I've run out of USB ports. Office Depot has a AC powered 7 port USB 2.0 hub available for a very reasonable price. According to their ad copy USB-IF certification ensures high speed data transfers up to 480 Mbps. Is this a good tfr rate? Also, is there a different or better alternative for when you run out of ports?
It also mentioned the hub can be self-powered as well. Is there an advantage to AC power over it being self powered, or vice versa? Any help appreciated. Thanks in advance.
Bill, I hope someone else has more info here. This sounds like a nice cure for my future needs. I have no more USB ports with my last external hard drive addition, which has the transfer rate you have indicated for the hub at 480Mbits. So, it sounds good to me at this point anyway. Thanks for the post.
Bill - That transfer rate is the specified rate for any USB 2.0 port or device. All USB 2.0 items should be able to reach that speed, or they're out of spec. I believe the USB-IF certification is just what it says - the device has been independently tested to make sure it really can operate at USB 2.0 speeds.
As an aside, there is a USB 3.0 coming that's much faster, I think, but it's a year or so away...
Hey Bill, I am far from an expert on any of these items, however, I was having trouble with my USB hub and was advised to obtain an ac powered hub for a faster rate and for it to be more dependable when running more than one operation connected to the hub. It worked !!!!
My powered USB 7 port hub just died and I am replacing it with a dlink powered one (the first was a belkin) if I had external drives that took FireWire I would put a card into take advantage of the speed there because it is much faster than USB 2.0 but since they don't I have to stick with USB. So my advice is get a powered USB hub but not a belkin unless your drive is firewire compliant
If you have a free PCI port on your motherboard, you might be better off going that route and add an internal USB 2.0 card than adding an external USB hub. I find I get a lot of bizarre PC problems that can ultimately be traced back to a USB hub doing something funky with my system.
As a side note, whenever you have a PC acting weird or not wanting to boot, the first step is to disconnect the USB hub and see if you still have the problem.
Thanks again all for your comments and suggestions. I decided to take Jay's suggestion and installed an internal PCI USB 4 port card. It was an easy install and works well (so far!)
Discussion
8 repliesIt also mentioned the hub can be self-powered as well. Is there an advantage to AC power over it being self powered, or vice versa? Any help appreciated. Thanks in advance.
As an aside, there is a USB 3.0 coming that's much faster, I think, but it's a year or so away...
As a side note, whenever you have a PC acting weird or not wanting to boot, the first step is to disconnect the USB hub and see if you still have the problem.