Main Area and Open Discussion > Living Room

USB hubs - does anything like this exist?

(1/3) > >>

Target:
sorry about the stupid title, but this seems like a logical piece of hardware but I don't seem to be able to find anything like it

I routinely work remotely using a laptop, however laptops generally don't have anywhere near enough USB ports for all the bit's and pieces I use so I use a hub (OK so far).  Trouble with this setup is that it gets pretty untidy

what I want to be able to do is plug in my keyboard, mouse, printer, USB key, RNA token, phone (modem), and external drive and switch them between the laptop and home PC so I'm wondering if there is a hub (7 ports minimum, preferably 10) that works like a KVM switch, ie where I can switch between 2 different inputs (the laptop or my own PC).

To complicate things further, I use a 2.5" 500G external drive that requires a reasonable power supply (it uses 2 ports on the docking station) so ideally the hub needs to be able to provide sufficient power to run the drive...

this seems like a reasonable piece of hardware (and I'm sure I'm not the only one that's had this experience), but I've googled for this several times and come up dry.  I suppose I'd be prepared to pay a reasonable amount for something that is well regarded (I have tried numerous no-name hubs and there is almost always one or two ports that don't work reliably)

Anyone got any idea's?
 

mwb1100:
I'm not entirely sure that this device will do what you want, but I think you might want to look at Belkin's OmniView SOHO KVM with Audio, USB and VGA:

  - http://www.belkin.com/IWCatProductPage.process?Product_Id=160623
The Switch's built-in 2-port USB device hub lets you connect two additional shared peripherals, eliminating the need to disconnect and reconnect these devices when switching between computers.
--- End quote ---

Now clearly 2 ports isn't 7 or 10, but I'm thinking that if you got a 7 or 10 port hub (I know there are 7 port hubs, but do they make 10 port hubs?) and plugged your junk (no, not that junk) into that, then daisy-chained the hub to one of the switched USB ports on the KVM it might just work.

It might take a while for all the devices to get recognized as being plugged in when you switch (and I think you'll hear a lot of bing, bloops, and bonks from Windows as it detects the devices), but I don't see why it couldn't work.  As far as I know, the KVM just makes the USB switch process appear as an unplug from the computer you're switching away from and a plug-in on the computer you're switching to.

Deozaan:
plugged your junk (no, not that junk)-mwb1100 (December 29, 2010, 01:32 AM)
--- End quote ---

This made me come as close to "LOL"-ing as I dared at this hour (1:38AM) in my apartment (in the room above the apt. manager's baby's bedroom).

Very funny! ;D

4wd:
It sounds like you want to be able to share USB devices between computers.

Like these, (there's some more on the site):
USB 2.0 2-Port Switch for Sharing Devices
USB 2.0 4-Port Switch for Sharing Devices

You might be able to plug a normal self-powered hub into one of the ports, (I don't see why not), which would increase the number of devices accessible.

Here's one that's close to you, (well Brisbane anyway :) ): USB Sharing Hub

Target:
It sounds like you want to be able to share USB devices between computers.-4wd (December 29, 2010, 03:49 AM)
--- End quote ---

that's exactly what i want to do, but seems like this is a niche market

I don't need (or want) to switch monitors, so a KVM would be a bit over the top (wasted)

there are switches (the first 2 options) that share a single device with multiple PC's, but you still need to daisy chain with a hub (or hubs) if you have multiple devices to share

The lindy link is a possible candidate, but only 4 ports

it seems no one has really made what seems like a logical step to me and built a device with penty of ports that does both

as an aside it occurred to me (about 10 minutes after I posted, DUH!) that someone, somewhere must have already done this so I went looking for a DIY version.  There are a number of references of multiple port hubs being constructed by gutting a bunch of cheap hubs and mounting them all in a single case (basically daisy chaining), and it doesn't seem like much of a stretch to extend this concept to add a switch and 2 inputs...

3 unpowered and 1 powered (with a suitable power supply) would give me 12 ports...hmmm 

Navigation

[0] Message Index

[#] Next page