USB 3.0 hub recommendations?

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USB 3.0 hub recommendations?

Post by ferebee » Wed Nov 14, 2012 6:00 pm

For storing a large volume (6-10 TB) of important but not irreplaceable data, a ZFS pool of USB 3.0 drives seems like a reasonable low-cost approach.

Back in the day, I bought any number of USB 2.0 hubs before finding a few models that were reliable.

Can somebody recommend a solid USB 3.0 hub that works well with ZEVO? 7+ ports preferred, extra points if it supports the 10W iPhone charging protocol...

Thanks for any suggestions!
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Re: USB 3.0 hub recommendations?

Post by shuman » Thu Nov 15, 2012 9:32 am

This is the one I'm looking at, but not sure if it is good or not. It looks like it has more amperage than some of the others and I like the led indicators as well.
http://www.amazon.com/Plugable-Port-Power-Adapter-Chipset/dp/B008ZGKWQI/ref=wl_it_dp_o_pC_S_nC?ie=UTF8&colid=3GD3XLAE7CXGU&coliid=I408X8ZK8PNB4

On a somewhat related note, does anyone have a suggestion for getting USB 3.0 capability on a mid 2011 Mac Mini? I think the only port that would allow full performance is the TB port. Anyone seen a TB to USB 3.0 adapter?
- Mac Mini (Late 2012), 10.8.5, 16GB memory, pool - 2 Mirrored 3TB USB 3.0 External Drives
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Re: USB 3.0 hub recommendations?

Post by ferebee » Thu Nov 15, 2012 1:29 pm

Interesting. Note that there is a similar hub for sale on the German site, <http://www.amazon.de/dp/B007TPFXEC>.

The description notes that it's not compatible with the MacBook Pro Retina. As I understand it, all Macs with USB 3.0 use the USB 3.0 support provided by the Intel Ivy Bridge chipset (which is why we had to wait so long for 3.0), so I'd suspect that this could apply similarly to the Mac mini 2012 and the new 2012 iMacs.

Logitech devices are also supposed to have issues, according to the vendor's description.

OTOH, the description states that this "new Oct 2012" version of the hub uses the latest&greatest VIA VL812 chipset for lower power consumption and "better compatibility".

The hub you linked to on amazon.com claims to use the older VIA VL811 chipset...

Finally, one of the reviewers reports data corruption after attempting to copy 100 GB of data between USB 3.0 hard drives over the hub. According to Amazon, he purchased the VL812 version of the hub.

This does not sound promising. It's deja vu all over again.
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Maplin Electronics N68KH

Post by grahamperrin » Wed Mar 27, 2013 10:28 am

USB 3.0 White 4 Port USB Hub currently £29.99, probably Maplin Electronics 'own' brand.

Mains powered, although that's not clear from the web page.

Neither of the reviews there are favourable, does anyone here have a different (better) experience with this product?

Cross reference:

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Re: USB 3.0 hub recommendations?

Post by mnos3c » Wed Mar 27, 2013 9:15 pm

shuman wrote:does anyone have a suggestion for getting USB 3.0 capability on a mid 2011 Mac Mini? I think the only port that would allow full performance is the TB port. Anyone seen a TB to USB 3.0 adapter?



The only way at the moment is to use sonnet echo pro that gave u express card expansion--->eSata/usb3/etc...
But it's very expensive (and u have to sum the tb cable price...)
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Re: USB 3.0 hub recommendations?

Post by jontyride » Thu Mar 28, 2013 6:46 am

I used the sonnet echo pro and it has really worked for me. I bought this from my saved money and it was indeed quite expensive.
Get more details about this here
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Re: USB 3.0 hub recommendations?

Post by keister » Thu Mar 28, 2013 11:32 am

I ordered the HooToo USB 3.0 Hub from ebay. On ebay just search "hootoo usb 3 hub". Its well made, has 4 ports. great documentation. and at $30 (ncluding freight) is a fair price. I have attached a 3 TB drive to my 2012 Mac Mini and it's working well. Liked it well enough to order a second unit for my other mac.
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Re: USB 3.0 hub recommendations?

