A Computer Question About USB Hubs

[Bird]

My laptop has 2 USB 2.0 ports, one of which is permanently occupied for my wireless mouse, and one USB 3.0 port. I think I want to get a 4 to 7 port USB 3.0 hub, but I don't know enough about them to know what I want. In looking on Amazon.com and BestBuy.com, there are so many different ones; 12V vs. 5V, 2A, 3A, 4A, 5A, bus powered, high capacity power supply, etc., etc. with a wide variation in prices, of course.

Any ideas, information, explanations, suggestions, or recommendations will be appreciated.

 

[newbury]

Give us some idea of what you want to "drive" off those ports.
Do you want it passive, battery powered, wall wart?
Is size critical?

 

[Bird]

Give us some idea of what you want to "drive" off those ports.
Do you want it passive, battery powered, wall wart?
Is size critical?

There's part of the problem . . . I don't know.:laughing: I have an external DVD/CD/RW unit that will be plugged into wall power. And I'll have thumb drives for copy/backup purposes. And what's a "wall wart?".

 

[jaotguy]

its a small transformer plugged into the wall ( wall wart ) ... powers small appliances ..

 

[jaotguy]

a passive unit draws power from the USB port
an active or powered one has its own power supply...

if you want to charge or power another device, you should used a powered unit ...

for charging ipads, phones etc... there are several charging layouts for the USB port depending on the manufacturer .... some only need milliamps, others just under an amp, some are over ....

USB sticks draw very little power and can hook up to a passive unit... that being said,

most ( not all) USB splitters can be daisy chained like extension cords if you need more ports ... but are likely to lock up IF you use something that needs a dedicated port for continuous polling ( LAN , modem, optical drive etc.)
most will not handle copying from 1 stick to another if they are plugged into the same splitter.

I know it doesn't answer your question directly but in most cases its trail and error till you find what works for you.

 

[weedpharma]

....... In looking on Amazon.com and BestBuy.com, there are so many different ones; 12V vs. 5V, 2A, 3A, 4A, 5A, bus powered, high capacity power supply, etc., etc. with a wide variation in prices, of course.

Any ideas, information, explanations, suggestions, or recommendations will be appreciated.

Most devices that you may use that use more than a little power are equiped with their own power supply. There is a "standard" current available from each port, about 0.5A I think.

The bus powered one will use the limited current from the port that you plug it into so any devices plugged into the hub have to share the available current. This is fine for thumb drives that only use minimal power or for external hard drives with their own power as they only use the data path.

If you want to use hard drives without their own power, you will probably need a hub with external power. You refered to different voltages and currents above. This is for the plug pack that feeds the hub. The voltage is irelavent as the USB only supplies 5v out so the 12v will be regulated to 5v in the hub. The current determines how many higher powered devices you can connect. If you want to connect multiple hard drives and scanner etc, you would look for a powered hub with a supply capable of about up to 3A should suffice. If you only want to connect a couple of thumb drives and a scanner, 1 or 2A would suffice.

Weedpharma

 

[Bird]

I appreciate all the information, and I bought this hub. It works just fine for what I want, except I already wish I'd gotten the 7 port model instead of the 4 port.:laughing: