USB hub problem

[SplitInfinitive]

I only have 2 usb ports on the front of my PC box and want to run a couple of External drives and a printer plus the occasional thumb drive/plug in the camera etc.

I bought a usb hub online, quite expensive but some ports work and not others, in fact some work some of the time and not others. 

So I bought another hub locally and it's the same problem.

Both are powered. 

 

[JSixpack]

Belkin hubs are pretty good quality.

 

Use both of your new hubs, not just one or the other. Plug at least one into the back of the machine, where the USB ports come directly outta the board, not in the front ports.

[chrisinth]

13 hours ago, JSixpack said:

Belkin hubs are pretty good quality.

 

Use both of your new hubs, not just one or the other. Plug at least one into the back of the machine, where the USB ports come directly outta the board, not in the front ports.

Agree with JSixpack here with reference to using a USB port direct from the board, ie, a port on the back of your confuser. If the cable on your USB hub is not long enough for easy access, as it is a powered hub, you could use a USB extension cable (Female - female connections) but definitely preferable to plug directly into a back port. Try not to use a USB3 port if your hub is USB2....................

[Beachcomber]

38 minutes ago, chrisinth said:

Try not to use a USB3 port if your hub is USB2..

Usage of these ports is not always interchangeable. USB3 does not always work with USB2 plug and USB2 does not always work with USB3 plug.

 

[chrisinth]

6 minutes ago, Beachcomber said:

Usage of these ports is not always interchangeable. USB3 does not always work with USB2 plug and USB2 does not always work with USB3 plug.

 

That is why I mentioned it. Through my experience, especially if using older hardware, I have found better results by matching the USB ports where possible. I have some Sandisk Ultra USB3's that work on my notebook but have difficulty connecting with other computers for data transfer, especially if it is a different OS or older machine.

 

[jenny2017]

5 hours ago, chrisinth said:

Agree with JSixpack here with reference to using a USB port direct from the board, ie, a port on the back of your confuser. If the cable on your USB hub is not long enough for easy access, as it is a powered hub, you could use a USB extension cable (Female - female connections) but definitely preferable to plug directly into a back port. Try not to use a USB3 port if your hub is USB2....................

There are stories of some specialist drivers not being 100% happy, but your basic plug in hardware should have no problems at all. You won't get USB 3.0 transfer speeds with a USB 2.0 device, but it should run just as it did before. ... All laptop USB 3.0 ports have support for 2.0 devices too

[chrisinth]

16 minutes ago, jenny2017 said:

There are stories of some specialist drivers not being 100% happy, but your basic plug in hardware should have no problems at all. You won't get USB 3.0 transfer speeds with a USB 2.0 device, but it should run just as it did before. ... All laptop USB 3.0 ports have support for 2.0 devices too

Windows 7 or earlier versions do not support USB 3.0 initially. Try to install W7 through a USB 3.0 port without modifying the install media.

 

But regardless, the key statement in my post #5 was "Through my experience..............." which seems to differ from what you have read.

 

 

[SplitInfinitive]

Thanks for all the advice.