Thunderbolt TB15 Dock still not working

Are there any 3rd party alternatives?

I returned mine today, even after the 30 day period they accept it because the know if's a POS.

Spoke to Customer Service today again, they recommended I return it as there is no ETA for a fix. So it's going back to Dell.

Are there any 3rd party docks that could be used with the XPS 9550 ?

I have tried with no external monitors and wifi off

The dock usb stops first (external kbd), then the ethernet drops.

I have all the latest drivers installed as per the latest order instructions and I check Dell for new drivers every couple of days.

The 2 dock video ports do seem to work on this one whereas 1st dock one failed so I am using a usb to ethernet dongle and any usbs into the xp15

The dock does prevent reliable use of sleep mode though

Dell want me to return my (second) supplied TB15 now for refund.but I cant do without 2 external monitors. Dell have also offered a full refund for the whole setup, xp15,dock,monitors.

So we are at a bit of a stalemate with them.

I am waiting on this plugable thunderbolt 3 dock being released :http://plugable.com/thunderbolt-3

And if this is ok I then want to return the TB15, until then I have no choice but to keep it while the video ports still work

Had this black piece of JUNK for 3 months now with continuous dropped connections and random display issues. I purchased it to Dock my XPS 15 (9550) with new 4k 30" Dell display, but all I've had is problems including the USB and Ethernet drop.

But as many I only have this piece of *** to link with my external DELL display so if I'm too return it will they accept I return everything at this point including the laptop?

This whole debacle has been less than satisfactory and at this point my faith in DELL is very low.

..... DELL!!! What are you going to do?

I was able to get the Plugable USB-C Triple Display Dock from Amazon for $180 and it works flawlessly. It was truly plug and play. It's rock solid, without a single disconnect using HDMI, ethernet, USB audio and multiple USB peripherals. Even my old USB 2.0 dongles for my wireless keyboard and mouse work perfectly.

Amazon currently shows the triple display dock as unavailable, but I just purchased 18 of the standard single-display dock for $129 each. You really can't beat the price considering it has USB-C power pass through, allowing my users to keep their power adapter in their computer bags, saving $70 per user.

I'll give it a try and report back.... skeptical it will work though... this thing is all over the place. All I wanted was a dock to make life easier... :emotion-6:

I have the TB15 and the Dell XPS 15 9550 laptop. All problems for me ceased when I followed the advice of someone else on this community who suggested that those of us having random disconnect problems with the TB15 with external monitors, USB ports and ethernet ports perform one simple step. The problem is with the Wi-Fi adapter interfering with the Thunderbolt 3 circuitry. Open device manager and select your 802.11 Wi-Fi adapter. In my case it's labeled "the Broadcom 802.11 network adapter." If that describes what you find, you should be able to temporarily solve this problem.

Right-click the Wi-Fi adapter and choose Properties. Click the Advanced tab. Scroll down to the "Power Output" setting. If you are using an ethernet connection to your TB15, set the value to 50%. If you're using a Wi-Fi connection, set the power to 75%. You'll have better results at 50% then at 75%, so if you can switch to an ethernet Internet connection, you'll be better off. Still, I'm running the setting at 75% and it's working.  YMMV. (If you move your computer to another location you may have trouble connecting to the Internet until you turn the power output up again.)

The only drawback I have (which is more prevalent at 50% and 75%) is that occasionally my Internet connection slows down or even times out — especially if I'm far away from the access point. But if you turn power output back to 100% you're going to see the problems of the TB15 you had before.

If you have some other Wi-Fi adapter than the Broadcom 802.11, the power output setting may not be available to you and/or it may react differently. Another thing to try might be to buy a USB-C extension cable and locate the TB15 farther away from your computer. As I understand it an extension cable may reduce the performance of your USB-C connection but it might be a short-term workaround.

I'm told that Dell is working on an all new hardware version of the TB15, which may be available as a free swap to people who are having trouble with symptoms as I described above. If you have not documented these problems with support, I recommend that you do.

Hope this helps some folks.

The issues with displays dropping out appear to be heat related.  After weighing alternatives I found the quick $12 solution: a USB fan on Amazon.  Since pointing it at the TB15, no more issues with displays blinking off.  Stand TB15 on end to expose more surface area (bottom seems hotter) and cool it down with the fan.  Lemonade from a lemon.

There's a new firmware update out today for the Asmedia USB 3.0 controller in the TB15.  I installed it but the TB15 network controller still shows up as unknown device and none of the drivers work.  Looks like it didn't fix much, if anything. :emotion-12:

Another plaster for the gapping wound that is this piece of ***!!

I don't recall the particulars of the symptoms that you've experienced, but no one I've ever talked to with this problem of intermittent drop-offs of monitor, USB and networking has ever found their network controller show up as an unknown device. I think you have a totally separate problem, and maybe you should start treating it as such. This only applies to the hardware on TB15, correct? Is that cable that runs between the TB15 in your computer? Did you ever have to twist it around in a weird shape, yank on it pretty hard or crush it? When you plug it into your computer does it make a click sound or at least can you feel a click with your hand? USB-C does that and if you're not hearing the click you're not connected. It's going to be something like that to entirely disable your network card. Is the TB15 getting juice and not in standby mode? I would start at square one and assume that you're experiencing an issue for the first time, but it's not the problem described in threads like these. Hope that helps

For those who have who are unable to successfully connect to the TB15 at all – that is a different problem than what a lot of people have experienced. If you have not connected with Dell support, no matter how painful and experience it is, I think you need to do that to get your system on record. There may well be something wrong with it. I'd be interested to know if people have gotten replacements already and are having the same problem.

If the symptoms of your TB15 are intermittent drop-offs of the monitor, USB and/or ethernet, then they match mine and the problem is very likely due to interference caused by the strength of your wireless Wi-Fi radio and the lack of adequate shielding in the Thunderbolt 3 circuitry. There are directions nearby for how to turn down your wireless radio's power, which for many had a positive effect right away. I'm even able to close my computer's lid while connected to a monitor via the TB15. Search for "broadcom" to find the instructions. They are not difficult and are easily reversible.

Edited for clarity and to fix numerous typos caused by dictation.

Another thing to note is that turning the WiFi down to 50% drops it's signal to noise ratio below the "noise" caused by a connected bluetooth device.  

For my system; I have found that by setting 'Antenna Diversity' to Main and 'Power Output' to 75% in the Dell Wireless 1830 properties I am able to extend the desktop to an external 4k DP monitor plugged into the TB3 port, WiFi access and Bluetooth simultaneously.  Boot didn't work very well in this configuration, but if TB3 is plugged in after boot up it seems to be stable.

This isn't a solution by any means.  Dell needs to get to the bottom of this.  This should be brought to the attention of the FCC.  They are mostly concerned about how one device interferes with another device and are unlikely to take issue with a manufacturers own intra-device interference.  But if there is a violation the FCC can force action from Dell/Broadcom.