USB Hubs - Often a Problem (Page 2): Yes, unfortunately.

jerryc41 Loc: Catskill Mts of NY

tcthome wrote:

Sometimes I have a problem with a usb port on my d... (show quote)

Yes, unfortunately.

Dikdik Loc: Winnipeg, Canada

I have a 10 port Sabrent USB hub that I've been using for a couple of years and it works perfectly. It can be 'free standing' and used for power only or there is a cable back to the computer so the USB connectors can be USB devices for the computer. Flawless and never had a problem with it. The individual USB ports have 'on/off' switches. I'm not sure what they do; I don't use them. I don't know if they disable the computer connection, or actually turn the USB port 'off'. They are always on.

Longshadow Loc: Audubon, PA, United States

Dikdik wrote:

I have a 10 port Sabrient USB hub that I've been u... (show quote)

They could possibly simply turn power off to the port.
Otherwise they'd have to be 4-pole single throw switches to turn off everything to the port.(3 if they didn't turn off ground.) I'd leave them on also.

Dikdik Loc: Winnipeg, Canada

I've just never turned them off... and I really don't know what they do. It's fabulous hardware, and very useful. I connect computer 'stuff' to it as well as use it for charging USB battery chargers, etc. Flawless...

I just checked... they turn off the hub completely.

https://sabrent.com/products/hb-bu10

julian.gang

Longshadow wrote:

I've been using a 4 port powered hub on a 6 foot extension for 8 months so far.
Works great.
The hub itself is 1.4 years old.
(My dual hard drive dock is in one of those ports.)

I say go for 4, it works great for me...Julian

Dikdik Loc: Winnipeg, Canada

The strip is less than 6" long, and you have an additional 6 hubs... 10 works for me. Three of the hubs are unpopulated.

mtcoothaman Loc: Brisbane, Queensland, Australia

I am wondering how to need as many as 16 ports -4 is ok for me but I do occasionally need to swap 1 or 2.

jerryc41 Loc: Catskill Mts of NY

mtcoothaman wrote:

I am wondering how to need as many as 16 ports -4 is ok for me but I do occasionally need to swap 1 or 2.

As I said above, "I need three ports for external backup drives, four for printers, one each for kbd and mouse, a light over my monitor. That's ten, and there are probably other devices I'm forgetting. By the way, labeling both ends of each cable is a fantastic timesaver. I use a label maker to do that."

Adding to that is a scanner, a USB charger, and a UPS backup. There could be something else.

mostsports Loc: Mid Atlantic

For many years, I have been using a powered 7 port hub from Star Tech. There has never been any issues.
There have been issues with USB powered multiple ports.

BebuLamar

jerryc41 wrote:

As I said above, "I need three ports for external backup drives, four for printers, one each for kbd and mouse, a light over my monitor. That's ten, and there are probably other devices I'm forgetting. By the way, labeling both ends of each cable is a fantastic timesaver. I use a label maker to do that."

Adding to that is a scanner, a USB charger, and a UPS backup. There could be something else.

I use only 2 ports. 1 for the mouse and 1 for the audio interface. My keyboard uses PS/2. I don't use USB port for power. My printer is ethernet.
I use the front ports for things not connected permanently.

BigDaddy Loc: Pittsburgh, PA

tomad wrote:

Jerry, maybe you are buying the wrong brand. I ha... (show quote)

Based on the above I just bought this exact hub. It works perfect and seems good quality. I removed all peripherals plugged into the USB ports on the front top of my computer and pugged them into this thing. Not only does it work fine, but it seems to have corrected a number of problems I've been having with computer slowdowns and random wireless mouse freezing.

BigDaddy Loc: Pittsburgh, PA

jerryc41 wrote:

There are so many meaningless brand names. By coincidence, the new 16-port is Atolla. I like the idea of one that will take a lot of connections rather than having a lot of small hubs. As long as the Atolla is plugged into 110v, the lights are lit, but I can't tell by looking if the USB ports are working.

The Atolla 11 port hub has individual buttons that turn each port off and on. The ports light up if on. When off, the port is off. I have some flash drives plugged in that I don't often use, and when off the port light is off and they are gone from the drive list on my file manager.

I might add that my external drives are noticeably faster plugged into this hub than when plugged into my PC's 3.0 ports. I had no idea my PC's USB ports were causing so much havoc with my PC.

jerryc41 Loc: Catskill Mts of NY

BebuLamar wrote:

I use only 2 ports. 1 for the mouse and 1 for the audio interface. My keyboard uses PS/2. I don't use USB port for power. My printer is ethernet.
I use the front ports for things not connected permanently.

With all the printers I've had, I've never tried wireless. I have enough trouble with printers without trying to send documents through the air.

BebuLamar

jerryc41 wrote:

With all the printers I've had, I've never tried wireless. I have enough trouble with printers without trying to send documents through the air.

I use Cat5 for the printers. Printers are located near the router and set static IP address.

jerryc41 Loc: Catskill Mts of NY

BebuLamar wrote:

I use Cat5 for the printers. Printers are located near the router and set static IP address.

I use the same cables. A while back, I updated my cables. Right now, I have too much cable sitting in a box.