USB 3 hardware issue, not directly Zorin related

[Robin_Mach]

Good day all,

My apologies if this not in the right section of the forum, I wasn't quite sure where to put it. This is not exactly Zorin related but came up while trying to set up Zorin on an older laptop. I figure there's probably a lot of folks on here who are used to tracking down weird hardware issues.

tl;dr Why would connecting a USB 3.0 hub with a USB 3.0 cable cause a serious performance degradation from connecting with a USB 2 cable?

Hardware: I have an HP Elitebook 840 G1 that's docked in an HP D9Y32UT#ABA dock. I'm coming out of one of the USB ports on the dock with a USB 2 cable to a 7 port USB 3.0 powered hub. I have several hard drives and a Logitech Unifying receiver for wireless mouse and keyboard plugged into the hub. This works fine, specifically I can haul the keyboard and mouse all over the room and they work perfectly.
I tried replacing the USB 2 cable with a USB 3.0 A to B cable. Performance tests on the drives shows no significant change in performance good or bad BUT- When I have the USB 3 cable connecting the hub to the dock, the range on the keyboard receiver drops from >10ft to <3ft. If I swap the cable back to the USB 2 cable, the wireless range is restored. The same thing also happens with a Winblow$ laptop docked.
I have tried it with two different USB 3 cables but tbf, they're both from a two pack of cheap Amazon cables. I have ordered another hopefully better USB 3 cable but in the meantime, does anyone have any suggestions as what is going on? I've dealt with some weird hardware glitches but this has me stumped. My next step is going to be getting into the hub and seeing if somehow the cable swap is causing a voltage sag. That's about the only thing I can think of that would interfere with the Logitech receiver.

Thanks,
Robin

[Aravisian]

Most likely, this is caused by RF interference, since it will produce "noise" right in the 2.4GHz range.

@Robin_Mach

I have ordered another hopefully better USB 3 cable

This is along the right track - better shielding can help mitigate the problem. Or a longer extension to move the unifying receiver further away.

[Robin_Mach]

Ohhhh, right. Thank you so much! I bet you have the right of it. That fits everything, including what's one of the most common ways to cut cable cost? Skimp on the shielding. I've ordered a Belkin cable, foil over braid shielding. I'll update once the cable gets here.

[nainancy]

Connecting a USB 3.0 hub using a poor-quality or faulty USB 3.0 cable can introduce EMI or power issues that interfere with wireless signals, especially at 2.4GHz. Swapping to a better shielded, higher-quality cable often resolves these issues.

[Robin_Mach]

The issue was being caused by the new cable. I finally received a better quality cable and the problem stopped immediately. Good call Aravisian and nainancy, you hit it exactly. Thanks all.