StarTechcom 4-Port USB C Hub - USB 3.2 Gen 2 (10Gbps) - 3x USB-A & 1x USB-C - Powered - Universal Power Adapter Included , TAA (HB31C3A1CS)

HB31C3A1CS hub works great.Arrived in perfect condition, makes no noise, and performance is good.This hub can be especially useful for security purposes. I place sensitive data, that is, financial, health, personal data on an external USB SSD connected to hub. I leave the hub switched off most of the time. I always 'off-line' personal data and have off-line backups also. Really like this hub for that purpose. No need to plug-in and unplug external USB drive(s) from PC. Just turn hub switch on and off. Very convenient.If I was going to leave a USB hub on 24/7 I would likely seek another hub optimized for 24/7 operations.

I got this when my MacBook got so hot it burned my fingers when I had a USB drive plugged in. That condition meant I could use those drives only for short periods before the laptop got too hot to touch. Almost surprised the laptop survived that extreme heat.This USB dock/hub is powered, and works great with USB drives that need more than trivial amounts of power. You can plug in several drives at a time, a mixture of USB connector types, and all work together happily. The MacBook stays cool now, since it is no longer providing the power to the hungry drives.One quick FYI - the USB port on the hub that is used to connect the dock to the computer is clearly labeled, but you do need to remember that it is the only port to use for that. If you forget that and try to connect with a different port you could be puzzled about why the computer does not see any new USB devices.

I went to college for both Computer Engineering and Computer Science and I have been building my own computer since the 1990s.On my current desktop computer, that I built around 3 years ago. The USB-C port on the motherboard, didn't have the power and an external hard drive would keep disconnecting and reconnecting. When I added this powered USB-C hub, the external hard drive stayed connected and stop disconnecting. It remains connected constantly, and I can leave the external hard drive plugged in for days, and it is always connected. So that is an A+++ in my book.But this type of powered USB-C hub is only really necessary if your motherboard or computer is "lacking the power" to support what you have plugged into your USB-C port. I have used things like an Oculus VR attached to my computer, without having to add extra power. So before buying this, make sure, you actually need it. Otherwise an unpowered USB-C hub is about 10 times cheaper.In my case with my external hard drive, I needed to get this and it solved my problem.

Good ol' StarTech... I've gone through several other Type-C hubs, but none lived up to their descriptions. This one is simple, and does everything you'd want for USB 3.1 gen2 drives and devices. It runs all ports at 10GB if the connected device (and its connecting cable) support that speed. It's fully backwards compatible. Dual-purpose data/power port works with all configurations. It had no trouble with 3 separate devices connected simultaneously, and with transferring data between them. I've used 2 Type-As and 1 Type-C flash drives at the same time, and also mixed-in with an external HDD. To make it even better, it works at full speed when I plug it into the USB Type-A 3.1 gen2 port on the PC (via a QianLink USB A 3.1 gen2 male to USB C 3.1 gen2 female Converter). Using a Type-C 3.1 gen2 extension cable, I can end up with 2 fast Type-C female connections (plus the 2 Type-As on the hub) where I used to have only one of each. Just make sure that all of your cables are up-to-speed. ;}

Review for HB31C3A1CS 10 Gbps Hub.Tried this out and the hub appears to be incompatible with my setup (including a Startech PEXUSB321C 20 Gbps port card...) under Windows 10 at 10 G.First off, some smaller bad things.*) The plastic case sides came slightly scuffed, apparently from rubbing against the cardboard shipping box despite being firmly held in place.*) I haven't had this long, but I could swear it or its power supply sometimes makes a faint noise under load. (Didn't look into this further since other bad things took my attention).Now my main problems.*) I initially connected this hub to a motherboard USB 3.1 (Asmedia 1242 chip based) 10 Gbps USB-A port. This seems to rapidly cycle and never get fully connected.The cable I used is supposed to be a USB-IF certified 3 ft. 10 Gbps cable. I tried it with the USB-C side connector in both orientations for the heck of it.The same port and cable works without issue connected directly to my Sandisk Extreme V2 2 TB external SSD (including testing with CrystalDiskMark 8.0.1). This is the only 10 Gbps device I have to test with.*) Thinking it was some type of incompatibility with my motherboards built-in port, I went and bought a Startech PEXUSB321C PCI-E adapter card. This has a single 20 Gbps USB 3.2 Gen 2x2 port (supposedly backward compatible with 'USB 3.2 Gen 2x1'/ 'USB 3.1 Gen 2' as I understand it).It appears to be Asmedia 3242 Chip based as best as I can tell.This gets connected to the hub. So I then connected the HUB to the Sandisk drive. Under heavy load from Crystal DiskMark the drive will disconnect and reconnect.Simply copying a file to the Sandisk will cause it to start and either run more slowly than expected, or stop and disconnect.If I use the same port and the same provided USB-C to USB-C cable connecting the adapter port directly to the Sandisk drive, then everything works fine (and at the expected high speed).I tried different USB-IF certified USB-C to USB-C cables for both the hub to drive and PC port to hub. That doesn't work any differently.*) Connecting the hub to my motherboards 5 Gbps ports seems to work without issue (although only at 5 Gbps).For a final test, I connected the HUB to a Laptop with a USB-C Thunderbolt 3 port (supposedly backwards compatible with USB 3.1 Gen 2). At least for that test things seemed to work o.k. at 10 Gbps using the Sandisk drive attached to the hub.But, I bought this to use with my PC and this appears to be incompatible with it's built-in 10 G port, as well as a Startech adapter 20 G port when used at 10 G. (You might expect it to work well with another Startech product...).So, at least for my P.C. setup, this didn't work properly at 10 Gbps.