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henkebarn

macrumors newbie
Sep 21, 2007
23
0
Need a hub to power stuff up

Hi guys. I'm giving this thread a try.

I use a 15" Retina MacBook Pro which only has 2 USB 3 Ports. I connect my (old) 23" Cinema Display (my only excuse is I've got @1x and @2x available instantly) to 1 thunderbolt port and an ethernet cable to the other.

Other than that I also connect an Apple keyboard, a corded mouse, my iPhone, my iPad and my Apogee Duet 2. This means that I'm 2 USB ports short and that I need a hub to give my appliances som juice.

I currently have a Deltaco half-Death star-shaped hub that get external power. But first off it doesn't give enough power and secondly there was a spark when I connected it recently and I'm not really up for that.

So I was looking at this one; http://www.amazon.com/Satechi-Premi...s=satechi+7+port+usb+3.0+premium+aluminum+hub

It's the Satchi 7 port USB 3 "Premium Aluminium hub" which looks as right as it could in my mac environment and it has 7 ports. Also, it's USB 3 which is great as I look to add a USB 3 harddrive soon.

My concern now is: will it provide enough power to run my Razer mouse, my Apple Keyboard, my iPad, my iPhone and my Apogee Duet?

I'm really not good at these things (but I'm very good at other stuff, like cooking, designing and writing songs on my guitar!), so I would really appreciate some guidance!


Thanks guys!
 

henkebarn

macrumors newbie
Sep 21, 2007
23
0
I will, if I get a hold of it. Amazon won't ship to Sweden and I can't find it for sale in Sweden. I'm not even sure they produce it with a EU power supply. I'll keep you posted when I hear something new.
 

nmcapaz

macrumors newbie
Apr 7, 2013
4
0
I just saw a video stating that the hub I posted above does NOT charge my iPhone or iPad. Bummer.

Instead I found this one: http://www.amazon.com/Anker®-Uspeed...6&sr=8-6&keywords=satechi+10-port+usb+3.0+hub

Seems great. I think I'll give it a try.

I recently bought that very Anker hub from Amazon, and had *just* begun testing it on my 13" non-Retina MBP when I received the email notification of your post! Pretty crazy timing. :)

First, I'll mention that I've done a ton of research, reading this thread and lots of other stuff. At this point, I think I would really only consider USB 3.0 hubs from Anker or Plugable. They seem to be very reliable, reasonably priced, and the manufacturers appear to be very active and responsive.

I will note that there are some mentions of a Mac incompatibility with this hub. From what I can tell, this should be mostly resolved by now, with recent OS X updates and updated firmware of the VIA chipset that these hubs use. Based on some posted experiences, I decided to go ahead and give it a try. (Oh, I should mention that I am running OS X 10.8.5 on my MBP.)

So far, the hub is working flawlessly with both USB 3.0 and 2.0 devices. I have a wired Apple Extended Keyboard with a Logitech Cordless Optical TrackMan trackball that are both USB 2.0, and I have several external hard drives, some USB 3.0 and some USB 2.0. Of those drives, I have only so far tried the Toshiba portable USB 3.0 drive which is used for Time Machine. I will try the other drives, and various other devices, over the next few days.

As for the charging-only ports, I will be testing various devices, including my wife's iPad 2 and iPhone 4S.

As I mentioned, so far so good! Will post more soon.

cheers,
-nmcapaz

----------

Oh, I forgot to mention that there are a couple of other USB 3.0 hubs, by Anker and Plugable, that are specifically styled for Macs:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00DVHV7TW/

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00D7P6176/

...however, I chose the same one that henkebarn mentioned, specifically for the additional 2.1A and 1.5A charging-only ports.

cheers,
-nmcapaz
 

henkebarn

macrumors newbie
Sep 21, 2007
23
0
Cool! Looking forward to your review of the charging.

Btw, what kind of power supply does it use? May i ask you to post photos of the power supply?
 

