL, which doesn't even reach my room with the proprietary carrier provided modem router combo. Even when it can through wifi boosters or repeaters, it's too slow to use the way I need. Maybe 5 Mbps down and worse, maybe 0.5 Mbps up.

 

I need LTE for internet. Non-negotiable. I keep one laptop on Sprint and the other on T-Mobile. Even though they've merged on a corporate/accounting level, network wise they are still separate and distinct networks with two separate towers of separate speeds and congestion where I live. Staying stationary in my bedroom without moving any large objects around Sprint is usually faster for uploads but sometimes it's T-Mobile. This rural town I'm in is also very close to a major tourist destination, with same town named hotels here, so congestion and speeds are highly variable and having two separate Network options is critical.

 

They do make LTE USB modems, I own a ethernet based Netgear LTE modem with a nice MIMO 2x2 antenna. It's not the best antenna but it certainly better than anything I can hope to find in a laptop. But I rarely use it because T-Mobile, Sprint, Verizon, and AT&T all offer capped data plans only for hotspots and LTE modems. I use hundreds of GBs a month, it would cost +$1000 a month to do that with an external hotspot or modem.

 

Phone hotspots are possible, but are also limited to so many GB on every plan, or limited by speed (like Visible which is unlimited but capped at the same 5 Mbps my DSL can provide). The cheapest and fastest option is to use an unlimited data tablet plan direct with a carrier. The T-Mobile ONE Tablet plan in my current thunderbolt 3 laptop as the second SIM option is $12.50/mo and will be going in this new X1 Carbon laptop because it's less picky about what qualifies as a tablet. Others on the T-Mobile subreddit have confirmed the Fibocom chip in this laptop works just fine with the T-Mobile ONE Tablet SOC I have on my plan for $12.50/mo and won't be considered a TOS violation or get capped to 600 Kbps as they do with hotspots put on unlimited tablet plans. It will work just fine, and as long as I keep my usage under 2TB a month it won't trigger any phone calls from T-Mobile asking me what's going on. The most I've used on one line so far is 850 GB so I think I can keep under their "suspicious use limit".

 

My current Sprint postpaid unlimited tablet plan for $15/mo is more picky, my current HP Folio will work because it folds into a tablet and Sprint has whitelisted it as a tablet. It would be better to have the Sprint plan on the new X1 Carbon because the Sprint plan is usually faster here, T-Mobile is usually more congested with slower upload speeds, but Sprint won't let me do that and T-Mobile is still usually faster than the DSL at home.

 

There you go. The work I do at home benefits from many displays, the benefit decreases with each additional screen and I'm pretty much at my limit, I could go with fewer screens, but I've gotten comfortable with my current setup and would prefer to not reduce the number of screens. My very specific internet options dictate that I must use a laptop computer with native built-in LTE, and this new laptop fits that need while also having a x86 CPU with full Windows 10. That's a very rare combination, most current offerings with LTE and Windows 10 use arm CPUs which will not work efficiently enough with photoshop, something I use heavily.

 

Nothing about this is perfect. even if the thunderbolt 3 daisy chain setup is fully compatible I will still have to deal with the fact that I have two different computers which are not automatically synchronizing files because even if I wanted to the Internet is just not strong enough to do that plus my normal workload, and I'll have to deal with the fact that windows LTE drivers for x86 processors suck, even when my coverage is fine my laptop will randomly forget that it has the option to connect to LTE and will insist that there is no internet, interrupting whatever I'm doing. It may take multiple restarts before it wakes up and remembers that it has that option.

 

But at least now I will have two different laptops instead of one with their own cellular internet, so if I want to leave my computer at home using its superior cellular internet over my home DSL to upload large files or something I will still have a different laptop I can take with me on the go.

 

I don't doubt this was a bit verbose, but even if I shrunk it to the most efficient message I could there's a lot to unpack here, which is why I tried to limit it to "my needs are niche." Sorry about that. Hope this helps.

[emosun]

if your laptop with lte picks up the internet then why not just do a pass through to the rest of your machines from the laptop?

Also , you can sync files between the machines locally you dont have to use the internet , just host the files on one machine and edit them from whatever other machine you want.

I'll be honest , theres really no chance that I'd ever recommend you attempt the setup you posted above. I'd sooner tell you to USE A DESKTOP with a few gpu's as thats gonna be far more reliable and simple. Can have basically 12 displays on a single desktop so long as you had 4 pci-e slots open. and or 2 slots with two 6 port gpu's.

The root of your problem seems to be more related to lack of internet connectivity passthrough from the devices that you actually do have connectivity with , and lack of a regular router to connect your machines to each other to share your project files locally between them.

Those are actually much more resonable issues to have vs trying to buy a ton of docks and somehow make this laptop work.

[Invincible Sugar]

10 minutes ago, emosun said:

if your laptop with lte picks up the internet then why not just do a pass through to the rest of your machines from the laptop?

Doesn't work. Using cellular unlimited data plans I have to do all the, internet use, on one device. There is no way to share the data connection with a desktop without it being considered hotspot use, which is slow or by the gig on every plan of every carrier, or violating the TOS with your provider. I don't mind the second option, morally, but realistically they figure that out within a few months and block you. So as a long term solution it has to be off the device itself. That elimates all desktop options. Has to be a laptop.

