Sick Of Weak USB Hubs. Any recommendations?

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THA-REAPER
Posts: 41
Joined: Sat Jun 13, 2009 6:33 pm

Sick Of Weak USB Hubs. Any recommendations?

Post by THA-REAPER » Sun Feb 10, 2013 9:51 pm

Quite annoyed each time I get a USB hub it shows all kinds of pictures of general stuff that its intended to work for. They come with AC adapters in all. I connect something light like a thumb drive and something like a AC powered USB HDD and it results random disconnects, reconnects...makes my resources unavailable to the program...Its frustrating...had this problem with different hubs on various computers. Just brought a usb 3.0 hub still the same mess.

Has anyone purchased a hub where it survives whatever you throw at in the chain?

You guys know how important these hub thingys are with Ableton on a laptop. Only 3 ports...port 1 usb audio interface, port 2 midi keyboard, port 3 external audio sample hdd..After that everything else relies on the hub right now I'm choosing things by priority when I have like 3 hubs that just don't do what they should...

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oblique strategies
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Re: Sick Of Weak USB Hubs. Any recommendations?

Post by oblique strategies » Sun Feb 10, 2013 11:33 pm

Consider getting one that is Multi-TT (Multi-Transaction Translator).

Single vs. Multi-TT hub comparison:
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/usb ... 677-3.html

Example:
7-port multi-TT powered hub by Cables Unlimited
http://www.amazon.com/Cables-Unlimited- ... 660&sr=8-1

Info:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USB_hub
To allow high-speed devices to operate in their fastest mode all hubs between the devices and the computer must be high speed. High-speed devices should fall back to full-speed when plugged in to a full-speed hub (or connected to an older full-speed computer port). While high-speed hubs support all device speeds, low and full-speed traffic is combined and segregated from high-speed traffic through a transaction translator. Each transaction translator segregates lower speed traffic into its own pool, essentially creating a virtual full-speed bus. Some designs use a single transaction translator, while other designs have multiple translators. Having multiple translators is only a significant benefit when connecting multiple high-bandwidth full-speed devices.

It is an important consideration that in common language (and often product marketing) USB 2.0 is used as synonymous with high-speed. However, because the USB 2.0 specification, which introduced high-speed, incorporates and supersedes the USB 1.1 specification, any compliant full-speed or low-speed device is still a USB 2.0 device. Thus, not all USB 2.0 hubs operate at high-speed.

THA-REAPER
Posts: 41
Joined: Sat Jun 13, 2009 6:33 pm

Re: Sick Of Weak USB Hubs. Any recommendations?

Post by THA-REAPER » Mon Feb 11, 2013 1:04 am

Thanks a million I had no clue about Multi TT. Also had doubts id get any replies.

http://www.tigerdirect.ca/applications/ ... viewsBlock

Thats one of the hubs I have no Multi TT mentioned, but the majority of the reviews are great. It makes me feel like i have a defective hub. The usb cables dont seem like they are all the way in the ports, there are no lights indicating anything...for me this was a bad buy, but who else can I blame.

Thanks again oblique strategies for informing me because I wouldn't of had any idea and probably would of kept making the same mistake.

Machinesworking
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Re: Sick Of Weak USB Hubs. Any recommendations?

Post by Machinesworking » Mon Feb 11, 2013 2:23 am

Belkin 7 outlet hub for about 5 years now, no issues at all.

I would add if at all possible connect USB hard drives directly to the computer.
Keyboard, mouse, controllers all are less likely to have issues with a hub than USB hard drives.

sporkles
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Re: Sick Of Weak USB Hubs. Any recommendations?

Post by sporkles » Mon Feb 11, 2013 6:02 am

Belkin 7 port here too. I had two ones, but one of them had an unfortunate encounter with the recent content of a glass of wine... :lol:

I agree that keeping hard drives that you rely on while working plugged directly into the computer is a good idea.

If you've been through a number of hubs, the problem could be your computer, though. My desktop computer does not play well with hubs at all, and I have no idea why...

oblique strategies
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Re: Sick Of Weak USB Hubs. Any recommendations?

Post by oblique strategies » Mon Feb 11, 2013 6:53 am

THA-REAPER wrote:Thanks again oblique strategies for informing me because I wouldn't of had any idea and probably would of kept making the same mistake.
You're very welcome. Hope it sorts out your USB issues.

I have the one I recommended, & no problems so far. I use mine with the power supply.

Another idea: try different USB ports on your computer; not all ports are created equal :wink:

scott nathaniel
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Joined: Sun Aug 03, 2008 6:52 pm

Re: Sick Of Weak USB Hubs. Any recommendations?

Post by scott nathaniel » Mon Feb 11, 2013 7:06 am

oblique strategies wrote:
THA-REAPER wrote:Thanks again oblique strategies for informing me because I wouldn't of had any idea and probably would of kept making the same mistake.
Another idea: try different USB ports on your computer; not all ports are created equal :wink:
Very true! I'm not sure how you would do it on Windows, but find out which irq's are used by each usb port. For instance, I have my audio interface connected to a usb port that is not sharing an irq with any other port/bus. The lower the irq the better. An irq interrupts the cpu, demands acknowledgement. The lower irq's get heard first. So, for example, you wouldn't want to have your usb interface connected to a hub. You would want it connected to a port that isn't shared with any other usb device. So I think! Don't quote me on this!

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