USB 3.0 Hubs have always been pretty "meh" for me. I think the quality control, even on name brands, is poor.
It's the spec. "It just doesn't work" whether or not the hardware or software is good quality.
Teardown: A Generic 7-Port USB 3.0 Hub That Wasn't
91–100 of 112 posts
Re: Teardown: A Generic 7-Port USB 3.0 Hub That Wasn't
#92Wow, thats very informative. This also tells you that cheap knockoffs can also be deadly if the circuity is poor.
Re: Teardown: A Generic 7-Port USB 3.0 Hub That Wasn't
#93Earlier quoted context omitted.
The other day my bicycle light gave out, so I took it apart - was not the most expensive option, but also not the cheapest. It was advertised as having a 2600mAh battery, but when I opened it up, inside there was a 1700mAh cell. Also no sign of purported weatherproofing, as the lens was not even glued in. I have a 2000mAh cell in the same form factor (approximately 500Wh/l, so believable) on its way from China, which…
> how did they come up with that 2600mAh figure. The same capacity corresponds to different mAh at different voltages, maybe they are playing games with that.
AKA lying. No need to steelman dishonest small-time crooks and marketers from China.
Also, it's not the voltage, but over-current that reduces overall produced energy.
Typically the mAh is listed at some standard discharge rate, unless the cell is specifically advertised as a high-current draw cell. But either way an honest supplier will provide the draw/capacity table for you, rather than cherry pick the best one.
Re: Teardown: A Generic 7-Port USB 3.0 Hub That Wasn't
#94Earlier quoted context omitted.
The other day my bicycle light gave out, so I took it apart - was not the most expensive option, but also not the cheapest. It was advertised as having a 2600mAh battery, but when I opened it up, inside there was a 1700mAh cell. Also no sign of purported weatherproofing, as the lens was not even glued in. I have a 2000mAh cell in the same form factor (approximately 500Wh/l, so believable) on its way from China, which…
Because more is better. Seriously, the game they play is at this point ludicrous. I saw 18650 cell being advertised through the years as 2500mAh, to 3500mAh (still reasonable/credible), then suppliers started to one-up each other and you could see 5000mAh, 9000mAh, 9999mAh up to, I kid you not, 1.000.000mAh. If I had no clue, of course I would by the 1KAh single cell XD
I wonder when they're finally going to one-up each other with the 18650 model number itself? Make it 18660, 19650 or 18650000!
Anecdote: back in 2004, a friend brought home a cheap digital audio player from her vacation to China. IIRC, it said on the front panel that it could play back MP3, MP4, and MP5.
Re: Teardown: A Generic 7-Port USB 3.0 Hub That Wasn't
#95Earlier quoted context omitted.
I've definitely realized this in a couple of markets: Buy cheap, get trash. Buy expensive, get expensive trash with better marketing. Working with power tools from various brands has made me realize they all cheap out in the same ways. Plastic gears where there used to be metal, undersized motor drivers that fry themselves under sustained load, trigger switches that start misbehaving or die completely after a few mon…
Channels like project farm https://youtube.com/@projectfarm or other reviewers that are not sponsored are truly my main source of information in this age. Some direct reviews between 2 and 4 stars are also sometimes useful. Always discard the 5 star ones...
projectfarm is simply amazing!
Re: Teardown: A Generic 7-Port USB 3.0 Hub That Wasn't
#96Earlier quoted context omitted.
I've definitely realized this in a couple of markets: Buy cheap, get trash. Buy expensive, get expensive trash with better marketing. Working with power tools from various brands has made me realize they all cheap out in the same ways. Plastic gears where there used to be metal, undersized motor drivers that fry themselves under sustained load, trigger switches that start misbehaving or die completely after a few mon…
Channels like project farm https://youtube.com/@projectfarm or other reviewers that are not sponsored are truly my main source of information in this age. Some direct reviews between 2 and 4 stars are also sometimes useful. Always discard the 5 star ones...
https://www.youtube.com/@arduinoversusevil2025 also great for teardowns of specific tools. Seeing a few really put into perspective how many companies were transitioning to trading on their brand goodwill instead of making good stuff.
Re: Teardown: A Generic 7-Port USB 3.0 Hub That Wasn't
#97Well, 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 other day my bicycle light gave out, so I took it apart - was not the most expensive option, but also not the cheapest. It was advertised as having a 2600mAh battery, but when I opened it up, inside there was a 1700mAh cell. Also no sign of purported weatherproofing, as the lens was not even glued in. I have a 2000mAh cell in the same form factor (approximately 500Wh/l, so believable) on its way from China, which…
For whatever reason, the lies about specs are particularly egregious for lights. Slopmarts like Amazon and AliExpress happily advertise 50,000 lumen flashlights (which would probably melt after a few seconds if they actually operated at that level)
Re: Teardown: A Generic 7-Port USB 3.0 Hub That Wasn't
#98Earlier quoted context omitted.
So the US had the USPS stop subsidizing Chinese postage rates... and they innovated to leverage subsidies elsewhere. Just stop subsidizing international shipping period seems the smart play. If they want to undercut their own high-end domestic competition and destroy foreign competitors then they can at least pay fair rates.
Which part of "send a giant box of stuff to the US using regular shipping channels and pay whatever duties and/or tariffs are due, sort it out into individual destinations once it gets there, and then deliver with USPS at regular domestic rates" involves this subsidy that you speak of?
You used to be able to get knickknacks on AliExpress (incl shipping) for less than the cost of a US domestic postage stamp. Nowadays it seems like free shipping has a higher minimum, and most of my items use unreliable gig economy services like uniuni for the last mile delivery
Re: Teardown: A Generic 7-Port USB 3.0 Hub That Wasn't
#99Earlier quoted context omitted.
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...
I did use claude code with superpowers plugin and whatever opus version was active at that time. I already had tried it on another project so I had FSM design ready and the decision to use uv and platformio and so it was a smooth run. Described what I want in a few prompts and finalized the spec then let it write it. Wired it up and tested on hardware and after a few small revisions it was done. Few days later improved the design and now it has been running and used since then without issues.
Re: Teardown: A Generic 7-Port USB 3.0 Hub That Wasn't
#100$5 USD. What did you expect? Always surprises me when people pay essentially nothing for a product and then complain about quality.
Marketed as a USB 2.0 hub with a single USB 3.0 port? When I last looked, typing truth via keyboards were free and valuable at the same time.
Of course it's wrong.
But then again, what did you expect? A high quality super reliable full USB 3.0 speed 7 port hub? For $5? That shouldn't pass anybody's smell test. There is a cost to things, and if the price seems too low then your alarm bells need to go off.
(I don't get why I'm downvoted. Maybe I should have been clearer the first time around.)