StarTech 4-Port Industrial USB 2.0 Hub, Metal, Expander, TAA (ST4200USBM)

Was recommended this by astrophotographers that operate gear outdoors and off of 12V batteries, and this is what I use it for. The voltage range the device accepts is fantastic. The screw-down cable connector is easy to use and very secure. The USB ports connect and hold well even with cables that move around. No intermittent connections. Indicators easily tell when cables are connected. The flaw is that the green LEDs are quite bright in the dark, and I needed to place tape over them when operating the telescope. For most users this will not even be an issue. I eventually plan on buying a USB3 version one I get some gear that requires it.

I have used this hub for more than a year for a demanding application that involves a good deal of exposure to temperatures between -20 and +100 F. Over this time period, performance has been flawless. The hub is easy to mount because of the pre-drilled mounting holes. The wide range of usable DC input voltages is a nice feature, and the ability to run the hub from the same 12 volt power source that I use for my other equipment has been very helpful. In my case I used a pair of male pin connectors to make the power connections to the female pin connectors, which are secured by small set screws. The quality of this unit is much better than ordinary USB hubs and the price is very reasonable.

Update: removed one star. The USB sockets are too close together, only the very slimmest devices can be inserted next to each other without interfering, which is to say causing them to wedge out of alignment in their socket which can cause connection problems. Orig: five stars This device is rugged, metal and has solid mounting ears. All the connectors are first rate and I expect many years of reliable service from it. It’s a little pricy but worth it for what you get imo. I strap a pi0 to it with zip ties and screw this in place. It’s powered from my offgrid cabin 12v DC supply. The pi powers and uploads to an arduino and reads an incoming serial line logging the data and this hub lets me use usb for all connections - no more having to use the pi0 onboard uart (which caused the loss of a pi0 during an electrical storm —- when pi0’s die this way they short, that device was pulling 1.2A @ 5v and it was *very* hot). I have not verified that a usb sdcard reader works with this hub and that is necessary for me to do backups of the live boot drive with all the arduino sources and logger data so I will find out and add that here.

I used this product to work as a USB hub to connect 4 Victron 100/50 Smart MPPT solar controllers to my Cebro GX in my boat. I needed to power it from my 12V DC power bus with my Cebro GX power source. Works flawlessly. Very plug and play.

I am rebuilding a boat and needed a place at the Navigation station where I could charge cell phones and tablets. I installed this powered USB hub on the back side of the wooden panel, installed the power into the boats power supply and hooked up 2 of the ports to a fancy USB hub that had a nice face plate and was presentable from the front side of the panel. What I like most about this product is that the power supply can be between 7v and 24v. This is working perfectly and allows me to turn the unit on and off through a panel mounted 12v DC switch so that I can conserve power and not have it on all the time. It allows me to also connect a laptop which not only allows me to use the extra keyboard and mouse from the laptop as well.

I don't know if I received a bad batch or if this is standard for this product, but the ones I received were junk. The pins of the USB plugs bent when a plug was inserted. This happened with both units I purchased. Even when the pins did not bend, the connection is loose, much to unreliable for any USB application. I have never had pins bend on any USB socket, even on a cheap $5 hub. For my application (telescope control), this is unacceptable.

For car use. Added behind head unit to add more ports, and higher charging rates. Installed an aftermarket Android radio. This gives me 5 ports total (instead of the two on the head unit), and much higher charging output. 12v powered, with separate chassis and USB ground connections (fixes USB ground loop problems). Beefy internal power supply and components. Metal case and rack ears. Good internal build quality (I own an electrical engineering design firm). Bonus: if you open the case (does not void warranty) there is a jumper to force the unit to supply *all* the 5v USB needs. Keeps downstream USB devices from using weak head unit power supply. Very useful.

USB2 hubs should be utterly boring: you know exactly what to expect, and they should always live up to those expectations. It's a hub and it works. Check. Specs list self-powered and 24Vdc options. Check... and then some. Absent a supply on the dedicated DC connection, most self-powered hubs will operate as bus-powered. If you're looking for a guarantee that a hub won't siphon power from an upstream port, that convenience feature becomes a decided mis-feature. Like most others, this hub can operate as bus-powered, but unlike most, it can be configured as purely-self powered. You'd never know it based on the manual, but inside that lovely black box are two unassuming jumpers that let you hardwire your supply selection. Specs list din-rail clips. Check... mostly. The clips are present, and they do work, but they're a little flimsy. We did end up using them, but if our application had involved any significant vibration I'd have substituted sturdier clips from Phoenix Contact. Much cheaper than the DIN-mount competition: the hubs from industrial suppliers Beckhoff, B&B, Moxa, and ICP DAS are between three and six times the cost. Even the high-end brands still call for a fuse upstream. We've got four of these, and my biggest complaint is with the bundled clips.

Fixed my USB AUDIO issues!!! when u plug in more than 1 x usb audio device to a usb controller on your PC (per jack, some Jacks share controllers) then u lose usb clock timing /usb sync, as only ONE translator. THIS HUB FIXES THAT! it gives you a translator per port (4 of them!) to connect 4 x usb audio devices with zero clock drift (which causes distortion after 5-20mins or pops/metallic).. its my #1 tip if you're running usb audio (and plug into a dedicated 2.0 port for best results with audio, especially Roland drivers). Use vb matrix coconut (not laggy asio4all) to then route your usb audio anywhere (to other synths/mixers/DAW) and even after 2-3 hops/routes.. its still pristine!! I run over 100 usb audio channels thru this..in and out of synths and mixers (see picture) its the hero piece in any usb audio setup, it doesn't work without it👱‍♀️🎹

Very sturdy, mounted it on the wall, keeps all my wireless connectors, reliable

Sous prétexte qu'il est baptisé "industriel" le produit reste cher mais il répond à ma demande

Purchased to connect my telescope and 3 other accessories to a single 20m usb run into my house. Powered it with a 12v power supply, along with all the other equipment, and has worked flawlessly. Expensive, but you get what you pay for. Wish I'd purchased the 7 port initially as got the 4 port just to test but as the 4 port has worked so well will be purchasing the 7 port and will definitely find use for the 4 port somewhere around the house.

Ne ho provati alcuni (e resi) sempre di presunta derivazione “industriale”, ma questo è il migliore, sulla base della mia esperienza ed utilizzo. Gli altri creavano problemi alle basse temperature, intorno allo zero e poco sotto smettevano di funzionare, con questo sono arrivano a -5 senza problemi. Lo uso su periferiche esposte al cielo aperto. Oppure alcuni creavano comunque un assorbimento sulle porte usb ad esso collegate causando una dispersione di segnale pari al non avere un hub alimentato. Con questo non ci sono assorbimenti e quindi zero dispersione. Consigliato