Review on 💪 Enhanced Plugable USB 2.0 7-Port High Speed Hub - Boosted with 15W Power Adapter by Ricky Khan

I've spent the last week wrestling with a really cheap 7-port USB hub that's still available at Revain for about $5 (avoid it ). I had 2 of these cheap hubs, one with a 1A DC adapter and the other with 500mA. Since EVERY USB 2.0 port must supply 500mA, these DC adapters weren't just a joke. You are offensive. Whoever designed and manufactured them thought the best way to take advantage of the limited power was to load the device with a dozen or so brightly blinking LEDs that didn't actually show anything. They just flash all sorts of random colors all the time. If you want a nice night light and the ability to extend a low-power device or two a few feet further, then these cheap hubs are for you. Otherwise they are garbage. Googling I found several indications that this plug-in hub is good enough to use with a Raspberry Pi. Pluggable has paid close attention to the needs of its customers, particularly the Raspberry community, offering product performance guarantees that other vendors cannot and cannot provide. Received my Pluggable Hub today and am very impressed so far. I filled all the ports with various devices including the Pi itself for power. I haven't seen any signs of devices failing and the Pi hasn't hung up yet. Below is what I have connected and working at the moment. Not all devices are currently heavily used at the same time, but I've tested every device and they all work. INITIAL LOAD TEST: USB-IN = Raspberry Pi (to use hub ports with Pi) Port 1 = Raspberry Pi port (to power Pi) Port 2 = Logitech Wireless RF Module (for keyboard and mouse) Port 3 = Wi -Fi adapter Realtec Port 4 = Simpletech 40 GB hard drive (USB powered, no DC adapter) Port 5 = Logitech Rumblepad 2 (vibration/force feedback enabled and working) Port 6 = DVB-T USB HDTV ReceiverPort 7 = External WD 320GB Hard Drive (powered by DC adapter) Since this all works I will eventually try unplugging the DC adapter from the second hard drive and plugging in a second force feedback gamepad just to see if I can break something. I'm pretty optimistic, even if it doesn't go too far. I really need to make sure every device is actively being used at the same time. your PC or device. This is important if you are using it as a hub for a Raspberry Pi, Beaglebone or other development board and only want to power the board when the power cable is plugged in. GROUNDING LOOP FREE PI AUDIO: Raspberry Pi folks might want to hear that using this hub completely rids your analog audio of background noise. Before adding this hub, my audio was full of interesting hums, buzzes, buzzes, clicks, etc. I've plugged the Pi into a power strip several times with the power supply for the Pi and also one for the hub, resulting in a ground loop. This acted like an antenna and picked up any RF noise generated by the Pi and other devices. I could hear mouse movement, mouse wheel spinning, and the Pi itself while it was using the CPU and SD card. And all via a steady, low hum. Now that the Pi is connected to a pluggable hub, the sound is crystal clear. When I first put the headphones on to test them, I figured my audio had stopped working for some reason because I couldn't hear any hissing at all. I had to play the wav file to make sure the sound was working and on. I figured the HDMI connection would still introduce a ground loop through the monitor's power cord, but luckily that's not a problem. MODERATE LIGHTS: These indicate when the hub is powered on (red) and which ports have devices connected. (blue). They are not too bright and do not flicker. An avatar of this product with glowing LEDs might lead you to think they are too bright, but they are not. NO FREE CABLES: You're reading this, which is probably why you've read other reviews that mention a loose USB input or plugging in a DC adapter is problematic. This is for older models with bugs and the problem has been fixed. The power cord fits snugly into the hub, as does the mini-USB-IN. Cable of large section and reasonable length. HANDLING SPACE: I wasn't overly impressed with the physical layout of this hub, I wanted a hub with all ports facing the same direction so it would take up less desk space and look better. cable management. That being said, all the ports have enough space below each other to accommodate those weird bulky USB devices like fat thumb drives or big giant WiFi dongles with a ridiculous antenna screwed to it. The fact that the ports are on the top, left, and right means the hub sits stable and level on the surface, even with heavier devices attached. It would sit very nicely on top of a computer tower and let the wires hang down the sides. HIS SHINIE: The first thing I did was leave fingerprints on him. I would prefer a matte black, non-glossy finish that doesn't require fine buffing once finished. But now it's just a little thing. CONS: The little rubber feet are small and don't stick very well. A couple of times I noticed they were gone only to find one on the floor or stuck to something else. Plugable should offer the best rubber feet that actually work. UPDATE: I now have 3 of these! While the shape, layout, and rubber feet could be a little better, the performance and overall quality couldn't be much better.