Problem with USB hub.

Question

Problem with USB hub.

Hello all,

I have experienced a problem and can't seem to find a good solution for it. There are only a limited number of USB ports on my Mac Pro and I need more. In addition I prefer to have the USB ports facing the front instead of the back so I have easier access to them. I have tried multiple USB hubs for the past 1 to 2 years but they have all failed to work reliably. I have just purchased one that arrived today and have already noticed problems. Let me be more specific:

I purchased an 'Aukey powered USB hub aluminum 10 port USB 3.0 data hub with 12V/3A power adapter' that is highly rated on Amazon by reviewers. As soon as it arrived I immediately connected it to my Mac Pro. I connected the wireless receiver for Microsoft mouse (Microsoft Wireless Mobile Mouse 3500) to the USB hub and started using it. It felt a little different than it did when the mouse was directly connected to the Mac Pro in the sense that the cursor was a little jumpy. In other words the cursor didn't follow the same smooth trajectory it did before. After I also connected a new SanDisk memory card reader (SanDisk ImageMate PRO multi-card Reader/Writer) and inserted a CF card into the CF slot. As soon as I did that and the reader started reading the card the mouse cursos stopped (it seemed to have disappeared) and the mouse stopped working. I tried to move the receiver for the wireless mouse to a different USB port on the hub (the hub has 10 ports) and it did improve but the mouse was very jumpy, unreliable and the movement became unpredictable.

This is not a new experience. I have purchased a variety of USB hubs over the last 1 to 2 years to solve this problem but they all seem to present similar behavior.

My question: Why is it so difficult to find an USB hub that works properly? I have read that some devices such as external hard drives may draw more power from the USB port and cause failures but this was precisely the reason I chose this one with an external power supply and one that was rated at 3 Amps.

Have I done something wrong? Would this situation improve is I chose instead a external dock or port extender that connects instead to a Thunderbolt port instead of the USB port?

Aukey USB hub:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01LRW956O/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Microsoft Mobile Mouse 3500:

https://www.microsoft.com/accessories/en-us/products/mice/wireless-mobile-mouse-3500/gmf-00010

SanDisk ImageMate PRO multi-card Reader/Writer:

https://www.sandisk.com/home/memory-cards/memory-card-readers/imagemate-pro

Satechi Type-C Aluminum Monitor Stand Hub for iMac:

https://satechi.net/collections/stands-mounts/products/aluminum-imac-stand

Thank you in advance.

Mac Pro

Posted on Aug 23, 2019 5:18 PM

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Answer 1

Top-ranking reply

Grant Bennet-Alder

Level 10

133,381 points

Aug 23, 2019 8:27 PM in response to apple_customer

I see this as a Mac issue. You would need to make the first connection (on the Hub) to a high speed device, which would set the Mac port to high speed, and after that all would be well..

Try it and see if you can get it to work to your liking.

Using a USB-C Dock on a USB-C computer is hard enough -- I don't recommend what you suggest above.

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Answer 2

Aug 23, 2019 6:14 PM in response to apple_customer

Anecdotes tell us that the first device you connect to a USB port on your Mac sets that Mac port's speed. if you connect a low speed device, such as a mouse, the port may be "stuck" at low speed.

It is possible your second device either stops the Mac port working completely, or sets the speed to a higher speed, thus making communications with the other device fail.

I expect if you were to connect a high speed device First, your Hub would operate Hub-to-Mac at top speed, and the individual ports on your Hub would downshift to slower speeds were needed.

You may be able to test that by using:

 Menu > about this Mac > (system report) > USB ...

to check the speeds.

The reports there are static, but you can use Command-R to get refreshed data.

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Answer 3

Aug 23, 2019 7:55 PM in response to Grant Bennet-Alder

Hi Grant,

First thank you for your detailed reply and for your help.

If i understood your explanation it really doesn't matter what hub I purchase since this is a USB hub issue and any hub I buy is likely to behave the same way.

What if I buy an external dock or expander such as the Satechi I listed in my original post that connects to the Mac Pro via the Thunderbolt port instead of the USB one? Will the USB port in this case behave differently? The Satechi dock is designed to connect to a Thunderbolt 3 port. Since the Mac Pro comes equipped with Thunderbolt 2 ports I would need to use Apple's own adapter (Thunderbolt 2 to Thunderbolt 3) to connect to it. Do you think in this case the USB ports will work properly?

Thank you again for your help.

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Answer 4

Aug 24, 2019 5:54 PM in response to Grant Bennet-Alder

Hi Grant,

Thank you again for your help and detailed answer to my questions.

I think this process is just too complicated to work for me in a reliable manner. I don't think I want to evaluate my peripherals to decide which one connects at a higher speed every time I need to work with my computer. There is also the fact that even when the receiver for the wireless mouse was the only device connected to this hub it still didn't seem to work the same way it does when I connect it directly to the Mac Pro.

I hope someone from Apple is monitoring this discussion and that this problem gets fixed with new Mac Pro.

Thank you again, Grant.

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Answer 5

Aug 25, 2019 4:59 PM in response to Malcolm J. Rayfield

Hi Malcom,

Thank you for your reply and your help.

I have ordered the Thunderbolt dock and will try it. Once I do I will post my impressions here to share them with others. The dock is Thuderbolt 3 but the Mac Pro is equipped with Thunderbolt 2 so I will have to use Apple's own adapter. I hope this won't affect the device or slow it down too much. My major goal is to have several front-facing USB ports I can use without any performance issues.

Thank you again.

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Answer 6

Aug 25, 2019 2:26 AM in response to apple_customer

A Thunderbolt 2 dock would probably work better than a USB hub.

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Problem with USB hub.

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