The Raspberry Pi has four USB ports for Model B+ and one for Model A+ and more than often, this is not enough. Typically, you need to connect a mouse, keyboard and a wireless adapter. This leaves no more port available if you want to connect auxiliary devices such as flash drive, external hard disk, GPS receiver, bluetooth adapter or others. Furthermore, the Raspberry Pi circuitry can only provide low current through the USB ports which is not enough for power hungry devices such as a USB hard drive. A good powered USB hub is a solution for this and for some, it is a compulsory addition to a Raspberry Pi setup.
This USB hub stands out for two reasons:
It has good power isolation, the upstream port doesn't back feed power to your Pi. A bad quality USB hub could feed power from the upstream port to the host (Raspberry Pi). This bypasses the Pi's voltage regulator and if there is a power surge from the hub, it could cause your Pi acting weird and potentially damaging it.
It can be used to power your Raspberry Pi. Using a regular USB to micro USB cable (not included), your Pi can be powered by the hub. Just connect one of the USB port on the hub to the micro USB port of your Pi. The advantage of this is you only need one power supply for both the hub and the Pi.
This hub is capable to run the full speed of USB 2.0 and at the same time backward compatible with USB 1.1 devices. Unlike other cheap and unpowered hubs, it comes with 5V 2A power adapter to give more juice for power-hungry devices such as wifi adapters, flash drives and external harddisks.
Another nice feature is that it has one charging port capable to deliver the full 2A current to charge your tablet, handphone or any other mobile devices. However, this port cannot be used for data.
To use the hub, connect the uplink USB Type B jack to the USB port of your Pi (host) using the included cable. The hub can be used in powered or unpowered mode. There is a ON/OFF switch at one side of the hub so that you can power it off when not in use.
The included power adapter is a 2-pin US plug, but we include a universal to 3-pin UK plug converter so that you can use the hub right out of the box.
What's included:
6+1 ports USB 2.0 Hub
5V 2A DC power adapter (supports 100-240 AC input)
USB cable for uplink connection to the host
Universal to 3-pin plug converter included
Features:
6 USB2.0 ports and 1 port for charging
ON/OFF switch
LED power indicator
Support both powered and unpowered mode
Support USB 2.0 Transfer Speed up to 480Mbps
Connect up to 127 devices together (through daisy chaining)
Plug and Play, hot swappable
Backward compatible with USB 1.1 specifications
Supports Windows XP/ Windows 7/ Vista/ MAC OS 9.X or latest version
