Do you have too few connections on your laptop or PC to connect all your peripherals? This problem is easily solved with a USB hub. When ordering, note that there are more versions of this, equipped with the older USB 2.0 or with the fast 3.0 (recognizable by the blue bar in the plug). The USB C hub is for laptops with the small connector. Preferably choose USB 3.0 to benefit from high speed. If you also want to be able to charge your smartphone and tablet, choose a USB hub with power supply.
List of Best USB Hubs:
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What is a USB hub?
Universal Serial Bus is designed to easily connect peripherals to a computer such as laptop or PC. The ease with which it works has made it one of the most popular peripherals in computer technology. Due to this popularity, more and more devices are equipped with this technique. Because laptops are getting smaller, there is often only room for one or two Universal Serial Bus connections.
But what if all connections to a laptop or PC are in use and you want to connect another device. Is there no possibility to connect additional devices? Yes, that is possible with a USB hub. This allows you to easily expand the number of connections on a laptop or PC. Plug the USB hub into a connector on your computer, then plug the devices into the USB hub. No need to install any software, the USB hub is automatically recognized by your laptop or PC. This applies to systems with Windows, Mac OS and Linux.
Types of USB Connections
When ordering it is important that you know which version to order. We explain here what you should pay attention to. At the moment there are three widely used Universal Serial Bus versions: USB 2.0, 3.0 and C.
The 2.0 version of these 3 is the oldest and most used version. You can recognize this connection by a white or black block in the connection itself. The maximum transfer speed of this is 480 Mb / s (megabit per second). This speed is sufficient for most peripherals such as keyboards, mice and printers. This 2.0 version is less suitable for mass storage devices such as portable hard drives, flash drives and memory sticks. For this equipment it is useful to use the much faster USB 3.0. The maximum transfer speed of this is 5 Gb / s (gigabit per second), which is more than ten times faster than the older 2.0 version. USB C is a new modern connection that you can find on, among others, the Apple MacBook laptops. The type C connection uses a much smaller plug. The maximum speed of this is equal to that of USB 3.0.
Number of USB Connections
Once you have determined which type you need, the next step is to determine how many connections you need. Keep in mind that with connecting you lose one Universal Serial Bus connection. A version with four connections therefore only gives you three extra connections. If you buy a USB hub for on the go, it is useful to buy a small and light model.
A hub chip has four USB connections as standard. As a result, a small version also has four connections as standard. There are also three-port hubs with a different port, using one of the chip’s standard ports for this purpose. Hubs are available with, for example, a network connection or an SD card slot. If you buy one to put on a desk or work table, it is useful to choose a model with more connections than you need. You are then prepared for the future.
Bus powered or self powered?
For a small model, the power supply required for the built-in chip and communication with connected equipment is supplied via the Universal Serial Bus connection cable. This is referred to as bus powered. A version with more than four connections is often self-powered. Because the power that can be supplied via a bus is limited, these hubs provide the necessary energy via their own external adapter. This adapter is included.
The advantage of a self-powered hub is that it often has one or more high-current charging connections. These connections are specially designed for charging your smartphone or tablet and are therefore not connected to your computer. The maximum current these ports can supply is 1 or 2.1 amps. It is possible to connect an adapter to these combination hubs. When connecting an adapter, the hub behaves as a self-powered hub. If no adapter is connected, the hub behaves as a bus powered hub. These hubs do not come standard with an adapter, so you have to purchase them separately if you want to use the hub as a self-powered hub.
