Hub Hunting

I would like to get a usb hub for my iMac 27, but there are sooo many type out there not sure which would be better. I was looking for suggestions or if someone using one that they would recommend. Kinda a pain to get behind every time I need access but I'm sure most are aware of that.

You need to provide more details for us to help. Are you looking for a USB-only hub? How many ports? More modern hubs are going to be USB3 compliant. Do you need/want any other type of connectivity (SD card, video through HDMI)? Do you want it to be externally powered or USB-powered?

Ashwin I'll answer this the best I can. USB3, at least 4 ports, something that would charge my iPad, iPhone like it does when I'm plugged into my iMac, I do have camera memory cards but I usually just plug into usb port with their cable but I guess a port would be handy to. Hope this helps.
Thanks for the response too.

What do you think of something like this https://www.amazon.com/dp/B072LW1RGG/?tag=macforums0e4-20, I know it doesn't have any slots for memory cards though.

Seems that some of the hub advertise a speed that user replied comments that is not what it actually does or able to power certain devices without issues. Lots of stuff out there.

I will see what I can find and post some links later.

If you want to charge the ipad be sure it's a Powered Hub with it's own power supply.

Thanks Dennis, been looking and reading customer comments and trying to make a good choice.

Kenny that's a good hub if you want intricate control and it's externally powered (which you will want) so that you aren't limited by what the single USB plug on your PC can provide. The only issue that there so many companies/people that make USB hubs you have to rely on reviews to know what works well.

I've generally found the company Anker makes good stuff, but tends to be a little more expensive than the generic Chinese company that makes most of the hubs.

Thanks Ashwin, I don't mind spending more for a good product. Buy once cry once.lol. I've been looking at some Anker products too. They look well made. I'm trying to get this setup so I can get by backups running on my new Voyager S3 unit before much longer or maybe just plug that one in the back because it will stay connected always anyway.

Anker makes good products. I have an Anker USB hub with 7 USB ports and three more USB connections that are power-only.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00VDVCQ84/?tag=macforums0e4-20

They also have a 10+3 hub: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07DT88488/?tag=macforums0e4-20

Anker makes good products and have a lot of 4 and 5 star reviews. Not the cheapest, but it works well for me. I do charge my iPad on the charge-only sockets.

What do you think of something like this https://www.amazon.com/LYFNLOVE-Spli...=fsclp_pl_dp_3?tag=macforums0e4-20, I know it doesn't have any slots for memory cards though.

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That seems to be a pretty decent USB hub, especially considering its price and also has Amazon tech support as well.

But it's especially nice to see it has a fully supported designated 2.1 amp charging circuit for your iPad/iPhone. Possibly more than your Mac currently provides!! (Pun intended!!) ;D





- Patrick
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Thank you all for your help. Jake I like that one by Latorice, that look like it would handle things to come with the extra ports. And with both of my camera's I can just plug in to download pic's. My one camera uses a large compact flash memory card which most don't have.

Thanks again for the suggestion.

KennyC said:

I would like to get a usb hub for my iMac 27, but there are sooo many type out there not sure which would be better. I was looking for suggestions or if someone using one that they would recommend. Kinda a pain to get behind every time I need access but I'm sure most are aware of that.

Click to expand...

Have a look at:

The Best USB 3.0 Hubs
https://thewirecutter.com/reviews/best-usb-hubs/

The Best USB-C Hubs and Docks
https://thewirecutter.com/reviews/best-usb-c-hubs-and-docks/

One thing to note....if you intend to attach an external USB hard drive to your hub, and you want to be able to boot from that drive...just about no USB 3.x hubs will allow you to do so. This is the only one that I know of that's been tested and shown to allow it, it's a USB-C type hub:

Satechi Aluminum Type-C USB 3.0 3-in-1 Combo Hub with USB-C Pass-Through
$45
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B019PHF9UY/?tag=macforums0e4-20

Randy thanks for the links will read up on those. Never thought about booting from an external but great point I wasn't aware of. I guess the only thing I could think of booting from would be windows but from I have read here, that is more work than its worth.

KennyC said:

Randy thanks for the links will read up on those. Never thought about booting from an external but great point I wasn't aware of. I guess the only thing I could think of booting from would be windows but from I have read here, that is more work than its worth.

