When you search “USB hub” on Amazon, the first thing that comes up is usually one of Anker’s hubs. That’s amazing! But, I haven’t seen far too many USB products other than hubs and Ethernet adapters, so I was thinking Anker could make more USB-A products. Like an inverse hub, where two computers connect to 1 USB that you can switch between them (like this); a USB 3 dock (with and without DisplayLink) with ports found on say, the 12-in-1 dock; and finally, USB hubs with more port selections (SD, Type-C, RJ45 Ethernet). Have a good day!
Idea for new product: USB 3.0 switches and docks
Have you seen all the threads on issues with hubs?
I know that issues/complaining naturally will be seen out of proportion as happiness tends to be quieter, but there are a lot of issues arising.
I think if you need ports, buy computers with them, and if you need a few more then attach the lowest power items to the hub.
Hubs are a natural bottleneck for power and bandwidth and the more ports the worse the bottleneck.
I know some people have a laptop decision forced on them by work from home corporate laptop decisions but even then there’s usually a choice. Get the laptop with the most ports and so minimise the need for hubs when you can.
Even if you do get a hub which works, there’s still the risk the laptop software is updated and breaks the hub, we see it a lot mentioned here with Apple.
Hubs and Bluetooth are two very common issues here.
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I have this issue as well. I have an Alienware m15 r2 and it only has 3 USB 3.0 ports and one thunderbolt port. Running a wireless gaming mouse, a full size gaming keyboard, and portable hard drive I have to use a hub. I have small 4 port hub and works ok running a keyboard and a mouse is fine but things might get a little stressed on the system if I am processing video from the hub, while using the mouse/keyboard. I tested to hard drives on the non powered hub one. processing video and play video on the other. I had issues, but if I plug in directly the notebook no issues.
I resolve this issue by I purchasing an Anker 7-in-1 USB-C Hub and everything plugs in there with no issues. At some point I’m purchasing a docking station, I tested one and it works great for my needs.
I have an older 12 inch Dell Business laptop with only one USB 3.0 port and 1 USB 2.0 I use for travel or when I need a small computer but don’t need heavy processing power. I use a 3.0 hub to plug in my portable hard drive and other devices that need 3.0. No issues there, but I’m limited the amount of data going through the that one port.
Ah, then just a switch (press a button and switch a USB 3 port between computers)? That isn’t a hub so it should have the power (maybe with an optional external power supply) and speed to function well.
Yeah, USB Type-A is pretty limited compared to Type-C, you have 4 pins or 9 pins against 24 pins, so naturally Type-A is much more limited. However, there could be hubs that split that bandwidth equally: like 1 4Gbps USB 3 and 1Gbps ethernet (but that again introduces bottlenecking), or a USB 3 hub with GbE and a couple of USB 2 ports.