Would a powered USB hub solve iPad charging problem?

Vertigo · 7 Jan 2012 at 12:13

One thing that annoys me about the iPad is that the USB ports on my PC can't supply the juice it needs to charge. This means I either have to swap the cable between the PC and charger when I want to sync or charge respectively, or else rely on Wifi sync which is slow and flaky.

I'm wondering if a powered USB hub would solve this issue, allowing me to leave it connected to the PC for syncing but providing enough juice to charge the iPad.

I don't know if powered hubs provide enough power though as the requirements of the iPad seem to be a bit extreme. Has anyone had any success with such a setup and, if so, using what device exactly? A USB3 hub would be even better if I could find one that'd do the job.

UnworthyBean · 7 Jan 2012 at 12:45

If im not mistaken, its not that they dont provide enough power, its that windows will not charge ipads.

I had a mac bootcamped into windows and it still refused to charge.

oli356 · 7 Jan 2012 at 13:23

Tried http://event.asus.com/mb/2010/ai_charger/ ?

Vertigo · 7 Jan 2012 at 14:18

UnworthyBean said:
If im not mistaken, its not that they dont provide enough power, its that windows will not charge ipads.

I had a mac bootcamped into windows and it still refused to charge.

Interesting, although I can't see why the OS would make a difference, surely it's just a question of how much juice the USB port can provide?

oli356 said:
Tried http://event.asus.com/mb/2010/ai_charger/ ?

I've heard of that but really don't want to try it for fear it could do nasty things to my motherboard.

Deleted member 77746 · 7 Jan 2012 at 15:04

Vertigo1 said:
I've heard of that but really don't want to try it for fear it could do nasty things to my motherboard.

It works fine, I use it at work for people who need their iDevices charging.

oli356 · 7 Jan 2012 at 15:11

Vertigo1 said:
Interesting, although I can't see why the OS would make a difference, surely it's just a question of how much juice the USB port can provide?

Weird isn't it, always charged from my MBP, not my desktop though.

Faustus · 7 Jan 2012 at 23:38

Wouldn't having a couple of cables make life easier, i.e. one for charging from the mains and one for your PC? If you have something like an iPod then you will already have a second cable, or am I missing something?

scratch · 11 Jan 2012 at 00:01

Faustus said:
Wouldn't having a couple of cables make life easier, i.e. one for charging from the mains and one for your PC? If you have something like an iPod then you will already have a second cable, or am I missing something?

That's what I do; I have a regular cable for syncing with my laptop and a 3 metre cable off eBay plugged into the iPad mains charger to recharge it.

A USB powered hub isnt going to supply enough voltage to charge the iPad at a decent rate.

Vertigo · 11 Jan 2012 at 22:48

Well it turns out Gigabyte have a similar utility to the Asus one. Feel a bit more comfortable using that as it's listed as being compatible with my specific motherboard.

Just installed it and seems to be working

MagicBoy · 11 Jan 2012 at 23:01

The iPad prefers 1.5A where a standard USB 2.0 port will supply a max of 500mA (or 0.5A).

Most 2008 onwards Apple computers will output 1.5A to a single USB port. On a standard 500mA port the iPad will trickle charge.

Vertigo · 12 Jan 2012 at 11:05

Yeah it seems like most modern USB chipsets will provide more power but the driver is required to enable this.

PhillyDee · 12 Jan 2012 at 11:07

Yup, also called plug n charge ports or similar depending on the manufacturer. They will output 1A each.

durbs · 12 Jan 2012 at 12:38

Its nothing to do with OS (I can charge things off my PS3 or USB port on my telly if I want, electricity is electricity, its not Windows-flavoured electricity

)

The fact is USB simply cannot supply enough juice for it to charge effectively, you'd have to leave it a looong time. Same with the iPhone mains charger, ever tried charging an iPad off one of those? takes 4x longer than the charger supplied with the iPad to charge it.

It has a hefty battery and you need to charge it off the mains so get a second cable, Belkin do a great sturdy one that I use, far better than the flimsy Apple one.

mrochester · 12 Jan 2012 at 14:22

Although it says 'not charging' when connected to my computer, my iPad still charges just fine. It's slower than charging using the supplied charger but it does still work.

matthab · 12 Jan 2012 at 16:57

My gigabyte p67-ud7 will charge my Ipad without any issues. All I had to do was install a small app/driver and it worked like a charm.

durbs · 12 Jan 2012 at 23:03

matthab said:
My gigabyte p67-ud7 will charge my Ipad without any issues. All I had to do was install a small app/driver and it worked like a charm.

According to Wikipedia:

A unit load is defined as 100 mA in USB 2.0, and 150 mA in USB 3.0. A device may draw a maximum of 5 unit loads (500 mA) from a port in USB 2.0; 6 (900 mA) in USB 3.0

Other stuff....

A self-powered hub will supply maximum supported unit loads to any device connected to it.

The iPad charger is 2 Amp so, whilst max USB power, however boosted, will allow the iPad to charge (albeit at a slower rate), the OP is best off buying another cable to enable mains charge rather than looking at powered hubs.

King Damager · 12 Jan 2012 at 23:45

iPad 1 or 2?

I have no problems charging my iPad 2....

I don't do it often - have a dock, but yeah, when I do it's not an issue...

Asus P8P67 for the record.

kd