Click to expand...

I like to be able to boot from an external hard drive if I might be using it as a backup, or a clone. I also boot from an external drive to do some maintenance.

Never thought about booting from an external but great point I wasn't aware of.

Click to expand...

Not forgetting that one could always connect directly to the Mac if needed to boot assuming Apple has provided and left a port to do so,

Not exactly a big deal to unmount connected devices and disconnect a USB Hub if and when a usable port might be needed to boot from I'd say.





- Patrick
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pm-r said:

Not exactly a big deal to unmount connected devices and disconnect a USB Hub if and when a usable port might be needed to boot from I'd say.

Click to expand...

Except that it defeats the entire purpose of paying a lot of money for a USB hub. You paid your money specifically so that you wouldn't have to continually unplug things and plug others back in.

I don't think that it's too much to ask that your ~$80 USB hub...you know...work.

I already have a Voyager S3 docking station which lets you boot & hot swap drives. So with that said plugging that docking station into the back of my mac which will never get unplugged and going with that Anker 10 port should handle all my needs as long as I can boot off the Voyager S3.

and going with that Anker 10 port should handle all my needs as long as I can boot off the Voyager S3.

Click to expand...

I'd say there would be something wrong if that Voyager S3 dock can't boot your Mac, and I have the older Voyager Quad model that has been so useful and reliable.


PS: I keep a short USB extension plugged into the back of my iMac which saves fighting and accessing behind it when I need to connect a USB device.


PPS: BTW, I don't recall having problems booting from any USB drive connected to my small powered Belkin USB hub but I can't recall when I might have done so, but my Startup Drive pref pane seems to think it can and use either of the two partitions of the USB drive I just connected to it to see:








- Patrick
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pm-r said:

PPS: BTW, I don't recall having problems booting from any USB drive connected to my small powered Belkin USB hub but I can't recall when I might have done so, but my Startup Drive pref pane seems to think it can and use either of the two partitions of the USB drive I just connected to it to see:

Click to expand...

A gentleman on the Macintosh Certified Consultants discussion list noticed that he couldn't boot from a hard drive connected to a USB 3.0 hub he had. So he purchased every single USB 3.0 hub that he could find and tested them all. He did a great job, and he even provided a spreadsheet showing his results. But the latter wasn't really necessary because only two of the hubs he tested allowed booting from a connected drive. They were:

The Inateck Aluminum Unibody 7-ports USB 3.0 Hub
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00LHS5VGC/?tag=macforums0e4-20

Plugable USB-C 3-Port USB 3.0 SuperSpeed Aluminum Hub with Pass-Through Charging for MacBook Retina 2015/2016
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01D401PYW/?tag=macforums0e4-20

The Plugable hub has been discontinued. The Inatech hub is still available, but not directly from Amazon, and the few places still offering it are overcharging for it.

Note that the original test tested hubs from the same manufacturers as the two hubs that allowed booting, and it turned out that other models from the same manufacturers couldn't be used for booting a hard drive.

Well I just ordered the Anker 10 Port hub from Amazon. This should handle all my needs for some time. Thanks again for all the suggestions.

@Randy

Randy B. Singer said:

A gentleman on the Macintosh Certified Consultants discussion list noticed that he couldn't boot from a hard drive connected to a USB 3.0 hub he had. So he purchased every single USB 3.0 hub that he could find and tested them all. He did a great job, and he even provided a spreadsheet showing his results. But the latter wasn't really necessary because only two of the hubs he tested allowed booting from a connected drive. ... ... ...

Click to expand...

I just recently took the time to check an old WD USB hard drive that I was sure I had used to boot from previously, so I connected it to my old small seff-powered Belkin USB hub and proceeded to boot my mid-2011 27" iMac using Mavericks and it worked just the same as I recall.

A bit slow but it allows booting and worked quite well, and I know it isn't a USB 3.0 hub, but I understood they were all supposed to be compatible.

Maybe the gentleman may want to update his data and spreadsheet. Just a thought.

I just didn't want some readers thinking they couldn't use their USB 2.0 hubs with a USB drive to boot from. And neither devices are exactlty what one could call unusual.







- Patrick
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