USB 3.0 hubs that work with macs properly

srichards

srichards

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I've been through 2 usb 3.0 hubs in the last few weeks. Neither seem to work properly with macs. Before going for a third which sort should I get? The tecknet ones I've had have been completely useless. The product information now mentions they don't work with macs or there are issues with lion ( I have mountain lion anyway) so they clearly have some weird problem.

I was looking at one brand called Anker but the chassis design seems rather similar to the tecknet ones and amazon reviews aren't great and it is £50 which is a shed load of money for a flipping hub.

The belkin usb 3.0 one is no good as it is only a 4 port so it is completely insufficient for my needs. I need a 7 port as I tend to have about 5 things plugged in at once with a couple of others now and then. I'd rather not keeping plugging and unplugging all the time either.

Is usb 3.0 just a waste of time as it is so incompatible? I had a belkin before but that hasn't been quite right since I upgraded to the imac and became more and more unreliable. Is there just an issue with usb connectivity with macs as I'm beginning to wonder why I have endless issues with various usb devices. I've had loads of issues with scanners playing up and I'm starting to wonder whether the usb sub system in macs is just a load of rubbish these days. I never had any problems with the G5. The intel imac has been a pain in the bum.

Any recommendations for a reliable usb hub 5 port or greater that just works?
 
Very. Think I'll be ordering a new usb 2.0 hub or just sticking with the old one :thumbs:

Glad I'm not imagining the issues with usb. I thought it was just me but it looks like it is a major problem.

The VIA chipset that several of the hubs have seems to be incompatible including the recommended Anker one.
 
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I have this Anker http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B006TTA75Y/ref=oh_details_o00_s00_i01?ie=UTF8&psc=1 it works fine using Mountain Lion 10.8.5 on my 2012 iMac.

Apple did a sneaky upgrade some time this year which improved USB3 support but IIRC broke some hubs. It looks awfully like there's something wrong in Apple's implementation of USB3.

Anyway, that Anker works fine for me - it's stable and fast. Not tried Mavericks yet.
 
Found more info here: http://forums.macrumors.com/showthread.php?t=1433387&page=5

Here are the results of my little research regarding the compatibility of USB 3.0 hubs with Mac hardware:
The USB Hub should have a VIA Labs VL812-B2 USB 3.0 hub controller with the firmware #9081 or higher. All newer models should have this controller (September 2013 or later). Some people report no problems with the VL812 (without the B2) and firmware #8581.

USB 3.0 cables are important for stable connections and high transfer speeds. Read the reviews on amazon.com and other sources! Around 75 % of all USB 3.0 cables have obviously quality problems. This results in lower transfer speeds or unstable connections.

OS X plays also a role regarding the unstable connections. AFAIK, only OS X 10.8.5 and 10.9.0+ show no problems, if you use the correct USB 3.0 Hub and the correct cables. I read also that Windows users do not have the problem with the unstable connections on the same hardware (MBP, Mac mini, ...).
Click to expand...

The anker is the same one as plugable offer. There are several which are the same design. Latter is also well regarded.

There's also another problem with usb 3.0 hubs are there are only 4 port usb 3.0 chips around and daisy chaining them together to make more ports can also cause problems.

Looks like the PSU has carked it in my belkin so I'll have to get another as it isn't currently working un-powered :-(
 
I've emailed plugable via amazon to check on compatibility. Apparently usb 3.0 hubs can also interfere with wireless keyboards and mice (!)
 
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