Post by ferebee » Sun Mar 31, 2013 3:34 pm

Here are my latest unscientific observations after scouting around and reading Amazon reviews.

The older VIA VL811 chipset appears to be pretty much useless.

The newer VIA VL812 chipset works for some people, some of the time. It is used in very cheap hubs and some more expensive ones.

A different chipset is the Genesys GL3520, used in hubs sold for "industrial" applications. I've found several expensive hubs with this chipset, but no cheap ones.

So, since no cheap hubs appear to work, and presumably industrial users expect things to work correctly, I am ordering an EXSYS 7 port hub (EX-1189HMS, about 75 EUR retail, probably hard to find outside of Europe) and will report back.
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Re: USB 3.0 hub recommendations?

Post by ilovezfs » Mon Apr 08, 2013 11:07 am

shuman wrote:On a somewhat related note, does anyone have a suggestion for getting USB 3.0 capability on a mid 2011 Mac Mini? I think the only port that would allow full performance is the TB port. Anyone seen a TB to USB 3.0 adapter?


Matrox makes the "Matrox DS1," which is a Thunderbolt docking station for $249. You get 1 USB 3.0, 2 USB 2.0 ports, 1 Gigabit Ethernet port, 1 DVI output connector, and audio in and out. You could then route the 1 USB 3.0 to a USB 3.0 hub, etc.

http://www.matrox.com/docking_station/en/ds1/

Belkin will soon release a "Thunderbolt Express Dock" for $299.99 that has 3 USB 3.0 ports, 1 Firewire 800 port, 1 Gigabit Ethernet port, 3.5mm-out port, and 3.5mm-in port.

http://www.belkin.com/us/F4U055-Belkin/ ... ACPCHUBSTB

Specifically for the Mini, Sonnet makes the "Sonnet xMac mini Server" which connects to a Mac Mini via its Thunderbolt port and basically turns it into a rack mount server. It has three USB 3.0 ports (one in the front, two in the back), Two Thunderbolt ports (one open, one used), an RJ-45 Gigabit Ethernet port extension, an HDMI port extension. It also has expansion slots for PCIe 2.0 (one x16 and one x8). The PCIe slots would let you use PCIe drives if you buy an appropriate card. Only problem: $1,295.00.

http://www.sonnettech.com/product/xmacminiserver.html
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Re: USB 3.0 hub recommendations?

Post by ilovezfs » Mon Apr 08, 2013 11:30 am

ferebee wrote:Here are my latest unscientific observations after scouting around and reading Amazon reviews.

The older VIA VL811 chipset appears to be pretty much useless.

The newer VIA VL812 chipset works for some people, some of the time. It is used in very cheap hubs and some more expensive ones.

A different chipset is the Genesys GL3520, used in hubs sold for "industrial" applications. I've found several expensive hubs with this chipset, but no cheap ones.

So, since no cheap hubs appear to work, and presumably industrial users expect things to work correctly, I am ordering an EXSYS 7 port hub (EX-1189HMS, about 75 EUR retail, probably hard to find outside of Europe) and will report back.


Satechi makes a 10-port USB 3.0 hub with the GL3520 88PIN chipset, and it has an iPad charging port. They're listing it at a "special price" of $59.99 marked down from regular price of $69.99. Apparently it's sold out at the moment but you can sign up to be spammed by them when it's back in stock.

http://www.legitreviews.com/article/2163/1/
http://www.satechi.net/index.php/office ... -usb-3-hub
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00B9KOCYA/?tag=idbuyitat-20

Serialgear makes a 7-port hub with the GL3520 chipset for $99.99

http://www.serialgear.com/usb-serial-ge ... L&cats=111
http://www.amazon.com/7-Port-Industrial ... 00C3GFRUM/
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