Low latency USB Hub for user interface devices?

[ETHREAL1]

I’m trying to find a USB hub to put my user interface device on. All the devices are USB 2.0. The devices I would like to have connected are as follows;

1. Wireless Corsair Mouse (Ironclaw)
2. Wireless Corsair Headset (Virtuoso)
3. USB Charging cable with data 1-2x (for charging wireless devices above)
4. Xbox One wireless controller adapter

I have a 4 port USB 3.0 hub but when connecting the devices referenced above they start lagging tremendously like mouse skipping, audio cut outs, short term controller disconnections, and so on.

The thing I do find interesting though is the 2 port USB 3.0 hub on my monitor does not suffer from these problems. Currently I have the mouse and headset transmitters connected to the monitor and they work fine. But I would like to be able to have the charger cables be on a hub with the the wireless transmitter as they would not be using traffic at the same time as the transmitters. But I would also like to be able to have that Xbox controller adapter connected as well simply so I don’t have to use my front panel connector.

 

Any recommendations would be appreciated. Powered would be a plus. 4-6 ports would be nice but I’m also open to using multiple 2 port hubs if they would be low latency.

[Radium_Angel]

6 minutes ago, ETHREAL1 said:

4 port USB 3.0 hub

Is that powered, or not?

[SupaKomputa]

The hub on the monitor is an active hub, meaning it also provide power to the devices.

Your hub i guess is not active so it's splitting the power of a single port.

USB charging needs a lot of power, so it would suffocate  the other devices.

My suggestion is don't charge with usb hub, it's a bad practice.

[ETHREAL1]

7 minutes ago, Radium_Angel said:

Is that powered, or not?

It is powered, I just think the hub I have is not good with pulling rates and quickly swapping between devices. If I plug in a HDD into it it’s fast when it comes to transfer speeds but the latency is horrible... Also even just having one device plugged into the hub such as just the Xbox controller adapter it still lags horribly. And that’s why I’m asking if anyone knows of a good low latency hub. If anything for the charging I could just plug them into the powered monitor hub. Though I would prefer having them all on the one hub.

[Radium_Angel]

2 minutes ago, ETHREAL1 said:

It is powered, I just think the hub i have is not good with pulling rates and quickly swapping between devices, if I plug a HDD into it it’s fast as in transfer speeds but the latency is horrible... Also even just have one device plugged in such as just the Xbox controller adapter is still lags horribly. And that’s why I’m asking if anyone knows of a good low latency hub. If anything for the charging I could just plug them into the powered monitor hub. Though I would prefer having them all on the one hub.

Gotcha. Sadly, I"ve never run across a good hub, most tend to be really crap, useful only for devices where latency isn't a problem.

I will be following this thread closely, to see if others have found something worthwhile

[ETHREAL1]

2 minutes ago, Radium_Angel said:

I will be following this thread closely

As will I. Though the one thing that still has me intrigued is that fact that though it’s just a 2 Port the hub on my monitor is amazing! Would love to find out who makes it and see if they make hub not in monitors. P.S. my monitor is an Asus ROG PG279Q

[Kilrah]

I have this 7-port hub that works great.

https://www.speedlink.com/en/Computer-Office/SNAPPY-EVO-USB-HUB-7-PORT-USB-3-0-ACTIVE-BLACK.html?listtype=search&searchparam=hub 7 port

 

But in general you want to avoid high power draw devices on hubs, so use the hub for keyboard, mouse etc and keep charging and USB-powered HDDs to the mobo ports.

[Radium_Angel]

1 minute ago, ETHREAL1 said:

As will I. Though the one thing that still has me intrigued is that fact that though it’s just a 2 Port the hub on my monitor is amazing! Would love to find out who makes it and see if they make hub not in monitors. P.S. my monitor is an Asus ROG PG279Q

I wonder if it's because there is enough power running through the monitor, most USB hubs I've seen and used, seem to come with some pretty chintzy power supplies.

[ETHREAL1]

1 minute ago, Radium_Angel said:

most USB hubs I've seen and used, seem to come with some pretty chintzy power supplies.

So true, mine uses a micro USB for supplemental power (2.1A) but I would still think that when not charging and only having to do the transmitters it would do fine.... I was wrong...

[ETHREAL1]

5 minutes ago, Kilrah said:

I have this 7-port hub that works great.

