How to Purchase a true USB 2.0 speed Hub?

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MrAl
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How to Purchase a true USB 2.0 speed Hub?

Post by MrAl »

Hello,

Recently i was looking for a hub for someone for Christmas and bought two of them
and they were falsely advertised as being USB 2.0 when really they only go at the
1.1 speed.

Anyone know how to buy a USB hub that is going to be really 2.0 and not 1.1?

Thanks.
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haklesup
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Re: How to get a true USB Hub 2.0 speed?

Post by haklesup »

Internal PCI card with USB hubs or an external 4 port expansion hub? Which is it?

The internal one should work as specified on the box and manual. Check the control panel (system icon, hardware tab, hardware Device button) to check the status of the newly installed hub. USB2 is called an "Enhanced Host Controller"

An external one will only run at the speed of the host USB port you plugged it into. PC older than a year or two will have hybrid ports where only the first 2.0 device gets to run at 2.0 and all others are 1.1. New PCs have all 2.0 ports. Try unplugging all USB devices except the external hub and see if it is running at full speed. If you need a USB port for a mouse or keyboard, plug it into the external hub.

For instance my office PC has 2 USB2.0 ports and 6 USB 1.1 ports but they are not assigned a physical connector, it's first come first served for USB 2.0 since there are only 6 physical ports I can plug into.
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MrAl
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Re: How to get a true USB Hub 2.0 speed?

Post by MrAl »

Hi there,


This is a very recent mother board purchased about a month ago.
It has all USB 2.0 ports. This is a quad core system.

Also tried it on another computer running Vista (dual core system)
and it did the same thing.

I tried your idea of plugging other stuff into the Hub and plugging the
USB drive into the hub last, and it still came up with the error:
"High Speed USB device plugged into slow speed device..."
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reloadron
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Re: How to get a true USB Hub 2.0 speed?

Post by reloadron »

Hi Ya MrAl

What operating system is running and if XP which Service Pack level? You may want to READ THIS.

The problem of a USB 2.0 controller on a motherboard running under Windows at less that USB 2.0 speeds can have several causes. Some motherboards even have the USB port speeds as BIOS settings. Sometimes unless the specific motherboard USB controller drivers are loaded and the generic Windows OS drivers are used the problem happens.

Ron
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MrAl
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Re: How to get a true USB Hub 2.0 speed?

Post by MrAl »

Hi Ron,


Well, i was saying in my previous post that we also tried this under Vista
on another computer, the one it was going to be for eventually.

I checked my bios however (im on XP) and that's all set up right, and
all of the ports on the computer (4 in back, 2 in front) run at the full
USB 2.0 speed as tested. It's only the hub that gives the problem.

Thanks for the interesting link too, and i always have at least SP1
but right now i am running SP2.
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Re: How to get a true USB Hub 2.0 speed?

Post by reloadron »

Hi Ya MrAl

Well the next logical step if you haven't done so already would be to take a peek in the Device Manager and see what it tells us. Working in Windows XP just Right Click My Computer and choose Properties. In the System Properties window click the Hardware Tab and click the Device Manager button as seen below:

Image

Now we want to scroll down to Universal Serial Bus Controllers and click the small + (Plus) sign to expand the USB Controllers. Yours should look like the below image:

Image

Note how you see the word Enhanced. Enhanced a USB 2.0 hub. You should see at least one like illustrated in the above image. However, don't worry if they are not all showing Enhanced.
There should also be two "standard" version USB host controllers present as well. They are embedded in the USB chip which routes the differing USB speeds accordingly without user intervention.
Hope that helps a little.

Ron
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MrAl
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Re: How to Purchase a true USB 2.0 speed Hub?

Post by MrAl »

Ron,

Generic USB Hub
Standard Enhanced PCI to USB Host Controller
Standard OpenHCD USB Host Controller
USB Root Hub

several of each type above.
Maybe the USB needs a little oiling? :smile:

Note that i changed the name of the first post topic because i think i worded
the question incorrectly. I am actually asking now how to purchase a USB
hub that is guaranteed to be 2.0 totally compliant.
Note that i have read the sales threads on several devices already and many
of them state 2.0 but some of the reviews say they are too slow and dont
work with their fast devices. That's the same problem i had, only i bought
two of them and they both dont work at 2.0, only 1.0, and now i want to
buy new ones that actually do work at 2.0 and not get burned again.

