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If you have a USB 3.2 Gen 2 port and want to take advantage of its 10 Gbps speed, look for a cable that supports 10 Gbps (it could be USB 3.2 Gen 2 or USB 3.1 Gen 2) and a peripheral that does the same. If you want to get 20 Gbps speeds, all three pieces: the port, the peripheral and the cable, must support that speed. What Can I Do with USB 3.2 or USB 3.1? Sabrent's HB-U3CR looks like it was built for MacBooks, thanks to a gunmetal gray aluminum chassis and a stylish, slanted design that will prop it up at an insertion-friendly angle on any table. However, it's an equally strong choice for use with a PC laptop that has USB-C ports and needs a few USB Type-A connections. In 2013, USB-IF announced that it was taking USB up to 10 Gbps and, in doing so, changed the version number for all USB 3.x products. So USB 3.0 (5 Gbps) became USB 3.1 Gen 1 and the new, 10 Gbps speed became USB 3.1 Gen 2.
The USB 3.2 specification defines multi-lane operation for new USB 3.2 hosts and devices, allowing for up to two lanes of 10Gbps operation to realize a 20Gbps data transfer rate. While USB hosts and devices were originally designed as single-lane solutions, USB Type-C ®cables were designed from the outset to support multi-lane operation to ensure a path for scalable performance. This industrial-grade USB hub can extend your device's single USB port to four USB 3.2 ports and allows you to switch the USB devices between two host computers (e.g. Laptop and Raspberry Pi). Speed: Most USB hubs operate at standard USB 3.0 (aka USB 3.2 Gen 1) speeds of 5 Gbps. However, a few can deliver 10 Gbps. There are also some cheapies that are limited to USB 2; avoid those at all costs. Ethernet is easier, as it’s hard to find a hub that doesn’t support Gigabit Ethernet speeds. That said, a small number now support the faster 2.5 Gigabit (2.5GbE) standard, which isn’t a priority for most home networks, but a plus for advanced users or just for future proofing.Ethernet: A wired Ethernet connection is almost always faster than Wi-Fi and is more reliable, too. Most hubs with Ethernet ports support gigabit speeds, meaning data can transfer at up to 1,000 megabits a second. For each model in the test group, we verified the connection speed in Network Utility on a Mac, which displays the maximum link speed. (Note that unless you have reliable Gigabit Ethernet service, you won’t be able to measure if the port is actually performing at full speed.) Similar to the Sabrent HB-U3CR, the Atolla delivered 1.2 amps at 4.8 volts on our power test and it charged our phone at 4.78 volts and 1.35 watts. The Atolla hub also offered similar performance to other hubs; we detected no slowdowns when copying files with our test SSD.
USB continues to be the answer to connectivity and charging for PCs, Consumer Electronics, Display and Mobile architectures. It is a fast, bidirectional, low-cost, dynamically attachable interface that is consistent with the requirements of the PC platforms of today and tomorrow.
Tired of switching plugs in and out of sockets or looking for an easier way to connect? Splash out on one of the best USB hubs to buy
Upstream connection (Type-A or Type-C?): USB hubs have multiple downstream ports to connect to your devices but only one upstream connector, which could be a port but is often a built-in wire that connects to your computer. Many laptops, including a lot of the best Ultrabooks, only have USB-C ports, so your hub's upstream connector would have to be Type-C. Asides from these great features, it also has multiple OS support for use with a wide range of devices including Mac OS, Linux, Windows 11 / 10 / 8.1 / 8 / 7 / XP, and many more! And with a 2 in 4 out feature, a small size, and mounting support for easy installation, this industrial USB hub has everything you need for a multiple-device project! If you're using a USB hub, you'll want at least a 5 Gbps connection, because all of the peripherals connected to that hub will be sharing that bandwidth. So, if you have a mouse, a keyboard and a webcam all plugged into the same hub, they will definitely need at least the 5 Gbps that USB 3.2 Gen 1 / USB 3.1 Gen 1 provides. You can also get other versions of Inatek's USB hub, the HB2025 for example, that connect to your computer via USB-C, which is a more common interface for 10 Gbps connections, particularly on laptops. We really wish one of these hubs had a mix of USB-C and USB Type-A downstream ports, but they are all Type-A downstream. Some USB-C hubs go further by incorporating USB-PD passthrough. Here the idea isn’t so much to power the connected devices as to power the laptop the hub connects to, so that you just connect the laptop to the hub, and it charges as you use it without the charger taking up the spare USB-C port. The key thing here is how much power the hub can supply. Most will deliver 80W or more when used with a 100W charger, which should more than cover any laptop. However, with some you’re looking at 50W or less, which might mean missing out on fast-charging modes on some of those laptops that support them.
