The STARTECH HUB (ST4300USB3EU) uses the VLI VL810 chipset:
http://www.cclonline.com/content/pdfs/KNve6zGGu9zqh1dwkRLQeA-3d-3d.pdf
(and is compatible with Mac OS X 10.8, after the firmware update)
You can do this probably via Bootcamp or newer versions of VMware Fusion.
No, firmware updates for such chips are normal. They can improve the performance on certain systems, which have buggy drivers. Hardware needs a official certification, Apples xHCI driver does not have a official certification, so i think the problem is Apples xHCI driver. Not the only driver which has problems.