Any ideas?
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Re: How to Purchase a true USB 2.0 speed Hub?

Post by reloadron »

Hi Ya MrAl

OK, got it now. Yeah, I was a little confused and off target. I should have focused on the word hub better. :smile:

Generally I look for hubs like this one. I prefer a hub that uses external power and doesn't rely on the bus. A good USB 2.0 hub should run at full USB 2.0 speeds and obviously be compliant with first generation devices (backward compatible).

Don't hold me to this and it may be rubbish but I do recall something about some hubs only running as fast as the slowest connected device.

Ron
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MrAl
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Re: How to Purchase a true USB 2.0 speed Hub?

Post by MrAl »

Hi Ron,


That looks like a neat unit there. There seem to be some bad reviews
though, wonder what happened. They are saying it heats up and then
stops working correctly.
Also, i cant seem to find a current rating for the wall wart that comes
with it. I made the mistake of buying a hub with a wall wart that was
only rated for 500ma, which is the rating for ONE single USB port, and
the hub had 7 ports on it so 500ma isnt even close.
13 ports would be nice though. Wonder if it is something that could
be repaired.
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Re: How to Purchase a true USB 2.0 speed Hub?

Post by reloadron »

Hi Ya MrAl

I try to take reviews with a grain of salt. The problem is you never really know the circumstances or better put the conditions the equipment was operating under. If a router for example tends to fail while in a cabinet on top of a computer running warm in a room that is 85 degrees F. I can almost understand the problem and it isn't the router. However if the same router tends to fail sitting out in open air then there is a design flaw in the router to my way of thinking.

I haven't had need for a hub in awhile and wonder whatever happened to the hub I had? Must be burried around here somewhere. :???:

I do remember that I did like Belkin as far as USB hubs went. However, I am sure the odds are good any reputable brand name would be good.

Ron
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MrAl
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Re: How to Purchase a true USB 2.0 speed Hub?

Post by MrAl »

Hi again Ron,


What happened is while i was asking these questions here a friend ordered one off the
web that has 10 ports and it was 30 dollars with free shipping and 2.5 amp wall wart
comes with it, so i'll probably wait and see how that works first. I hope it does 2.0
this time.
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reloadron
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Re: How to Purchase a true USB 2.0 speed Hub?

Post by reloadron »

Good Plan! :smile:

Ron
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MrAl
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Re: How to Purchase a true USB 2.0 speed Hub?

Post by MrAl »

He he, that's about all i can think of now since ordering a USB 2.0 hub doesnt mean i'll get one.

You know what else i think is happening is that the manufacturer had a 1.1 hub and wanted
to move that inventory so they say "2.0" because when we plug the hub into a 2.0 port
it still "works". Not that it complies with 2.0, but it seems to work as a hub even though it
works much much slower than a true 2.0 hub.

I can copy 100MB of files in 10 seconds or less with a 2.0 port and one of my USB sticks,
but it takes over a minute with a 1.1 port and same exact set of files and same USB stick.

I also created (yesterday) a "read speed" tester, so i can test the read speed of a USB
stick too, and i know the USB 2.0 is very fast reading (better than 20MB/s for even
small files) and i am betting the USB 1.1 hub slows this down too. I didnt test it yet
but i think i will do that today.
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haklesup
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Re: How to Purchase a true USB 2.0 speed Hub?

Post by haklesup »

I try to take reviews with a grain of salt. The problem is you never really know the circumstances or better put the conditions the equipment was operating under. If a router for example tends to fail while in a cabinet on top of a computer running warm in a room that is 85 degrees F. I can almost understand the problem and it isn't the router. However if the same router tends to fail sitting out in open air then there is a design flaw in the router to my way of thinking.
Exactly, just about anything I stack on top of my Modem will eventually get hot and stop working. Stack the router and modem and within 1 hour no more internet. Recovers within 1 minute of moving to a cooler spot.

That 5V, 2.5A switching wall wart is almost worth the $30 by itself. I actually split the output of a 5V switcher and added additional power plugs and I run several peripherals from the same supply, saves energy and saves plug spots on the wall.
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MrAl
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Re: How to Purchase a true USB 2.0 speed Hub?

Post by MrAl »

reloadron wrote:Good Plan! :smile:

Ron

Hi Ron,


You wont believe what happened. I am posting the results in another thread
with a warning. I cant believe what happened either.
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