USB Hub Alert - Buyer Beware

[mojo777]

Just a friendly warning for anyone looking to buy a USB 3 hub.

I bought a VIENON 3.0 4-port hub and noticed the transfers were slow. I checked my system report and discovered it was really only a 2.0. It sells for under $10 and now I wonder how many of those low-priced 3.0 hubs are actually 2.0 hubs being unloaded by unscrupulous companies.

If you have one, you might want to check it. It might just be Vienon - I bought mine on sleazebay but found another person reporting the same issue with the same model on Amazon. (Most people post reviews after just verifying that it reads devices, not bothering to test the speed. I did too, unwittingly posting good feedback.)

BTW I contacted sleazebay about the scam but they said it didn't violate their policies so did not make the seller change the listing.

These Vienon hubs are being sold by many vendors. As are other hubs with identical physical forms.

 

[joevt]

Is the connector USB 2.0 or USB 3.x? Check the number of metal contacts.

USB 2.0 has 4 large flat contacts close to the outside of the connector (compare with a USB mouse or keyboard which are usually USB 2.0).

USB 3.x has 5 more small contacts way in the back of the connector. Usually the connector will have blue plastic inside.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USB_hardware#Connectors

I suppose the USB 3.0 spec includes USB 2.0. They would have to claim 5 Gbps to violate their policies? Or the connector would have to have the 5 Gbps logo on it or SuperSpeed or SuperSpeed+ or SS or SS+.

USB 2.0 is High Speed.
USB 1.1 is Low Speed and Full Speed.

 

[EugW]

I wonder if it's an incompatibility. Or else a problem cable.

Here is my iPad Pro M4 (with Thunderbolt / USB 4) attached directly to my Mac mini to the front USB 3 port, using a Thunderbolt 4 cable:



As you can see, it is showing up as a USB 3 device.

Here is my iPad Pro M4 plugged into a Thunderbolt / USB 4 hub, with a Thunderbolt 4 cable:



Notice how it's showing up as a USB 2.0 device. However, sometimes it shows up as a USB 3 device on that same hub:



My setup here is two Plugable Thunderbolt 4 / USB 4 hubs daisy chained with the iPad Pro attached at the end of the chain.

To confirm the chain itself is fine, I attached a Samsung T7 SSD via USB 3 at the end, and it is definitely giving me 10 Gbps class USB 3 speeds. (Normally I get about 830 MB/s out of it, but this is through two daisy-chained hubs, so close enough.)