Is this the hub for me? I have two WD portable hard drives for backup, a couple thumbdrives, some external devices (usb-powered game controllers, self-powered ide hard drive enclosures) and other odds and ends (blinkm programmable leds and a wireless...
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I think that it would. I have had a number of bus-powered hard drives plugged in at the same time, with no problems. However, if you do not intend to use it for charging devices, you could save the $10 extra that the charging feature costs. I do use the charging ports, and I find them to be really useful.
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Frankly I have found NO external drive either desktop or portable that have been particularly easy to work with and customer service of all (WD, Seagate, or Toshiba) either don't reply period or if they do it's gooble-de-gook. Seems as though that the hardware is perfectly capable of storing data but retrieving it is another question. The software is totally, absurdly complex. (Ditto thumb drives with password protected sectors. Impossible!) IT folks decry the fact that no one bothers to back up anything. Guess why?
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I don't know what wireless hard drive you are using but this is a 3A power, it's like 6 standard computers usb, if something works on your computer, it will work on this hub.
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I think you can have as many of these as you want. Just need to have the USB ports or a bunch of usb hubs.
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Yes you sure can however be advised that I think you should use a powered USB hub... I have a wireless mouse and keyboard, a gigabit wired network adapter, and I have hooked up external drives to it... No issues... However one issue I have noticed: if you leave this thing unplugged for too long it forgets itself and you have to perform a reset up of all your stuff.. On the flip side if you leave it plugged in all the time it is frozen and you have to reset it.. I'm thinking about putting a timed outlet controller on it so it resets daily to prevent that..
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Marginal USB power is ALWAYS a risk with drives that run off USB power. I use my portables to hold maintenance and diagnostic tools. They get plugged into different machines every week, and you never know how much power those machines will be supplying. Some machines (especially laptops) just don't put out the power required to run many drives, and some drives suck down more power than others. When you hear the metronome noise, that's an indication that there isn't enough power. Worse, I have had portable disks work fine for a few weeks or months and then start the metronome noise. When I see that a drive "doesn't need a power cable" I always look for whether it comes with a power jack ANYWAY. That way, you can always add wall power if you're having problems. The best deal of all (as far as reliability) are drives like Other World Computing's, that "don't need a power cord" but come with a power jack AND a power adapter for the same price. That way you can run it off a marginal laptop, an unpowered hub, or whatever you need to.
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I have a "very old" External Hard drive...not this make/model...I turn it on once/quarter to backup recent files...it's probably over 3 years old. Recently, I bought one of these WD Elite 500GB models...my plan is to backup on two externals...in case one fails. I know this seems lame, but it is the only way to ensure everything sticks around. Seems like its worth the extra $100.
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I think you would be better served with a power adapter hub... search "usb hub with power adapter" on Amazon. I wouldn't put a HD on this Sabrent USB 4port Hub 2.0, it seems to lose connections with HDs too easily.
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I tried hooking up a portable 2.5 2TB hard drive and it had trouble keeping it powered. However, when I attached a USB hub to the smart dock, I was able to plug the hard drive to the hub and it functioned without any problems.
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MANUFACTURER RESPONSE: Good question, Alan - thanks for asking! As you mentioned, the My Cloud (and similar NAS devices from other manufacturers - this is not strictly a WD issue) are a bit picky when it comes to using USB 3.0 hubs. Generally USB 2.0 hubs work more reliably in this type of configuration, so we generally suggest going with that option. If the speed of USB 3.0 is a necessity, directly attaching a drive to the NAS will probably be the most reliable solution. If the speed of 3.0 is needed along with having additional ports, it's probably a good idea to contact WD to see if they have a tested/approved list of USB 3.0 hubs that have been tested with this NAS. If you have any other questions or concerns by all means feel free to send us an email at support@plugable.com - thanks!
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Hi Jeremy King,WD hard drive have passed our test and should be compatible with Anker hub. Would you confirm with your hard drive supplier as well? Can the other USB device work fine with Anker hub? If not, feel free to write to us directly with your valid order# at support@ianker.com for quick assistance. Anker Team1-800-988-7973 support@ianker.com Mon-Fri 9am to 5pm(pst)
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That's exactly what I'm doing and why I bought this; however I am certainly no hardware guru. It takes a while for it to show upon explorer (4-5 secs), windows needs to read it, etc. I would go to the internet and find a forum that has a topic for hardware, giving them the model, intent, etc. Let me know what you find out. I am interested. My final goal it to set up a RAID, still need one more hard drive.
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Flash drives and HDD's will do fine on this hub. far as I know it doesn't have a dedicated charging port. all 10 ports look the same to me. I have hooked my smartphone and tablet to the hub and they both charge on any port as well as show up on my PC for data transfer at the same time.
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Yes you can do that (that is what I do) but I suggest you buy the DS213j, the newer version of this. It has more RAM, a newer CPU, and floating-point and it is cheaper! You can attach two external drives or a powered hub with, I believe up to seven devices total.
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I have not attempted to use the hub w/o the power adapter, as I have nine USB components connected to it, including a webcam, two printers, two scanners, turntable, VCR, DVD drive, etc.
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I have set up a few of these drives for users. In some cases I installed the WD softwares, but in others I did not, depending on the user and his needs. For my personal drive I just plug it in to a USB port and use it as I would any other physical, virtual or cloud storage device. I never installed the software.
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I believe the answer is "yes", although I have only had one external hard drive plugged in - as well as a printer, mouse, and keyboard.