Desktop USB hub for peripherals?

danlightbulb · 21 Mar 2023 at 14:09

I have quite a few desktop peripherals now. Steering wheel, hotas (stick and throttle), xbox controller.

All of these devices have the cable built in at the device side, with a USB-A on the other.

Instead of fumbling round the back of the PC every time I want to connect/disconnect them, can I have a desktop mounted USB hub on my desk, and I plug into this whatever peripheral(s) I want to use, either several at once or just one?

joey1211 · 21 Mar 2023 at 14:11

Don't see why not. Does your monitor have an inbuilt USB hub?

danlightbulb · 21 Mar 2023 at 14:22

joey1211 said:
Don't see why not. Does your monitor have an inbuilt USB hub?

No it doesn't.

I only need probably 4 ports. The most I'll ever plug into it at one go is the hotas which takes 2 ports. It might be useful to have a couple of USB-A and a USB-C on it though for phone.

Would there be interference having multiple devices plugged in at the same time?

Mcnumpty2323 · 21 Mar 2023 at 14:38

Yeah sure
Though you would want a powered hub
Can even get one with individual switches for each port
So can turn off devices you aren't currently using
I have a 7 port hub
Though without plugging in the power to it
I only use low powered flash drives in it

Edit
Ocuk have a b grade streamplify hub for 30 quid
No usb c port but does have a 2A usb port
Could use a usb A to C cable for faster charging

picnic · 22 Mar 2023 at 09:11

Not sure if it's good practice or not but I have two hubs, the 2nd hung off the first. This allows me to plug in one cable to the PC and get all my flight sim gear active. If I'm driving I unplug the cable. Both hubs are powered and the main hub is a 7-port switched jobby so I can use eithe the HOTAS or yoke depending on mood.