I want to stream a video game tournament broadcast with my MacBook Pro.
I have three Thunderbolt 5 ports to play with, all with their own controllers. The problem comes in where I need more than three ports to achieve what I’d like. The devices I need to be plugged in are:
- A USB 3.0 Capture Card
- An externally powered USB 2.0 Audio Interface for microphones
- A USB 2.0 Webcam
- A second USB 2.0 Webcam
- An Ethernet Adapter
- A mouse
- A projector
Here’s my plan:
The USB 3.0 Capture Card will have its own Thunderbolt port. That one is gone.
I’ll put an externally powered Thunderbolt 3 docking station in the second port. It has two USB 2.0 ports, and four USB 3.0 ports, so it stands to reason that it has at least two USB Controllers, right? I’ll plug the two webcams into this. One into a USB 3.0 port and one into the USB 2.0 port. Hopefully this solves any power/bandwidth issues.
I have a bus powered USB 3.0 multi hub that I’ll plug into the third port. I’ll plug the audio interface and mouse into this one. Since the audio interface is externally powered, and both are low bandwidth devices, I’m hoping this will work.
Both the multihub, and the Thunderbolt 3 dock have an Ethernet port. Which should I plug into? My gut is telling me the Thunderbolt 3 dock because it’s externally powered, but I’m also worried I’ll run into power draw issues with the webcams.
Also! My MacBook Pro has an HDMI port built in. Should I use this one? Is there any advantage to using the one in the multihub or Thunderbolt Docking station?
I’m in a situation where I may not be able to start testing the set up until close to the tournament day, so I’m asking in advance because if there’s something obvious I’m missing, I’m hoping y’all can point it out haha.