I bought an i-tec CA6MONITORDOCKPD docking station, but it has been unusable since day one. When I connect it to my laptop over USB-C, either external monitor repeatedly connects and disconnects. The behavior is the same over DisplayPort, HDMI, and USB-C.
I have already updated the dock and GPU drivers, replaced the laptop-to-dock and monitor cables, tested with only one monitor, tried different dock ports, disabled USB selective suspend and PCIe link state management, and power-cycled the dock. I am using an 8K/40Gbps-certified USB-C cable, shielded DisplayPort 1.4 cables, and certified HDMI 2.1 cables.
A few other i-tec docks I have used were also unreliable, although replacing their included USB-C cable helped. Has anyone managed to make this model stable, or should I be looking at the power supply or replacing the dock entirely?
2 Answers
The dock itself may simply be the weak point. Some people have had good experiences with i-tec units, but others report intermittent behavior, so it may be worth testing this dock with another laptop and monitor before spending more time on software settings. If the same disconnecting happens there, an RMA or replacement is probably more practical than further driver troubleshooting.
Do not overlook the power brick. A dock can repeatedly reset its display hardware when the adapter is failing or cannot provide stable power, which can look like a video or USB-C problem. If you have access to another adapter with exactly matching voltage, polarity, connector, and sufficient wattage, testing it could quickly rule out the power supply.
I would prefer to get this one working if possible, but testing it with another laptop should help determine whether the problem follows the dock.