Which USB3 Hub for a 2012 Mac Mini?

[gpspad]

I have been going through amazon reviews, all over mac rumors, and having a problem finding a good powered USB3 hub.

I have my 2012 mac mini in a hi-rise stand with my monitor, I was looking for a USB3 hub for extra ports and so I don't have to keep reaching in back. But most of the amazon reviews complain about hubs that die or don't work with external HD's plugged into macs. On mac rumors I keep reading about OSX having a bug that screws up any hub with more than 4 ports.

I need whatever I get to run external HD's and mouse or keyboard if my wireless ones die.

Any suggestions?

 

[Celerondon]

Right now I have two spare USB 3.0 ports on the rear of the Mac mini. That is because my monitor has plenty of powered USB 3.0 ports and I also have a generic Cable Matters non-powered hub. High current devices are best on the side of the Dell monitor or the rear of the Mac.

You can visit OtherWorld Computing for a variety of quality USB 3.0 hubs. https://eshop.macsales.com/

 

[adamcarvell]

i have the anker hub with my mac mini

 

[fischersd]

I have the D-Link DUB-1340 4-Port USB 3.0 Hub. Keep contemplating putting some double-sided tape on the bottom of it to have it sit on the top of the mini...

 

[Hede]

I am thinking of gething the 4 port Belkin USB 3 hub. Got the same but USB 2 on my 2011 Mac mini, works great.

 

[Fishrrman]

I went a different route with my 2012 Mini.

I bought a couple of USB3 "male/female" cables, 3' long.

I just run them from a couple of ports on the mini, so that they "face front" by my keyboard.

Not a "hub", but gives me easy access to 2 of the ports...

 

[Mr. Retrofire]

Any suggestions?

I use this USB 3.0 hub:
http://en.sharkoon.com/product/1688/4PortU3AluSlimHub#specs

This hub uses the newest VIA VL813 chipset and has an external power supply. I'm sure it is also available under other brand names.

No problems with external SSDs / HDDs / USB flash drives / et cetera. Supports USB 3.0 UASP and does not reduce the speed of the USB 3.0 protocol.

I use this setting:
https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/disk-not-ejected-properly-error-after-el-capitan-goes-to-sleep.1928103/page-2#post-22847519
for better compatibility. Apples power management code seems to be buggy.

Connected devices (24/7) sleep & wake up without any problems (they use only the newest UASP chipsets like the ASMedia ASM1153E).

 

[Wildhope]

I don't know if this is relevant but I have a lot of portable hard drives connected to an anker 10 3.0 powered hub and all of my drives work. It was only $40 on amazon.

 

[gpspad]

I don't know if this is relevant but I have a lot of portable hard drives connected to an anker 10 3.0 powered hub and all of my drives work. It was only $40 on amazon.

I was looking at that one, but I want any drives attached to restart if the mac goes to sleep or reboots, I read somewhere the problem is with OSX and hubs with over 4 ports.

 

[Kentuckienne]

Based on this thread, I popped over to Amazon to look up hubs for my 2012 mini. I have two ports in the daskeyboard, but still it's too congested back of the mini, and I am looking to get a external SSD.

Some of the Anker hubs say not to use them with high power-consumption devices, such as external hard drives, especially calling out some WD drives. But then they have this product:

Anker AH241 USB 3.0 Aluminum 13-Port Hub + 5V 2.1A Smart Charging Port with 12V 5A Power Adapter [VIA VL812-B2 Chipset] which just says "For maximum performance, connected devices should not exceed a combined current of 8A."

This should be good, yes? Anybody have experience with this newer hub and external SSD drives? I like it because it also has a charging port that supports older tablets, like my trusty New iPad from lord knows when ago...