Need a USB hub - circuit board/controller only (no case). Where do I look?

July 30, 2010 7:11 PM

I need a 2- or 4-port USB hub with power input - but just the circuit board (no case). Where do I start looking?

I have a project that is using an embedded system. I need a USB hub to interface with this system, but since it's all going to be packaged up in a project box (and eventually a NEMA enclosure) anyway, I don't want the case or power supply. It must be as small as possible.

Short of buying a hub and taking the case apart (which is expensive won't scale), where can I go to get pre-made assemblies like this? I'd rather not go custom fab. I also don't want to buy a controller chip and do the soldering myself.

posted by aberrant to computers & internet (8 answers total)

Startech has them.

Slightly cheaper at Newegg.
posted by Confess, Fletch at 7:52 PM on July 30, 2010

Thanks, but not really what I'm looking for. I just want the "guts" - that is, the circuit board and the controller. No case, no power supply, no high price. Any ideas?
posted by aberrant at 9:20 PM on July 30, 2010

I have disassembled ~15 of these hubs for USB projects of my own. The circuit board inside is tiny. You will have to solder your own wires for your particular application. It is not hard.
posted by fake at 9:25 PM on July 30, 2010

lol...i'm going through the same exact thing with an LED project i am working on...i have scoured the web looking for color-changing LEDs...even in truly ridiculous bulk (10,000+ units) (i need 100) i can't find a lower price than going to the wholesale district downtown and buying a case of disposable lighters with color-changing LEDs in them. and i'm not talking 25 or even 50 percent cheaper...i'm talking 800% cheaper (!)...anybody need a lighter? :/ it might just be cheaper to find the fastest way to strip the cases off, unfortunately.
posted by sexyrobot at 11:29 PM on July 30, 2010

I looked a bit a couple of years ago for something similar (2 port ext pwr), but didn't find anything cheap. Dev kits / ref designs (e.g.) or embedded-style boards (e.g.) are available for a price, but we couldn't find a cheap supplier of bare assemblies.

We ended up plundering boards from cheap powered hubs for the initial run; for later runs we re-designed the board to include USB hub and power controller chips (both Atmel, IIRC) and the few support components needed.
posted by Pinback at 11:32 PM on July 30, 2010

Searching for "5.25 usb hub" finds me things like this and this. No power supply, fairly low price, and an employee with an electric screwdriver could remove the two retaining screws pretty quickly.

If you've got a large order, you could contact the company that fabricates that sort of thing and ask if they'd do you a special order without all the packaging. Would probably cost less than buying them retail!
posted by Mike1024 at 3:06 AM on July 31, 2010

In small quantities, I suspect that buying one with case and power supply will be the most economical choice.

But the LED example above reminded me of my on search for these, and I found, on the recommendation of a friend, that eBay had extraordinary deals on, for example, q25 bags of bright white LEDs from Chinese sellers.

So check eBay.
posted by zippy at 11:03 AM on July 31, 2010

It's a trade-off. Pulling apart a cheap hub might be your best short-term solution. Also consider that if you're going to be plugging a lot of devices into these ports it might be worthwhile to keep the hub separate from the other circuits. Ports die, wear out or get fried. Using a separate circuit board might make it less expensive to repair.
posted by wkearney99 at 11:37 AM on July 31, 2010