What to look for in a usb 2.0 hub

September 5, 2007 9:26 AM

Which type of USB 2.0 hub to buy? Some require external power sources, others don't. Why should I pick one that has an external power supply? Does the number of possible connections (say 4 vs 8) make a difference?
posted by bbranden1 to computers & internet (4 comments total)

If you plan on plugging in many devices that draw power from the machine (mice, hard drives, wireless, etc) then you'll need the hub to have an external power source.

All of those devices can't all draw power over the one USB port and work properly. You can go with a powerless hub if you just plan on having say a mouse plugged in, and an occasional thumb drive.
posted by mattdini at 9:37 AM on September 5, 2007

Some USB peripherals require more power than others. Having an externally powered (aka "self-powered") hub will let you use more of those devices. Storage devices (like memory sticks etc) commonly require more power. Peripherals with their own power (printers, etc), not so much an issue.

See wikipedia.
posted by kanuck at 9:37 AM on September 5, 2007

What they said and if you have the skill to work rebates then go to www.freeafterrebate.info or www.dealhack.com and look for powered usb hubs with rebates meaning the cost drops to the shipping, more or less, I have 4.
posted by Freedomboy at 10:43 AM on September 5, 2007

Short Version: You want a powered (by it's own power plug) USB2 High Speed capable It should be logo'd by the
USB Implementor's forum with the appropriate logo (see link for samples). I am happily using a Belkin 7 port model that I would recommend.

And some rambling for good measure

The USB-IF group (see link above) allows questionably ethical marketers to advertise a hub as being USB2 compliant even if it can only operate at the slower USB1.1 speeds. This would be phrased as being USB2 Full Speed. You want USB2 High Speed.

As for powered; USB devices all need at least a little power to work. The USB ports on a computer are rated to provide only a certain amount of juice. Depending on the hardware involved, pulling too much power can cause a variety of strange behaviors. Mostly related to devices not being recognized, or appearing and disappearing from the OS. As such, you want your hub to be able to provide it's own power to the downstream devices instead of just passing along the power from the computer.

I would recommend buying a hub from somewhere in town and that has a 30 day no questions asked return policy. I have gone through ALOT (at least a dozen) USB hubs for various reasons. I returned two different DLink ones because as soon as you draw too much power from an individual port, it would turn off that port until you power cycled the entire hub. I returned a couple of different hubs for various bizarre annoyances. For example, a computer would not see the hub after powering on unless I unplugged and replugged the hub (worked fine on one computer, but not another).

Things to specifically consider when purchasing;

• form factor of power plug; do big wall warts annoy you? Do you want an inline wart?
  
• Is there an easily accessible port on the hub for use with a thumb drive?
  
• Are the ports so dense that it would difficult to plug in to certain ports when others are currently in use?
  
• Will the hub have a tendency to fall over/fall off your desk when a bunch of things are plugged into it?
  

Further reading about at the wikipedia page on USB.

Sometimes my friend's think there is something wrong with me when I expound in this much detail about things that the most of the world believes to be such a minor decision.
posted by fief at 4:23 PM on September 5, 2007