Hum will have to look into this

[ETHREAL1]

34 minutes ago, SupaKomputa said:

Your hub

P.S. the 4 port I’m using is;

https://www.amazon.com/ORICO-Space-Saving-Mountable-Aluminum-Transfer/dp/B07ZZ1G3JM/ref=sr_1_4?dchild=1&keywords=Powered+desk+clamp+USB+hub&qid=1612101149&sr=8-4
it was a gift to me and I like it as it clamps to my desks underside. It just sucks at latency apparently...

[SupaKomputa]

Phone charger can cost more than 10 watts (2 Amps), which is more than what a standard usb3 port would provide (around 1A / 5 watts).

It's enough to power an external 2.5 HDD, but not for smartphones.

I think the latency was caused by shortage of power or imbalance power distribution.

Wireless devices are already high latency, not enough power would increase the latency.

I would just stick it to the monitor hub.

[ETHREAL1]

8 minutes ago, SupaKomputa said:

I would just stick it to the monitor hub.

Would love to.... I’m currently using all but one my USB ports... that includes the front panel USB ports...

 

my system has a total of 9 USB type A ports, 7 back 2 front and 2 USB type C ports, one front one back.

 

almost all my USB ports are used up with user interface related thing namely

1. keyboard
2. fingerprint reader (attached through keyboard)
3. mouse wireless dongle
4. mouse charging cable (with data)
5. headset wireless dongle
6. headset charging cable (with data)
7. Xbox wireless adapter
8. USB blueray ODD (high power)
9. USB HDD (occasionally connected, encoding scratch disk)

I was then given a 4 port hub and I thought it would solve my problem... nope, now I’m looking for a solution.

[SupaKomputa]

wireless devices should be connected directly to the pc.

USB HDD as scratch disk? not a good idea, usb connection can be janky.

Chargeable devices should use external charger if possible.

You could make use the internal usb headers for expansion.

They provide up to 2 ports for each header.

Get this instead:

 

Remember to differentiate it from "HUB", 1 header = 2 port, if it has more than 2, say 4 port from a single header it will work as a hub.

Motherboard usually provide 2 usb2 + 1 usb3 headers, or 2 usb 3.1 gen1 + 1 usb 3.1 gen2 in some modern board.

[flibberdipper]

I've been using a TP-LINK hub for quite a while and haven't really had any major issues with running a reasonably fast game HDD, my mouse, and XB1 dongle off it, with the occasional charging of my SIM Dashboard-dedicated phone off the two dedicated charge ports. Not really sure if does 100 or 1000Hz polling rate, but it's good enough for 60Hz so it's good enough for me.

[ETHREAL1]

31 minutes ago, SupaKomputa said:

You could make use the internal usb headers for expansion.

Not to be rude but I was not born yesterday.... I’ve done plenty of computer builds and I’m a network engineer.... I know running things off the MB ports would be better. And hubs should be avoided when possible. But sometimes you just have no choice in the matter when you want everything to be plugged in without having to reach behind the computer and swap things. So with that in mind here is what I have to say about your points; (again not trying to be rude)

1. 35 minutes ago, SupaKomputa said:

   wireless devices should be connected directly to the pc.

   Ive found this not to matter as much. At least with the 2 Port hub on my monitor I have not noticed any difference between it and the MB ports.

2. 36 minutes ago, SupaKomputa said:

   USB HDD as scratch disk? not a good idea, usb connection can be janky.

   True, micro USB is the worst connector in existence.... but as long as you treat that particular side of the cable with care I have had no issues. That and if the drive dies it’s no big deal. Thats why I use a HDD as a scratch disk (should clarify, no active projects like video editing, just LOTS of write cycles, I’ve already written 700ish TBs on this lowly 1TB drive)

3. 40 minutes ago, SupaKomputa said:

   Chargeable devices should use external charger if possible.

   I agree, if it’s JUST charging. But the Corsair stuff switches to USB data mode when connected. I actually like that is does this. If there is ever heavy interference I can just plop on my magnetic USB cable onto them and done.

4. 42 minutes ago, SupaKomputa said:

   You could make use the internal usb headers for expansion.

   Sorry don’t have any...  ITX build. The front panel is already using them. I travel for work in chunks (2-6 months at a time) so size was a factor but not enough to get a laptop in my opinion.

Again not trying to be rude but if I had an ATX build that’s what I would have done though with a PCI-e card instead.