Richdmoore

macrumors 68000
Jul 24, 2007
1,956
355
Troutdale, OR
Looking forward to your review as well. I may add a thunderbolt dock to my imac to gain USB3 ports (only have usb 2 on 2011 imac) and was wondering how to increase the USB ports oncoming from the dock with a hub.
 

nmcapaz

macrumors newbie
Apr 7, 2013
4
0
Cool! Looking forward to your review of the charging.

Btw, what kind of power supply does it use? May i ask you to post photos of the power supply?

The AC cord is 15 inches from tip to tail, and is a pretty standard figure-8 connector at the brick. I would expect that to make it easier outside the U.S. The DC cord is 58 inches long.

(Have to run down the iPad battery a bit before I can test the charging ports.)

cheers!
 

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Crunch

macrumors 6502a
Jun 26, 2008
701
76
Crazy L.A.
And don't forget 18-month warranty, instead of the usual 12. Anker also offers U.S.-based customer support, I understand.

I have the 7-port USB 3 hub from Anker and when I, a while back, filled it up with TONS of various USB 3 drives and USB 3 flash drives and then mixed in some USB 2.0 stuff, the speed tests I did on each drive never wavered. It's also beautifully packaged and product presentation is first-class.
 

nmcapaz

macrumors newbie
Apr 7, 2013
4
0
The AC cord is 15 inches from tip to tail, and is a pretty standard figure-8 connector at the brick. I would expect that to make it easier outside the U.S. The DC cord is 58 inches long.

(Have to run down the iPad battery a bit before I can test the charging ports.)

cheers!

Ok, I can confirm that the 2.1A charging-only port does indeed charge my wife's iPad. I can't say much about how *fast* it charges it, because I don't really know how fast the stock Apple charger does it. Also, the 1.5A charging-only port has worked fine with everything I've thrown at it: Android phone, iPhone, iPod Touch, iPod Classic, etc. Same caveat applies about speed... I'm not really prepared to do a detailed comparison of charging speeds -- I'm satisfied that the ports work.

I will, finally, note the only couple of quibbles I have with this thing:

1) The power switch is a momentary type, rather than positional, which toggles power off and on (off is with a long press). It is off by default. This means that if the hub loses power for any reason, accidental or intentional, it *will* require a button-press to turn it on again.

This is not a big deal to me, but might be quite inconvenient for someone who is accustomed to turning a whole group of equipment on and off by toggling a single switch on a surge suppressor or such.


2) There is no master power indicator light. There are individual indicator lights for each port, but if there are no devices plugged into any of the ports, you can't tell by looking if the hub is powered on or off. Can't tell by looking at the power switch because of its momentary type.

Overall, though, I am quite pleased with the product. It seems to work great with everything I have tried, and I think the size and aesthetic design is excellent.

Cheers!
-nmcapaz
 
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Outrigger

macrumors 68000
Dec 22, 2008
1,765
96
so far, I have not found a 3.0 hub that powers and syncs the ipad at the same time, its one or the other.
 

Fatboy71

macrumors 65816
Dec 21, 2010
1,481
424
UK
Just ordered the Anker others have purchased as well. Excited for more available ports for my iMac!

I've had my 10 port Anker USB 3 hub since January and its never caused me any problems, even with now using it on Mavericks. Anker make some excellent hubs.
 

prupani

macrumors newbie
Nov 6, 2013
1
0
I just ordered this Anker 7 Port hub, and it has 2 charging ports as well. Alot of 3.0 hubs I have seen don't have a sleek design, but this one is nice.

Image

http://www.amazon.com/Release-Anker®-Uspeed-7-Port-Charging/dp/B00B7GAE98

I just ordered this one for my 2013 13" MacBook Pro Retina - I wish to connect two USB 3.0 Hard drives and one 2.0 Hard drive along with my iPhone, iPad, and Kindle and some USB 3.0 flash drives.

Please tell me you're happy with it and that its a good purchase?
 

TimothyB

macrumors 6502a
Jun 20, 2008
795
91
Bay Area
EDIT: Thought this model wasn't in the first post because I clicked the wrong link.