 

I could share files locally and I do with a USB stick as needed, but in my trials so far it's too janky and unreliable for large collections of files. If there is a external hard drive enclosure which has two thunderbolt 3 ports and supports two separate computers, something I could plug in as the final link of the daisy chain for both docked laptops and which both laptops could access normally like any other hard drive, I would seriously consider that option.

 

As it stands, any kind of network-based file sharing is too much of a hassle. Through the internet isn't an option, because my cellular options are better than my DSL but still aren't that fast period if I try to upload large files while also doing my normal work it will be too slow. and options which use a second Network like a local network without internet will only further increase the chances that the very crappy LTE drivers will get confused and claim that there is no Cellular connection option. They already do that without anything else plugged in, and I know from my own anecdotal experience that providing a second option, just increases the frequency at which the computer freaks out randomly and decides it doesn't have LTE.

[Invincible Sugar]

8 minutes ago, emosun said:

if your laptop with lte picks up the internet then why not just do a pass through to the rest of your machines from the laptop?

Also , you can sync files between the machines locally you dont have to use the internet , just host the files on one machine and edit them from whatever other machine you want.

I'll be honest , theres really no chance that I'd ever recommend you attempt the setup you posted above. I'd sooner tell you to USE A DESKTOP with a few gpu's as thats gonna be far more reliable and simple. Can have basically 12 displays on a single desktop so long as you had 4 pci-e slots open. and or 2 slots with two 6 port gpu's.

The root of your problem seems to be more related to lack of internet connectivity passthrough from the devices that you actually do have connectivity with , and lack of a regular router to connect your machine to eachother to share your project files locally between them.

Those are actually much more resonable issue to have vs trying to buy a ton of docks and somehow make this laptop work.

sorry for the second reply but I accidentally submitted earlier with only one word and I don't know if this website will ping you a second time for the edit. Please read my message above. 

[emosun]

 

12 minutes ago, Invincible Sugar said:

They already do that without anything else plugged in, and I have no from my own anecdotal experience that providing a second option, just increases the frequency at which the computer freaks out randomly and decides it doesn't have LTE.

in all honesty then , solve your internet problems.

I've been assisting people with computer problems via forums in my spare time for about 14 years now. And I'm VERY good at being able to tell when someone doesn't want to try anything , or do anything , to actually solve any of their issues. What they're actually looking for is someone else to just agree with them about something they've already decided.

As stated I don't like your original idea that you've outlined above so maybe someone else will come along and just agree with it. Sorry can't help.

[Invincible Sugar]

10 minutes ago, emosun said:

in all honesty then , solve your internet problems.

How? I can't just create a new internet option out of thin air.

 

We have one option here for home based internet, Centurylink DSL. Suddenlink cable internet was an option when I first moved in, and what I used for my current desktop.

 

However, after COVID got everyone staying at home Suddenlink stopped working, multiple technicians came out to the house and each said A variation of "sorry bro, we can't fix it. Your modem and router are fine, your connection to the node is fine, but we don't have enough capacity to serve the number of people we are billing in your neighborhood. your Suddenlink internet will start working after some of your neighbors trip over their modems and unplug them. Sorry dude."

 

HughesNet and other satellite options are slow and extremely expensive. Prohibitively expensive. Right now with my bonus pay at work because of COVID I can afford this obnoxious hardware combination but long-term month to month I can't be paying hundreds of dollars for internet. And even when you pay for the most expensive plans with satellite internet it is slow and has data caps. Low caps I'll exceed in a few days.

 

There are options for cellular internet which are unlimited and provide a modem just like cable or DSL. T-Mobile and Verizon both offer these officially, but not in my area. I've written a letter to T-Mobile and emailed their executive team begging them to either launch their home internet in my area or give me special beta access because there are no other options. They refuse on the basis that the tourism and poor infrastructure to their towers would not be able to withstand the kind of usage home internet would bring.

 

There are also unofficial and TOS breaking options from certain providers, third parties which do not in any way officially represent the carriers, but are instead usually individuals in their garage buying SIM cards on special business plans and modifying them to work in modems or routers, but these are highly unreliable and can stop working at any time because they are not allowed under the TOs and all four carriers are constantly actively searching for these types of hacks.

 

My bizarre and unique proposed computer setup is fully within the terms of service with T-Mobile and Sprint and from an internet standpoint will work. From a compatibility standpoint with all the thunderbolt shenanigans I don't know. That's all I asked for, I specifically stated that my needs are niche and I'm not looking for a critique on my solution, only if it was compatible. You may have had good intentions, and I appreciate your time, but this hasn't really gotten me anywhere. You're just doing exactly what I thought would happen, telling me to come up with a different solution that I cannot use.

 

You've been polite, but your answers have boiled down to "just get a desktop bro" which is not helping.

[Invincible Sugar]

I would really appreciate it if someone could confirm for me if the parts I have picked are compatible with each other and the computer, or if not suggest replacement parts that achieve the same goals. I am not interested in discussing my unique situation any further, or debating entirely separate solutions. Thank you.