Belkin USB 2.0 4-Port Hub, White

The Belkin hub performs OK with storage devices, however I tried four different USB cameras; all work on a direct USB connection (using the computers native USB port) NONE of them work with this hub (if I connect the cameras as storage devices I can see the drive, but the cameras FAIL to work AS CAMERAS on this hub). I suspect that this may be true of other "intelligent" USB devices but I have not checked.

This cool little gizmo works just fine in Mac OS X 10.4.11 (On a MacBook Pro) & in Windows 98SE as well as Windows XP Pro. I even was able to get MS-DOS to see the hub. (I didn't know what to do with it in DOS, but the drive plugged into it was there.) It is consistently recognized, whether plugged into the wall or not. If you use Parallels, it works invisibly. Parallels seems to be blind to the hub- a good thing- but the device plugged into it is there & working fine.A really nice surprise was when I plugged in two USB thumb drives at the same time. With any other hub I've had, powered or not, if I plugged in a thumb drive while one was already in, Mac OS X would, quite rudely, kick the first one to the curb- sometimes corrupting data. With this hub, I've had three in at the same time, even without the hub being plugged in. Cool, Huh?I bought it because my external CD/DVD burner needs two USB connections to burn. It has a siamese cable that's too short to reach around the laptop. And, being a MacBook Pro, the USB ports are relatively low powered- 500mW I think. I plug both ends of the two headed monster into this hub and, assuming the hub is plugged into the wall, I'm good to burn disks.So far, I've used it with the afore mentioned USB Thumb Drives, two different flash memory readers and the external CD/DVD burner. I also plugged my camera into it. Everything worked very well. (The camera gives my other hubs fits.)My printer doesn't like any hub I've had so far, but it usually works with this one. Sometimes, however, if the printer is plugged into the hub the printer thinks I just changed cartridges and insists on doing the alignment procedure, wasting time, paper & ink. I doubt it is the hub's fault. The printer is very, very stupid by default. Stupid was pre-programmed into the printer by the manufacturer at no extra charge. Sorry- I'm easily side tracked.The plug-it-in transformer is pretty small and- Hallelujah! - sideways so it won't block the whole receptacle. The power and USB cords are reasonably long. The manufacturer says it has over-current protection built in to protect your computer. From any other manufacturer, I'd take this a marketing hype, but Belkin is straight about stuff. (Or they have me fooled really well!)The hub also has status LED lights. I can't remember what they are supposed to be tell me, but they help me remember to unplug it when I turn off the lights at my desk. One hub I owned had annoying 'See 'Em From The Moon' lights. The ones on this hub are nice & dim, yet still visible.The gimmicky slot on the hub for the cord is probably useful. For my set-up it is just kind of there. The hub comes in two colors. I bought the white one, but it also comes in brown. (Brown? Why brown? Blue? Purple? Even Red, but Brown?. What do I know? I'm not a big time marketing dude.)What would I change? I'd move the two horizontal receptacles to the side opposite the power & input cables. It is certainly no big deal, but for my set-up that would be be spiffy. For other people, having them where they are would be perfect. Yin & YangWhat would I never change? The two receptacles on the top (assuming they don't fill up with dust 'cause they face up). Those are supremely handy!The summary of the above ramblings is: This hub was inexpensive, is well designed, is handy and, believe it or not, it does what is supposed to do. No Fuss! No Muss!Thanks for reading this treatise & I hope it helps you make an informed purchase decision.

This product worked great for about a week. I used it connected to my time capsule with two external hard drives, a printer, and a 1G data stick. After one week the external drives did not work on it. The drives are fine, but the hub will not recognize them.Not worth buying!!!

I purchased this USB hub due to its design and versatility (powered and non-powered). Straight when you take it out of the box you will notice it feels a little heavy due to extra weight on the bottom to make sure it doesn't topple over because of twisted cables. This is a very nice feature and also makes sure it stays in place. It can be powered by the included adapter but also via USB. This means that I can use this at home with my desktop and take it with my laptop on the road without having to bring the power adapter. It has 2 ports on the top and 2 on the side which is a nice feature so you can insert a USB stick easily on the top. The design looks stylish and offers an alternative to your standard black box USB-hub but I would have like more color options. Overall i am satisfied with this purchase which i deem to be of overall good quality.Pros:-can be powered via adapter and USB-Stylish design-Extra weight to make sure it stays in place-Has 2 USB ports on the top to quickly and easily insert a USB-stickCons:-Could have used more color options

Took me three months of troubleshooting my system to finally figure out I did not have a major internal hardware failure and that this Belkin HUB was causing intermittent Kernal Panics several times a month. Not sure if it is unique to this unit, but the unit works perfectly other than causing kernal panics, even with no devices attached to the hub. Do not believe it is a compatibility issue, but not worth the trouble and cost of shipping to return unit to Belkin to get another unit to try. A lot of frustration and time for a really cheap item.

I like the size of the hub and the price, but it lacks power support to USB powered devices. The hub comes with a power supply that is suppose to give the devices connected to it the power they need. I have noticed that my webcam and small business scanner don't work properly when connected to the hub. Flash drives and synchronizing my ipad (not to recharge it) work well. It's a good hub for smaller devices.