I have the same dongle! Really nice writeup.
I also didn’t really like the length of the cable because I wanted to hide the dock under the table, so I tested two USB-C extension cables, both of them worked flawlessly (Two 4K60 monitors, 100W charging, several USB2 and 3 devices, using for work 8+ hours a day for a month now):
- Currently using this UGreen braided one-meter one.
- Before that I used the one that looks like this 0.5m one.
But I’d wager most quality extensions will work, even though they are a forbidden type of cable in a way 
Edit: For me, the network card in this adapter was overheatung during Teams calls and doing something weird where it lost connection, but not fully. Really weird - can handle 100 Mbit/s sustained just fine, but 2 Mbit/s teams call it craps out. I ended up plugging in a USB3 Ethernet adapter. And I also ended up pointing a fan at it under the table to make sure it doesn’t overheat.