I just ordered the Plugable USB 3.0 7 Port hub, arriving today.
http://www.amazon.com/Plugable-Alum...d=1383951772&sr=1-9&keywords=plugable+usb+3.0

28 reviews, 5 stars, many of are Mac users.

Didn't care about looks. But it's not that bad since it has the USB ports on top, and angled. Plus the power supply and USB cable are on the same side. I mention that since that [URL="http://www.amazon.com/Plugable-Aluminum-Chipset-Firmware-Certified/dp/B00D7P6176/ref=sr_1_9?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1383951772&sr=1-9&keywords=plugable+usb+3.0[/URL] may look the best, until you see it with cable sticking out each end.

Not sure about how it handles charging iPhones and iPads, but they have a deal where if you buy this hub, you can get their 1A power usb adapter for $2 each. Not sure if it can supply full power for an iPad, but could also be handy on the go to for tricky USB ports with USB-Thunderbolt cables.

I had to get this for my external USB 3.0 drive and keyboard and mouse used on a Early 2013 rMBP 15'. I was planning to use my Dell 30" USB 3 hub, but when you power the monitor off, it kills the USB ports too.
 
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ZipZap

macrumors 603
Dec 14, 2007
6,075
1,445
EDIT: Thought this model wasn't in the first post because I clicked the wrong link.

I just ordered the Plugable USB 3.0 7 Port hub, arriving today.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00FA9GXKM

28 reviews, 5 stars, many of are Mac users.

Didn't care about looks. But it's not that bad since it has the USB ports on top, and angled. Plus the power supply and USB cable are on the same side. I mention that since that Satechi may look the best, until you see it with cable sticking out each end.

Not sure about how it handles charging iPhones and iPads, but they have a deal where if you buy this hub, you can get their 1A power usb adapter for $2 each. Not sure if it can supply full power for an iPad, but could also be handy on the go to for tricky USB ports with USB-Thunderbolt cables.

I had to get this for my external USB 3.0 drive and keyboard and mouse used on a Early 2013 rMBP 15'. I was planning to use my Dell 30" USB 3 hub, but when you power the monitor off, it kills the USB ports too.

Funny looking 7 port hub...guess 6 are hidden.

Seriously, be thankful you were not around during the Plugable debacle.

Their hubs did not work with new rMBP's and they blamed Apples new OS release.

Turned out to be their product all along (after almost 6 months of denial)

You should be good now and I use their 4-port with no issues.
 

TimothyB

macrumors 6502a
Jun 20, 2008
795
91
Bay Area
Funny looking 7 port hub...guess 6 are hidden.

Seriously, be thankful you were not around during the Plugable debacle.

Their hubs did not work with new rMBP's and they blamed Apples new OS release.

Turned out to be their product all along (after almost 6 months of denial)

You should be good now and I use their 4-port with no issues.

Whoops, I'll update the post. Guess I had the darn power adapter offer they have in the clipboard. Plugable 7-port Hub

I haven't set the thing up yet, been juggling files between drives transitioning from PC to Mac and consolidating to one drive that's backed up to Time Machine.

I can report couple things so far. Port have a tight grip, so if you are constantly unplugging things, place it where you can comfortably hold it down at the same time. When plugging anything in, the ports sound and feel gritty, like rough rock. Not pleasant compared to most USB ports. Not having a USB hub in the past, seeing how large this is in person, I'll now pay attention to ones that are sleek for future purchases. It should stay put on a surface. Instead of four rubber feet, it has long rubber strips on left and right sides, but looks glued on compared to most feet that are partially recessed.

Glad I avoided those issues, especially over a USB hub. Switching to Mac, and reading reviews, I decided it was best to narrow my choices to devices that has many positive reviews for Mac, just to avoid any unexpected compatibility issues.
 
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guangguang

macrumors newbie
Nov 9, 2013
4
0
less positive about anker

I've had my 10 port Anker USB 3 hub since January and its never caused me any problems, even with now using it on Mavericks. Anker make some excellent hubs.

