USB Hubs - 1.0 vs. 2.0 Devices

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I was tired of having to constantly play spaghetti shuffle with all of my various USB devices so I bought a D-Link USB Hub so I can have all the devices plugged in simultaneously. I have a bunch of questions and need some help with it.

1. I understand that if you mix USB 1.0 and USB 2.0 devices on a USB 2.0 hub, the 1.0 device reduces the operation of the 2.0 hub to that of 1.0 speeds. Is this true?

2. I need to plug this USB hub into a 2.0 USB port on my PC. I understand that I need to go to Device Manager to see if I have any USB 2.0 ports on my PC. If I do, it will be listed as an Enhanced Host Controller.

According to Device Manager, I have only one of these 2.0 ports on my PC. All the others are Universal Host controllers. I assume that means they are only 1.0 ports. Here's the list:

http://lh6.ggpht.com/_z2t3-2ANqrg/S_MnCtrA_2I/AAAAAAAABX8/FJdjEHxGrhE/s800/USBports.jpg

When I physically view the USB ports on my PC, how do I tell which one of them is the 2.0 port? They all look the same to me. I have ports on both the front and back of the tower case.

3. How do I know which of my devices are USB 2.0? The plugs look the same. So far, I've looked for specification tags on my headphones, my foot pedal, my scanner, my digital camera and my wireless mouse. None of them have any indication as to their USB version.

4. If I have a mixture of 1.0 and 2.0 USB devices, and if I keep the 2.0 ones isolated on the USB hub and plug the 1.0 devices into the 1.0 ports on the PC, will that be sufficient to have optimum operational speeds on all the USB devices?

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Type: Question • Score: 1 • Views: 2,410 • Replies: 8

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@Butrflynet,

I have a very old computer so I don't have USB devices. Have you tried right clicking on them to get to properties which would likely give you the specifications?

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@talk72000,

No, haven't done that. Where would I right click on them, in Device Manager?

And, how do I know which of the 6 ports on my PC is a 2.0 USB port?

2 Replies

@Butrflynet,

Right-click on each of the 1.0 controllers and select "disable". Then connect a USB device to each port to find out which ones are still working.

0 Replies

@Butrflynet,

All of them should be 2.0 since they are all run from the same controller chip. What makes you think any of them are 1.0?

The 82801FB chip controls 8 USB ports and is listed as 2.0

http://ark.intel.com/Product.aspx?id=27676

1 Reply

@parados,

I did a Google search on how to determine 1.0 and 2.0 USB ports and they gave step by step instructions that led to the device manager and said that any that said enhanced host were 2.0 and all others were 1.0.

The reason I'm going through this exercise is to be able to isolate my 2.0 devices on the 2.0 hub which is plugged into the 2.0 USB port.

Why I'm doing that is that several sites (including Amazon comments about various hubs) all warn that if you plug 1.0 devices into the 2.0 hub, the performance of them degrades to that of 1.0.

I'm trying to get the best optimization by isolating the two types on separate ports/hubs.

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My Belkin F5U231 TetraHub USB 2.0 Hub does not drop to 1.0 speed when 1.0 and 2.0 devices are mixed.

0 Replies

@Butrflynet,

Yes, I understand that. But you have to remember that you are not dealing with a "hub" on your computer. The chip on your computer has to be able to run both 1.1 and 2.0 so it will have a driver for both since either can be run. A hub you plug into the computer may have a cheap chip that can't run both 1.1 and 2.0 at once.

This may convince you -

Quote:

Important: on most machines the presence of "Enhanced", even only once (which it typically is), means that all USB ports are USB 2.0 ports. Typically a machine will have only one type of port and this tells you which kind they all are.

http://ask-leo.com/how_can_i_tell_if_i_have_usb_20.html

1 Reply

@parados,

This is the product I bought from Amazon:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00006B7DA/ref=oss_product

http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/41A2wizSq4L._SL500_AA300_.jpg

Quote:

Product Features and Technical Details
Product Features

* High Speed 480Mbps* Transfer Rate
* Plug & Play
* Backwards Compatible with USB 1.1
* Backwards compatible
* Hook multiple hubs to each other to connect up to 127 USB products

Technical Details

* Brand Name: D-Link
* Model: DUB-H4
* Hardware Platform: PC, Mac
* Form Factor: External
* Connectivity Technology: Wired
* Networking Feature: Hub
* Number of Ports: 4
* Data Link Protocol: Hi-Speed USB
* Network Data Transfer Rate: 480 Megabits Per Second

Here's the product page on the dlink website:

http://www.dlink.com/products/?pid=DUB-H4

Under the Overview tab and the Specifications link, there is a footnote to the "standards" section that says:

Quote:

* Using a USB 1.1 port will affect device performance.

I assume that means that using a 1.1 USB port on the computer to plug the DLink 2.0 USB hub into will affect the performance of the DLink hub.

In the Quick Installation Guide that came with the DLink hub, under Tips it says :

Quote:

Remember that when connecting USB 1.1 devices to a USB 2.0 hub or host adapter, the USB 1.1 device will not work at USB 2.0 speeds.

I assume they are saying that if you plug a USB 1.1 device into the USB 2.0 Dlink hub, you should not expect the 1.1 device to run at 2.0 speeds just because it is plugged into a 2.0 hub.

Here is a sample of the many reviews and comments I read about various brands of USB hubs and what brought me here asking the questions:

Quote:

What's not specified in the item description is that if you mix and match USB 1.1 and USB 2 devices, the hub may only provide the much slower USB 1.1 speed for ALL ports. You don't read that in the product description. You have to wait until you purchase the item and read the documentation. So, don't plug an iPod mini and a USB 1.1 device (in my case a wireless mouse) into the same hub or your iPod may have major problems, as mine did. The iPod wants to run at full USB 2 speeds.

Why is there a problem with the manufacturer providing that info in the description before you purchase the hub? This is highly deceptive, in my opinion.

I'll go ahead and close my eyes and just plug things together randomly and see what happens.

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USB Hubs - 1.0 vs. 2.0 Devices

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