Do i need an active USB hub?

I would imagine not unless the hub itself exceeds the power limit for the extreme.

The general rule of thumb is, if there is ANY doubt, use a powered hub. Any exceeding of the capabilities of a non-powered hub can cause unexpected results.

Jeff

There have been reports of thumb or flash drives working, so I don't think power is necessarily a requirement.

A powered hub would be needed if the combined current of the attached devices exceeds the maximum power available on the root adapter. Like 2 or three thumb drives would be ok, but 3 big disks would over current the rot hub.

I'm using a Belkin USB non-powered HUB. It works fine.

I have connected, a HP printer and WD Mybook Drive, of course those devices are plugged into the wall.

I've tested with a mobile 2.5" drive off the hub, it required 2 usb hubs to run properly. It normally requires only 1 usb plug when it's used with my MBP.

I guess it really depends on what devices you have connected to the HUB. My airport and hub sit in a corner, so I'm not planning to plug any usb drives or that type of devices into it.

Hi Hien,

So I guess your WD My Book drive works flawlessly? Is it also the Essential version that only has a USB connection and no firewire.

Yup, I did format the drive right away to HFS+, i connected to my MBP and did the format and partioned the drive to 3 partitions.

Yes

Does your drive go into sleep-mode, when not used?

Does your drive go into sleep-mode (spin down) when not used?