Kanex DualRole Combines USB 3.0 Hub with Gigabit Ethernet

[btarunr]

Kanex, a leader of innovative Apple and iOS connectivity solutions for homes and businesses worldwide, today announced DualRole, a USB 3 Hub and Gigabit Adapter all in one solution. The hub portion uses the latest SuperSpeed USB 3.0 standard for fast transfer speeds between devices and your computer. It has three extra USB 3 ports which enable users to connect more USB 3 devices such as hard drives, digital cameras, MP3 players and more. The Gigabit Ethernet adapter adds a Gigabit port to your MacBook Air, MacBook Pro with Retina display or any other USB 3 enabled computer and provides a fast and secure wired connection without hassle of Wi-Fi setup.

"We designed DualRole with MacBook travelers in mind," said Kelvin Yan, president of Kanex. "We know when on the road sometimes you need an Ethernet connection for Internet or network access or even more USB ports, which is why we combined both a hub and adapter into one small compact solution."



The Kanex DualRole is bus-powered however for additional power; users can plug in a 5V wall power adapter to provide more power to the USB3 ports. This enables users to connect USB 3 devices that require more power to operate.

Pricing and Availability
The Kanex DualRole is available for $69 through select retailers and our website.

[Aquinus]

Excellent. I might see if I can get some at work. I would love to free up my Thunderbolt port on my Air when I need Ethernet.

[Baum]

Nice one.. bought a USB 2.0 Hub with inbuilt LAN a while ago just because it makes work easier and convieneient having another LAN card on any device.

[Mussels]

this looks pretty good for my laptop actually. it doesnt have usb 3.0, but even 2.0 will manage 30-35MB/s over ethernet. the hub is a good bonus.

[Aquinus]

Originally Posted by Mussels

this looks pretty good for my laptop actually. it doesnt have usb 3.0, but even 2.0 will manage 30-35MB/s over ethernet. the hub is a good bonus.

Yup yup. It's just extra sexy for those of us with USB 3.0 and only 2 ports and no Ethernet port on the laptop. :P (Stupid Macbook Air, good thing work provided it because I would have never bought it myself.)

[Frick]

Originally Posted by Aquinus

Yup yup. It's just extra sexy for those of us with USB 3.0 and only 2 ports and no Ethernet port on the laptop. :P (Stupid Macbook Air, good thing work provided it because I would have never bought it myself.)

Macbook Air's doesn't have ethernet?

[Aquinus]

Originally Posted by Frick

Macbook Air's doesn't have ethernet?

Nope. 1x power, 2x USB 3.0, 1x stereo mini-jack, and 1x thunderbolt port... That is it.
I hate the older Airs more because its lacking USB 3.0 and doesn't have a thunderbolt port. It forces me to use an external hard drive using USB 2.0 to image the machines. Thunderbolt from SSD to SSD for imaging is great though.

[NdMk2o1o]

$1500+ laptops with no ethernet.... interesting

[Aquinus]

Originally Posted by NdMk2o1o

$1500+ laptops with no ethernet.... interesting

Well, I have the 13" MBP and they actually cost closer to 1200-1300 USD when you buy in bulk. The new MBPs don't have Ethernet built in either. They expect you to use a thunderbolt to Ethernet adapter. Which is fast, but I like using TB for a display.

[NdMk2o1o]

Originally Posted by Aquinus

Well, I have the 13" MBP and they actually cost closer to 1200-1300 USD when you buy in bulk. The new MBPs don't have Ethernet built in either. They expect you to use a thunderbolt to Ethernet adapter. Which is fast, but I like using TB for a display.

An ethernet adaptor costs $10 surely including one on the MBP wouldn't have been asking too much considering you're spending $1300+ on the thing and you're shit out of luck if you want to connect an thunderbolt display and ethernet to your MBP unless you buy a thunderbolt splitter and thunderbolt to ethernet

[Aquinus]

Originally Posted by NdMk2o1o

unless you buy a thunderbolt splitter

They don't exactly exists because of how Thunderbolt works. It would be a hub more than anything else and they cost an arm and a leg to get. I'm not going to lie though, it's pretty awesome being able to connect PCI-E cards in an enclosure using ThunderBolt. Giving a laptop a desktop-level video card would be pretty awesome if you had a desk all setup for it. Then you have potability and performance all in one.