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Sturgeon boy

macrumors member
Original poster
Sep 28, 2013
42
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dundee
I fancy getting a usb 3.0 hub so i don't have to keep reaching round the back of my new imac to plug the sticks in can anyone recommend one that looks good aswell as doing a great job cheers
 
Also out of curiosity, do USB 3 hubs have a theoretical max speed per port or is speed spread between the 4, 6 or whatever port config you choose?
 
I fancy getting a usb 3.0 hub so i don't have to keep reaching round the back of my new imac to plug the sticks in can anyone recommend one that looks good aswell as doing a great job cheers
Remember looks good and functions well don't always go together. Do get one with it's own power supply so you don't run into USB power issues.

One that looks decent is this one. Do check reviews as I have no experience with it.
 
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Also out of curiosity, do USB 3 hubs have a theoretical max speed per port or is speed spread between the 4, 6 or whatever port config you choose?

The bandwidth appears to be aggregate across all ports, so each device pulls what it needs per port until you saturate the connection to the computer.

I just took delivery of a 7-port HooToo HT-UH006 unit. Looks nice (for glossy black plastic) has plenty of space between ports (so good for ruggedized USB thumb drives) and has a 3A power supply.
 
I use a powered D-Link USB 3 four port, but they do a larger version ( eight I think ) too. It's rock solid and stops me having to reach around the back of my iMac....All those ports are occupied anyway..:)
 

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I fancy getting a usb 3.0 hub so i don't have to keep reaching round the back of my new imac to plug the sticks in can anyone recommend one that looks good as well as doing a great job cheers
Depending on what your actual connectivity needs are, you might want to consider a Thunderbolt dock as well. Yes, it will cost more, but if it fits your needs it could be worth it.
 
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I use one of these. It has its pros and cons, but, overall, it does what I need it to do and it matches well visually to Apple gear.
 

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Three of the the ports are USB 3. There are also two USB 2 ports on the underside.

"...on the UNDERSIDE?" How would you attach anything there? Might you mean the backside? It doesn't look like there's clearance on the underside of that unit.
 
nice... do u have any info on this one???

I got it from Newegg.

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"...on the UNDERSIDE?" How would you attach anything there? Might you mean the backside? It doesn't look like there's clearance on the underside of that unit.

No, I meant underside. Approximately 5.5" behind where the front USB 3 ports, there are two USB 2 ports, the USB upstream ports, and the power connector.
 
A little ways back I learned that USB3 external drives are not created equal. Well...what actually was learned that some perform better than others and in my case, I ended up with a Firmtek USB3 2.5 drive enclosure that was way faster than its competition.

The reason I mention the above is that my guess is that not all USB3 bus adapters are created equal either. You folks have given me a new task to go look for tests on these units or to at least suggest them in the correct places such as Tom's Hardware, Barefeats and Engadget. In the meanwhile it might serve well to do some research and find which ones get good ratings if there are no real tests done to date. FYI - absolutely makes sense to get a unit that has its own power supply if the devices attached are dependent on power from the bus.
 

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One that looks decent is this one. Do check reviews as I have no experience with it.

Anybody have this one? Looks very nice and I'm interested to see how it's holding up and if the reviews are accurate.
 
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I got this one back in January for my late 2012 iMac.

It works flawlessly and never let's me down. I have various hard drives connected to it of varies ages, a printer. I also have a selection of USB thumb drives of various ages too, and they all work fine.

The devices I've listed above, some are USB 2 and some are USB 3. They are all correctly detected in the USB devices section on my iMac.

It's well made out of aluminium and it's a perfect match for the iMac, MacBook etc.

http://www.ianker.com/support-c11-g186.html
 
Also out of curiosity, do USB 3 hubs have a theoretical max speed per port or is speed spread between the 4, 6 or whatever port config you choose?

There is the max speed per port, and the max speed between hub and computer.

And I think if you attach a USB 2 or USB 1.1 device, it reduces the total bandwidth according to the time it spends using the bus. So if you read files from a USB 2 hard drive, it will use 100% of the USB 2 band width and therefore 100% of the hub bandwidth, while a much faster USB 3 drive uses maybe 30% of the USB 3 band width and therefore 30% of the hub bandwidth.
 
KANUSB3HUB4X_hero.jpg


$35 at Kanex powered 4 port hub OWC it is what I use. About the size of a deck of cards, you remember decks of cards don't you?
(Port 1 will charge things even if the computer is off.)
 
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I read many reports that these 3.0s won't change IPADs, a nogo for me. Can you verify yours works?
example:
"Not compatible with Apple SuperDrive, or other USB devices requiring more than USB 3.0 standard 900mA (.9 Amp) power per port. Hub is not a standalone charger: NOT recommended for standalone charging iPhone, iPad, Android, or other devices- many devices will charge only when a host PC is connected to the hub."
 
I read many reports that these 3.0s won't change IPADs, a nogo for me. Can you verify yours works?
example:
"Not compatible with Apple SuperDrive, or other USB devices requiring more than USB 3.0 standard 900mA (.9 Amp) power per port. Hub is not a standalone charger: NOT recommended for standalone charging iPhone, iPad, Android, or other devices- many devices will charge only when a host PC is connected to the hub."

This is the USB 3 hub that I use http://www.ianker.com/support-c11-g186.html.
If I plug my iPhone into it, it will charge it.

Now if I plug my iPad into it, the iPad shows at the top of it's screen "not charging" when I wake it. But if I leave it connected for a while, the battery level percentage does go up.

I prefer though, to charge my iPad via a mains outlet as it will be faster to charge.
 
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