USB Hubs - worth it?

JustAnotherSaver

On the back of the hard drive thread, a USB hub was mentioned.

Are these things worth it? Do you ONLY use them if all your ports have gone or do they have some other advantage?

My PC only has 2 USB 3.0 ports. It's got a few more USB 2.0 ports at the rear, 2 on the top & 1 at the front. When we finally get into our own house the rear ones will become difficult to access, well, not difficult, but harder as i'll keep having to move the box out.

So these hubs, are they a good thing? Are transfer speeds slower through them or what?

John_Gray

The reason you get a decent mains-powered* USB hub is if you need more working USB sockets than you have currently available. Decide if you want a USB 3 version (more expensive), or a USB 2 version (cheaper).

As a rule of thumb, you always need more USB sockets than you think possible.

* a mains-powered USB hub will run anything you connect, especially devices like USB hard drives, which can require a lot of power...

kwikbreaks

JustAnotherSaver wrote: »

Are transfer speeds slower through them or what?

Obviously if you split a single port into 4 you will also split that top speed between them but only if they all are running as fast as they can. A single hub port will be pretty much as fast as a direct port. Plus USB3 is monster fast anyway.

So is it worth buying a USB3 hub? If you've got more USB3 devices than ports and want them all connected at the same time whether for use together or just convenience then the answer must be yes.

USB3 ports are rated at 900ma rather than the 500ma for USB1/2. That makes powered versions quite expensive as the PSU needs to deliver enough power for all to provide 900ma.