Newb USB hub question...

Ok, this may be just me being stupid, but I wanted to ask just to make sure and I figure someone in here may know!

I recently bought a 2013 iMac, all good there. But I obviously needed more storag, and so I plugged in my two USB3 hard drives. However, with only 4 USB ports on the iMac, and more than 4 things competeing for ports, I did the sensible thing of buying a USB3 hub.

I researched and I *thought* i had bought a decent one. USB3, seemed to do everything I needed, and had external power so everything would be powered without issue.

Seemed to work fine for a couple of weeks, but then during some tests I discovered an issue.

I had one of my hard drives plugged into the hub, as I figured there was no reason not to at the time, and as it was the 'portable' external drive it allowed me to easily unplug it to take it with me without swivelling the mac around on the desk to get to the back.
But then today when testing the speeds I noticed the following -

Speed when plugged into USB hub - Write=30MB/s, Read=38MB/s

Speed when plugged directly into iMac- Write=70MB/s, Read=80MB/s

And this is when there is nothing else plugged into the hub, apart from that one HDD.

As it is a USB3 hub, and USB transfer speeds are meant to be a lot higher than this hard drive can even attain... I cant see why this is being slowed down so much.


SO here is the question... is this normal for USB hubs? have to admit I've never needed to use them before really.
And if it isnt normal, would anyone recommend a decent USB hub, as I will be returning this one for a refund!!

Thanks

EDIT: I had the speeds the wrong way round. Silly me. Corrected now. The hub slows things down to USB2 speeds.

8CoreWhore said:

I wonder if the hub is actually USB2... even if it says 3... go into About This Mac - more info - system report... and see if it shows there...

Click to expand...

I did think this, but didn't know how to look in osx. I will check it when I get home.

Its advertised as usb3 and has usb3 printed on it, but I guess you never know.

I'll report back later. If it does say usb2 then would that be a driver problem? Or faulty hardware and replacement needed?

I may get t replaced for the Anker one that I've seen reviewed. More expensive but at least it will work

Thanks for the help I'll report back after work

Seems to be showing up as a USB 2.0 Hub. But the item is definitly a USB3 hub.

Soooo... is this a drivers issue? or can a hub be faulty in a way that makes it only USB2?

I will contact the seller anyways, but im hoping theres a fix for this!

Nirurin said:

Seems to be showing up as a USB 2.0 Hub. But the item is definitly a USB3 hub.

Soooo... is this a drivers issue? or can a hub be faulty in a way that makes it only USB2?

I will contact the seller anyways, but im hoping theres a fix for this!

Click to expand...

Does anyone know of a reason why a USB3 hub would show up as a USB2 hub? I cant seem to find any examples of this in google.

I have an Anker one on order now, but I'm hoping this doesnt end up having the same issue...

Richdmoore said:

Probably a stupid question, but are you using usb 2 cables somewhere instead of USB 3?

Click to expand...

Using the cable that came with the hub. Says usb2 on it

EDIT: Stupid phone typo, it says USB 3 on it.

DeltaMac said:

Judging by the rest of your remarks, do you have these reversed?
(it shows that your drive has better performance in the hub, which is NOT what you suggest_ )
Absolutely, try a cable that is sold as a USB 3 cable.
It can also be good to tell us the brand/manufacturer and model of the USB hub that you have. Some others here may be able to share their own experiences with the same hub. That's difficult to do if no one knows what you have.

Click to expand...

Haha yes, for a start, those were reversed and I totally didnt notice. The hard drive is slower through the hub.

And I wrote that response about the cable on my phone, and must have hit the wrong key. It is a **USB 3** cable that I am using, or at least so it says on it.

I will correct the posts so they are accurate!

The hub is a Inateck 360 4 port USB 3 hub.
http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00DR8QSQ2

marktebbutt1 said:

There is a bug of the latest OS which conducts a incompatibility with all the USB hubs with VIA 812 chipset.

Sourse: https://discussions.apple.com/thread/4717649

Click to expand...

Hmm, apparently apple have been unable to fix their usb3 issues for months now. I'm fairly shocked that they are able to release a whole new operating system, a new iMac, a newacbook, and a new Mac pro.... And yet are unable to fix the drivers for the USB ports so that all these devices actually work properly.

Apple are quickly turning into a joke, this isn't even the first fault with this generation of computers.

Guess will have to see if the new hub I got has the same problem, and if so wait until apple fixes it

Ok well the Anker one I have now works fine, USB3, proper speeds, and has an extra port for charging things only, as well as an on/off button...

So all in all its much better than that other one! I'd highly recommend it in fact.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00B7FLPBU

For anyone who needs a good USB3 hub.