Usb Hub

I think my USB hub is on its way out so I'm going to buy a new one. I'd like some recommendations and advice. First, the advice I require is about USB 2, 3, etc. My PC has only two USB slots that's why I need the hub and I'm not sure if it's just USB or USB 2 it has. I've been looking at USB hubs online and they're USB 2 and 3. I wanted to ask will they still work on my PC. I know that I won't get whatever benefits comes say greater speed but just wanted to know if they'll physically work.

As for recommendations any makes I should consider or avoid. Also what sort of features should I be looking for in a good USB hub.

 

Sadly, you didn't tell us anything about your current computer so we cannot do any research to find out what version of USB it has.

That said, it would have to be really REALLY old to be just USB (USB 1.x) as USB 2.0 came out in the year 2000 and had widespread use in 2001. I doubt your computer is more than 18 years old so it likely has USB 2.0. While color coding is not mandatory, usually if USB 3.0, the ports will be blue.

You can however, open Device Manager and expand the section for "Universal Serial Bus controllers". The port names should describe the USB version(s) you have. For example, mine says,

Intel(R) USB 3.0 eXtensible Host Controller - 1.0 (Microsoft)
USB Root Hub (USB 3.0)​

As long as the new hub has standard USB ports (and it likely will) it will "physically" work. And since (in theory anyway) USB is forwards and backwards compatible, it should work electrically too.

If me, I would make sure the new hub is USB 3.x. You are correct that you will not see any speed advantages, but you will be prepared to take advantage of those increased speeds in the future should/when you get a new computer.

As far as features to look for, the main one would be for the hub to have its own external power supply so the combined load of the hub and the devices connected to it do not overload your computer's port.

Before you condemn your current hub, make sure that is your problem. I recommend you live with just the two computer USB ports for awhile and see if still having the same problems. You might find it is one of your devices failing, or perhaps a bad cable, or your computer's USB port and not your current hub.

 

+1 for the hub being powered

Also make sure what Amperage each individual port can handle and whether there is an overall Amperage limit for the unit ie I recently was looking at a USB3.0 hub which had only 4 ports but the total Amps across all 4 ports was 2.0A

 

This issue can be eliminated if the connected devices have their own power supplies too. Not a concern for things like standard mice and keyboards - they just are not that power hungry. But it may be for external drives.

 

Agreed (for mice and keyboards) but things like cameras, music players or phones would require more juice and it's easier to avoid also having to connect these peripherals to their own psu's

 

Umm, yes, but then they have batteries. When you connect a camera, for example, it is typically seen as a flash drive - a low power device. External drives, things with motors, would be more concerning to me.

That said, some of those devices you mention charge via their USB ports so that might be an issue. However, many newer notebooks these days have high power USB ports just for charging phones, etc.

 

My PC's a Hewlett Packard and according to HP Support Assistant the model is s5770uk-m.

My O/S is Windows 10 Home (x64).

I have quite a few devices listed under Universal Serial Bus controllers, so I attach a screen-print showing what I have in Device Manager under Universal Serial Bus controllers.

My current hub is 7 port, so I won't be going for anything less.

I'm now wondering if it's not getting enough power. My recent set up was mouse and keyboard plugged into the hub and the USB hub and my printer directly plugged into one of each of the two USB ports. I couldn't plug my printer into the hub because it simply wouldn't show up as a device on the PC if plugged in through the hub. I find the same problem with my iPhone. If I want to connect that to my PC I have to disconnect the printer and plug the iPhone directly into the PC. The PC just doesn't "see" my iPhone if I attempt to connect it via my USB hub.

I recently purchased a Wi-Fi adapter and that is now plugged into the hub and its since then I've being having problems with the hub. My mouse will now not work at all through the hub so that has to be plugged directly into one of the PCs USB ports. I can't print at the moment because I've no USB port to plug the printer into. I have also noticed it is hit and miss whether the keyboard and Wi-Fi adapter work. The problem only happens when I log on and it is cured by simply pulling them out of the port on the USB hub it’s/they’re in and plugging it/them into another port/s. They then work. That's why I think this USB hub is on its way out and now I've learnt there are powered ones it could also be it's not getting enough power. I just don't know.

 

According to these specs, you have 2 USB ports in front, and 4 USB 2.0 ports in back.

 

The motherboard has 2 USB headers that support 4 USB ports.
One is used for the front 2 USB ports.
The other is available.

 

I don't need a new USB hub.

Thanks to all for your advice.

 

You could try to uninstall the driver to all UBS2.0 devices in the Device Manager.

Had to do this a few times on friends computers who had UBS issues and it seemed to cure the problem for them.

Given that you only have USB2.0, windows will have the required drivers and reinstall them on reboot.

Helpful video from YouTube



As always image your boot partition prior to that so that in the event that things go pear shaped you can re-image back and no harm done.