Not every USB Hub is one of the best USB hubs you can buy. We tested a number of other models that are worth considering, but not necessarily at the head of the class. We also connected an Android phone to the ports and recorded how many volts and amps it received. The phone charging test was probably the most realistic as it showed what kind of volts and amps a real device would negotiate with the hub.If you're using an external storage device – perhaps an NVMe drive you've put in one of the best SSD enclosures– you’d benefit a great deal from using a hub that supports 10 Gbps connections – alternatively known as USB 3.1 Gen 2 or USB 3.2 Gen 2. Unfortunately, very few USB hubs actually support these higher speeds and even fewer still support the 10 Gbps speed when it comes from a Type-A, rather than a Type-C, port. If you have a recent-gen iPad with a USB-C connector, you may find yourself wishing you could connect a USB Type-A device, headphones or even an external display. Anker’s 541 USB-C Hub for iPads has you covered with a unique design that’s meant to snap right into the side of your tablet or even a USB-C laptop. There’s no wire as the USB-C plug and a slight, protruding chin hold the entire metal hub in place. HDMI: A hub can be very useful at a desk, especially if you want to hook your computer up to an external monitor. We connected each of the hubs via HDMI to a Philips 272P7VUBNB/27 monitor with the resolution set to 4K, and we used the Blur Busters UFO Motion Test to confirm the refresh rate. Most hubs support only a 30 Hz refresh rate (the image refreshes 30 times a second) at 4K resolution, but a handful now support a smoother 60 Hz rate, and we prefer those hubs that do. Industrial grade HUB chip, adopting MTT technology, allows stable and smooth 4x concurrent USB connections
Any extra connectivity? Some USB-C hubs will come with HDMI out, allowing you to connect to a monitor, provided that your PC can output video from its Type-C port. Other hubs have microSD or SD card readers built-in. This UGreen unit is another basic USB hub, with four USB 3.0/3.1 Gen 1 ports connecting through a single USB-A connection. Disappointingly, what looks like an aluminium casing turns out to be plastic, which feels a little creaky in comparison to some models, but it’s robust enough for daily desktop or mobile use. The big advantage this one has over similarly priced rivals is a 5V micro-USB input, meaning it can charge devices while in use (without any fast charge support) and run one or more USB SSDs or HDDs – we tried it with one of each without any issues. The only downside? You’ll need to supply your own charger and cable, but it’s hard to grumble at this price. Essentially, it's a tiny, super-fast connector that many of the best laptops today have a connector for, with the only downside being that USB A or USB B connectors can't be used with a USB Type-C port (that's where a USB Type-C hub comes in handy). Take some of the claims made by some manufacturers with a pinch of salt. We tested a couple of hubs that promised high-end features but failed to deliver during testing. For example, they might promise 4K at 60Hz, but you might find that this only works on specific laptops and displays.
Features
Over-voltage protection, effectively preventing other high-voltage power inputs from damaging the connected devices pixelpusher220 said:At least for me this was helpful. Basically all that's important is the Gen 1/2 for the Type A, and only Gen2x2 for the zippy zippy. Finally, and perhaps most importantly, external SSDs and the best hard drives need at least USB 3.2 / 3.1 / 3.0 speeds. The fastest external SSDs or SSD enclosures can operate at USB 3.2 Gen 2 (10 Gbps) or USB 3.2 Gen 2x2 (20 Gbps), though the 10 Gbps speed is far more common and cheaper. Anyone who works with microcontrollers such as the Raspberry Pi Pico or any Arduino board knows that most of these devices don't have on / off switches or even reset buttons. So, if you change code and need to restart them or you just want to power them off, you often need to yank the plug in and out, a huge hassle that could damage your gear. But with the Sabrent HB-B7C3, you can just toggle power on whatever port your microcontroller is plugged into.
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