For what it's worth, I've had this 10 port Anker (attached image i hope) attached to my macbook pro retina for about 8 months. Since the beginning it has suffered occasional connection breaks, and over the last 2 months these have become frequent. In fact as I type this, my iphone will beep as it disconnects and reconnects, and my mouse will cut out completely. I'm still using it because dicey ports are better than no ports at all for devices like keyboards and mice, but it is far from reliable enough (at least w my rMBP) for use with hard drives for any length of time.

But I'd love it someone told me that im dead wrong, that Anker is now rock solid, that my hub was known to be an exception and that great improvements have been made over the last few months.

best
guang
 

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Fatboy71

macrumors 65816
Dec 21, 2010
1,481
424
UK
For what it's worth, I've had this 10 port Anker (attached image i hope) attached to my macbook pro retina for about 8 months. Since the beginning it has suffered occasional connection breaks, and over the last 2 months these have become frequent. In fact as I type this, my iphone will beep as it disconnects and reconnects, and my mouse will cut out completely. I'm still using it because dicey ports are better than no ports at all for devices like keyboards and mice, but it is far from reliable enough (at least w my rMBP) for use with hard drives for any length of time.

But I'd love it someone told me that im dead wrong, that Anker is now rock solid, that my hub was known to be an exception and that great improvements have been made over the last few months.

best
guang

That's the exact same hub as I have.

Mine has been nothing but rock solid reliable, never experienced any of the problems you have mentioned.

I've used mine with thumb drives ranging from brand new USB 3 thumb drives to 6+ years old USB 2 thumb drives, and also the same for external hard drives that I have too.

I also have a little thumb drive type micro sd card reader that was problematic when I had a Windows PC but on my iMac and the Anker hub, I haven't had an issue with it.

I would get in touch with Anker and try and get a replacement, has it sounds like there is something wrong with your hub or the power supply.
 

guangguang

macrumors newbie
Nov 9, 2013
4
0
That's the exact same hub as I have.

Mine has been nothing but rock solid reliable, never experienced any of the problems you have mentioned.

I've used mine with thumb drives ranging from brand new USB 3 thumb drives to 6+ years old USB 2 thumb drives, and also the same for external hard drives that I have too.

I also have a little thumb drive type micro sd card reader that was problematic when I had a Windows PC but on my iMac and the Anker hub, I haven't had an issue with it.

I would get in touch with Anker and try and get a replacement, has it sounds like there is something wrong with your hub or the power supply.

Fatboy,
thanks for your response. I think a key difference between your situation and mine is that you are running an iMac and Im on a macbook pro retina, known for being finicky with hubs. It could well be Apple's USB 3.0 issue with this particular laptop but it is weird that the performance of the hub has deteriorated over time. As of today, Im now hubbing through my dell monitor and the connection seems improved. still im hopeful there is a better stand-alone solution out there.

-gg
 

bflowers

macrumors 6502a
Jul 19, 2006
636
136
I'm trying the Dynex - 4-Port USB 3.0 Hub from Best Buy. I'm effectively getting it for nothing thanks to a promo code from Best Buy and reward points. I'm hoping to plug two USB3 HDDs, a USB2 HDD and an Apple Superdrive into it to not only free up the ports on the back of my iMac, but to move them all to a shelf to clear up some space.

I'm keeping my fingers crossed, and I'll report back if it works.
 

TheyCallMeBT

macrumors regular
Jan 9, 2013
115
14
...

It works great with all the usb 1 and usb 2 peripherals I have but the only USB 3 items – both hard disks demount at odd moments – such as in the middle of a file xfer or opening the disk window. This leads to a corrupted disk and requires erasing and reformatting. Althernatively when using the disk the system will report error code -50 and do nothing.

...

So you're saying that just plugging in the USB 3 HDD makes it mount and demount, and results in the USB 3 disk becoming corrupted and losing your data? Do I have that right? I do video production for a living, and I have two USB2 drives and one USB3 drive. The thought of that happening to me... well, I'd be SOL.

If I understood that correctly, will you post the link to that one so that I know to avoid it?
 
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