Usb hub help

[Sean Dyche's Watch]

I am looking at purchasing a usb hub, and have to admit at being way behind the times in terms of developments in technology.

There appears to be two kinds of usb port - 2 and 3.

What's the difference between usb 2 and usb 3?

[ClaretDiver]

The speed of transfer.....however, it will always default to the lowest speed...for example if you plug a USB 3.0 hub into a USB 2.0 port then it will only transfer at the USB 2.0 speed....I think !

[slw]

usb 3 has more pins than usb 2 hence the faster transfer speed, I always use usb 3 when transferring big files like videos to my WD my passport hardrive.

[claptrappers_union]

Yes, USB 3 is faster. There is a different connections for USB 3, but the hub connection part is will accept both as it the same connection shape on the leads.

If you want my opinion. Buy the more expensive hubs from the likes of Belkin. Cheaper USB hubs don’t seem to last very long in my experience

[Sean Dyche's Watch]

Thanks all for your help so far.

So can i plug in a usb 2 cable into a usb 3 socket and it will work?

[slw]

yea, but you only get usb 2 speed.

[Sean Dyche's Watch]

Thank you.

[superdimitri]

You'll want to match your socket so if you are plugging into a USB 3 on your computer get a USB 3 hub.

If USB 2 get a USB 2 hub.

USB 3 ports on computer usually are blue. USB 2 are black.

If your computer is not a laptop be sure to plug your hub into the rear USB ports not the front.

If your computer is a newish laptop you may even have a USB 3 C port you can plug a hub into.

[Sean Dyche's Watch]

Thanks superdimitri.

The usb hub won't be plugged into a computer, it will be plugged into the wall to ehable me to charge different devices, sometimes more than one at the same time.

If i purchase a usb 3 hub, would the devices charge quicker if i replaced the usb 2 cables with usb 3 cables, or is it just for quicker data transfer rates?

[superdimitri]

You can't really do multiple devices at the same time without reducing the total charge current.

Most USB wall chargers will support up to 1.5amps draw and are designed for a single device. Each device you plug in will need to share that load. It may mean depending what you connect each device will fall back to a very slow charge speed. What wall charger are you planning to use and what amperage and voltage is listed on it's output specs? (You can read the small text on the plug section of the charger, probably with a magnifying glass)

A little more info on what exactly you're planning to connect up at the same time would be useful. You may just be better off buying a new power brick with multiple USB sockets which may well be designed to supply increased amperage simultaneously. They can be had for cheap.

To answer your question regarding USB 2 vs 3. USB 3 can support a much higher charging current provided your device and wall charger brick also supports it. The problem is most devices that support this higher speed rely on specific standards so there's no one answer without knowing what devices you are connecting up.