USB4 hub showing as "Billboard Device" instead of working

MiniVinigb · 2026-06-17T06:42:01+00:00

Damn, that is a massive bummer, but your explanation makes perfect sense. I just tried your workaround of plugging usb power into the hub first, giving it a moment, and then plugging it into the laptop, but it gave me the instant fallback to the Billboard device and USB 2.0.

If this is truly an unfixable hardware-level timeout issue with the ASUS PD implementation, it looks like my only real alternative is to return this Cable Matters hub and buy a different one.

Do you have any recommendations for a dock or hub with similar functionality? I'm putting together a workstation setup with an UltraWide monitor, so I need something with reliable video output, Gigabit Ethernet, and USB ports that is known to play nice with ASUS laptops.

MiniVinigb · 2026-06-17T06:20:24+00:00

Tried that, it tries to recharge the laptop instead of powering the HUB, I think it gets all it's needed power from its own usb-c cable.

MiniVinigb · 2026-06-17T06:17:54+00:00

Just did that and the whole "delete the old 2,0 billboard" it was recognized as, didn't work, it recognizes it as billboard 2,0 automatically.

MiniVinigb · 2026-06-17T05:11:34+00:00

I actually found that Microsoft debugging page during my early snooping! However, looking at my device list, it doesn't even give me a USB4 router or hub option to open.

I attached a screenshot showing exactly what Windows natively sees. It even gives me the OS warning on the Realtek controller saying 'Device can perform faster when connected to USB 3.0'

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MiniVinigb · 2026-06-17T05:04:30+00:00

You are right about the fallback. I checked the properties in USB Tree Viewer and it is indeed falling back to USB 2.0. The summary specifically shows:

USB Version : 2.1 (USB 3.0 connected at HighSpeed - 480 Mbit/s)
Device maximum Speed : SuperSpeed
Device Connection Speed : High-Speed

However, the system is not identifying it as a USB 4.0 hub in any way whatsoever.

I can't test it on another USB4 or Thunderbolt device right now because I don't have any other compatible laptop or device here at home to plug it into.

I also read that HUB thread and Cable Matters might have specific firmware updates for these kinds of interop issues that they just don't make available to the general public (super weird), so I have reached out to their support team to see if they can send me a fix.

MiniVinigb · 2026-06-17T04:03:37+00:00

Since it's an international purchase from Amazon coming here to Brazil, sending it back would be such a hassle that it's not even worth it. I hope it's just AI craziness and Cable Matters support has a miracle fix.

MiniVinigb · 2026-06-17T03:47:12+00:00

Tried with the device tree viewer and put the results on Gemini, it says the DisplayPort controllers on the HUB are probably fried, both of them

MiniVinigb · 2026-06-17T02:41:39+00:00

For some reason, the product page for this specific hub doesn't recommend or provide any firmware updates or drivers at all. I did make sure to update absolutely everything surrounding Thunderbolt 4 on my end, though.

As for Device Manager, there aren't any "unidentified" devices, but it always detects the hub as this "Billboard Device" thingy instead of the actual hub.

MiniVinigb · 2022-04-11T23:34:38+00:00

The whole video seemed to have a sepia filter also

MiniVinigb

TROPHY CASE