[ETHREAL1]

40 minutes ago, flibberdipper said:

I've been using a TP-LINK hub for quite a while and haven't really had any major issues with running a reasonably fast game HDD, my mouse, and XB1 dongle off it,

Hum, will also have to look into this...

[SupaKomputa]

Owh, mini ITX. Hub is the only solution then.

[ETHREAL1]

4 minutes ago, SupaKomputa said:

Owh, mini ITX. Hub is the only solution then.

Ya sadly it is.... I never though when I built this system that I would need so many USB ports for JUST human interface stuff.....

[Kilrah]

I also have an SFF build for work travel and have another 7-port hub I got planning to install it internally and feeding it with 5V power straight from the PSU, but I never got around to it since in the end the mobo's 7 ports plus 1 on front panel are pretty much always enough

[rmjohnson144]

I have been unsuccessfully trying to find a reliable power USB hub forever.

 

Then I bought my first laptop two years ago from dell.  I needed multi-monitor support with thunderbolt 3 support, so I bought a docking station.  It was so awesome, I bought an old used cheap Dell docking station, just to use it as a 4 port hub.  It was only $40 refurbished (whatever that means? lol)

 

Best hub you'll even find.  Although, I have no idea what the polling rate is.  Just make sure it is plugged into the rear ports.  I find front ports to be as bad as hubs, usually worse.  I reserve these for low powered devices, like keyboard/mouse.

[ETHREAL1]

4 hours ago, Kilrah said:

the mobo's 7 ports plus 1 on front panel are pretty much always enough

That’s what I though....

[ETHREAL1]

2 hours ago, rmjohnson144 said:

thunderbolt 3 support, so I bought a docking station.

Well thunderbolt would not really have this problem unless it was a really crud dock. With thunderbolt docks the USB and all that is over the PCI-e bus and not really a hub per say. It would be better described as an embedded external PCI-e USB card. So they don’t suffer from much if any latency issues. Most desktops don’t have thunderbolt 3 as for the most part they don’t make sense for desktops. The only time there really useful is either remote interface kinda like Linus does or for daisy chaining storage arrays. Though on that note why not just get a NAS...

2 hours ago, rmjohnson144 said:

Best hub you'll even find.

And I will definitely look at what dell has to offer. Though at the moment I’m looking at some Tripp-lite stuff. I have a USB C multi-port adapter for this tiny laptop I use out in the field and the like and it’s amazing! It’s the first USB C multi-port adapter out of 5 I’ve tried that actually seams to work properly. The only real downside is the 3 USB type A ports on it have a shared 2A power plane pulled from the host device even when USB C power is applied. That and with my dealing with there stuff in the network and server rack space they seam to have some nice stuff. The challenge is going through there massive catalog of things and there not so great website...

[ETHREAL1]

Hum this looks intriguing;

 

https://www.tripplite.com/7-port-rugged-industrial-usb-3.0-superspeed-hub-15kv-esd-immunity-and-metal-case-mountable~U360007IND

as does this one;

 

https://www.tripplite.com/7-port-industrial-grade-usb-3.1-gen-2-hub-10-gbps-4-usb-a-3-usb-c-15kv-esd-immunity-metal-housing~U4604A3CIND

 

Any thoughts?

[Biomecanoid]

7 hours ago, ETHREAL1 said:

Would love to.... I’m currently using all but one my USB ports... that includes the front panel USB ports...

 

my system has a total of 9 USB type A ports, 7 back 2 front and 2 USB type C ports, one front one back.

 

almost all my USB ports are used up with user interface related thing namely

1. keyboard
2. fingerprint reader (attached through keyboard) <--- Do you really need it ???
3. mouse wireless dongle
4. mouse charging cable (with data) <-- You don't need it connected all the time. Charge of the wall
5. headset wireless dongle
6. headset charging cable (with data) <--- You don't need it connected all the time. Charge of the wall 
7. Xbox wireless adapter
8. USB blueray ODD (high power) <--- You don't need it connected all the time get an internal sata one
9. USB HDD (occasionally connected, encoding scratch disk) <--- You don't need it connected all the time 

I was then given a 4 port hub and I thought it would solve my problem... nope, now I’m looking for a solution.

USB hubs just provide multiple ports and share the bandwidth of one usb port that's why they suck.

Also you have more than enough USB ports and you are wasting them.