USB Hubs.

TechnoCorruption

TechnoCorruption

TechnoCorruption

Soldato
Joined
9 May 2005
Posts
2,511
I have 3 free usb 2.0 slots and am looking at getting a usb hub with an additional 4 usb 2.0 slots on and my question is what is a low power usb device and whats a high power usb device.

I would want to connect an keyboard and mouse to the hub which I guess would be low power and also a all-in-one printer/scanner/copier which im not sure about power, I would guess its low power as it has its own source and the cable is only for data transfer.

I would imagine that high power devices would be external dvd copiers and hdd's which need to take power via the usb slot for the device to function, am I right on this and would I be able to run my keyboard, mouse, flash drive and printer off a usb hub with no additional power supply.

Also am I right in thinking there would be no limiting factors by splitting 1 usb 2.0 hub between 4 devices, im not going to have any ghosting and 30 second delay when I move my mouse, am I? :p

Thanks in advance.
 
Any thing like a keyboard,mouse, joystick I would say is a low powered USB device or any thing that provides its own power.
Also you can check on the power useage through Device Manager then right click USB root hub and click properties then power tab. Theres also a few programs that you can use UVCView and USBview
I would goggle them both, USBview is an older version of UVCView so I would try that if you cant get UVCView to work. I reckon though with what you want to do everything should be ok, but if you add more hubs and device's that draw more power things might start to get flakey :)
 
Thanks for the replys guys, I have seen the self powered hubs but am running out of plug sockets so would perfer a usb powered version, I checked my power usage as suggested and my total limit per slot is 500ma.

The mouse is taking 100ma, the all-in-one is taking 100ma and the keyboard is taking just 2ma so by that reasoning I should be ok, I would only use the hub for those 3 items and then use the other 2 available usb slots for devices which require full power.
 
After doing a bit of reading around on the net, I have decided to go for the Belkin 4port self powered hub from OCUK, for the sake of an extra 5-10quid, its a better idea than potentially overloading the power of a usb2 slot.

I have had Belkin surge-breakers and they seem to be a reliable bit of kit.
 
I'd allways get a powered hub tbh. From experiance, non-powered hubs tend to cause me problems for some reason.
 
I have a cheapo hub, its powered but works without the power adaptor when you draw less power. Used it since day one without the adaptor, with only things that draw little power, keyboard, mouse, gamevoice...... etc..... and it doesnt have any problems.

However try plugging in something that wants some more power and it soon lets you know.

Best to buy one that supports usuage with and without the power adaptor, that way you can use it without when you don't require soo much power, and use it with when you do.

Think mine cost all of about £7..... which was nice, just can't seem to find anywhere that sells it now... :( which is a shame.
 
Might be worth looking for tetra hubs as well.
90% of USB hubs will run at the speed of the slowest device attached to it. A tetra hub wont.
:)
(not sure if 'tetra' is the right term there. :p)
 
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