I always think cables, hubs, and docks should be reliable ones even if they cost more Otherwise they become the weakest links in your setup
Well sure, but how to tell before you buy them?
Teardown: A Generic 7-Port USB 3.0 Hub That Wasn't
61–70 of 112 posts
Re: Teardown: A Generic 7-Port USB 3.0 Hub That Wasn't
#62My first thought whenever I come across such a badly-engineered no-name device is "oh great, another bad reference design which will poison the pool of all the available devices out there" It helps a bit to spot and avoid that exact exterior design, but often those devices are designed to reuse the same mold as more-expensive ones and/or keep changing the design based on the purchasing customer. So you end up on AliE…
"Ah, that's Rev. B, yeah, known problem..." Like I could somehow buy by PCB rev. Sometimes they even swap entire controllers within the same Rev.
That's the point, the dimension is "yeah, the ODM also offers a 2 USD cheaper hub that uses a USB2.0 controller for 7 of the 8 ports", and now you're browsing a list of equally looking products spanning 5 to 15 USD without a clue which of the straws you're going to pull...
Re: Teardown: A Generic 7-Port USB 3.0 Hub That Wasn't
#63[flagged]
Re: Teardown: A Generic 7-Port USB 3.0 Hub That Wasn't
#64Well, of course there is the "buy cheap, get trash, duh!" talking point. But if I pay more, who's to say I'll get a better product? The OEM or some middleman or whoever might just pocket the difference and push crap anyway. Well-known brands have done this as well, either intentionally or because they got shafted by their supplier as well.
> But if I pay more, who's to say I'll get a better product?
Price isn’t the only axis by which products are evaluated.
Aliexpress eBay and even Amazon are full of listings that have high prices, just waiting for someone naive enough to mistake them for quality products. They don’t sell much or at all.
When people find a cheap product from a known brand they jump on it because they know there’s a higher chance of it being okay, and if not there’s a higher chance that they can return it or get warranty support.
When people buy a JUPQRKBOT branded Amazon special for a too good to be true price, they know they’re playing a different and much riskier game.
Re: Teardown: A Generic 7-Port USB 3.0 Hub That Wasn't
#65Earlier quoted context omitted.
> I was using these to automate keyboard activity, I’m interested.
You can check my own project doing the same. It's a one key keyboard that also can be set to jiggle the mouse a bit. https://github.com/markomarkovic/nena-ilo-lili
Did you use generative AI to design this? Superpowers plugin? This is cool, but if you did use AI that’s another level of cool :)
https://github.com/markomarkovic/nena-ilo-lili/blob/main/doc...
Re: Teardown: A Generic 7-Port USB 3.0 Hub That Wasn't
#66It's a classic scam. It is a 3.0 USB 7-Port Hub, not a 7-port USB 3.0 Hub. The number 3.0 is the model number of the hub, not the protocol.
Ah like the roller bearing manufacturer established in the town of Ball, so the company could be called BALL BEARING.
Re: Teardown: A Generic 7-Port USB 3.0 Hub That Wasn't
#67Well, of course there is the "buy cheap, get trash, duh!" talking point. But if I pay more, who's to say I'll get a better product? The OEM or some middleman or whoever might just pocket the difference and push crap anyway. Well-known brands have done this as well, either intentionally or because they got shafted by their supplier as well.
The stance ‘all hubs are trash’ has served me well.
It's easy to get that impression when you're buying stuff from the big box store, because it's all race to the bottom type stuff.
When I run into this issue in any product category, I can solve it by searching for a solution from an "industrial" or "commercial" supplier. It'll cost 10x, but it'll usually work, and if it doesn't you'll at least be able to talk to someone who knows what they're doing.
In just about any product category, there is very little quality difference within the same order of magnitude in cost.
Re: Teardown: A Generic 7-Port USB 3.0 Hub That Wasn't
#68The trend of slapping two STT 4-port hubs together is so common, that even name-brand hubs for reputable brands are often this, including the back feed issues. I purchased hubs form a solar-named company, and one that has a similar name to a large US department store, and they were cascaded 4port, STT, ganged overcurrent and switching.
I've started buying PCBAs from Ali, where the vendor advertises the exact chip set in use. It's often cheaper than domestic options.
Listings for assembled hubs (whether ali or domestic) almost never include information about the hub's actual characteristics, unless you're looking at a 300+ hub sold to audiophiles.
I'd really like a source for a true 7p hub, with MTT, proper power, per-port overcurrent and power switching, but I can't seem to find one, especially since vendors tend to rev b2c products with no notice (one of the name-brand ones I bought had been downcosted shortly before I bought it).
Re: Teardown: A Generic 7-Port USB 3.0 Hub That Wasn't
#69I have one (ANKER IIRC?) that looks very much like this, but with two-position buttons that actually cut power, and USB3.0 level connection on all ports I tried. Also comes with the proper power supply for the barrel power connector. I suppose this one is a knock-off of mine :D
I trust Anker and yet I recently got a phone charger where the USB wall adapter was a dud
Re: Teardown: A Generic 7-Port USB 3.0 Hub That Wasn't
#70OMG, websites that don't properly render in modern browsers still exist in 2026, when you don't even need a human to create it.
It's wordpress; it renders well on firefox anyway.