Powered USB Hub

  • Hi all,

    Is there a list or can someone recommend a powered USB hub for the RPI4?

    I have bought a few 4 port ones but they all back feed and I have problems starting the Pi, they also randomly unmount the HDDs. I have three 4TB USB 3.0 portable drives I would like to connect all at once so it will need to deliver a good amount of power per port.

    I have looked around and read some reviews but all the ones I have found are from the US and I cant get them in the UK. I also looked at the USB3.2 HAT for the Pi but even with an external power supply I dont think it can deliver at least 2A to each port. I found the Wiki for Pi hubs as well but most on there are old or USB 2.0. I did a search for HUB on here to but nothing came up that could help.

    Any suggestions greatly appreciated.

  • My experience is >2 external USB drives connected to a hub, to a SBC is problematic. You'll be troubleshooting all the time. I had 7 drives and was lucky to see 4.

    1 or 2 very large drives is probably the best scenario when connecting directly to a SBC.

    Chewitt will tell you to build a NAS. (he's right, smooth as butter, but prepare to go into big debt/even DIY-use Black Friday sale prices)

    PCs have no trouble with multiple external drives, if you don't mind waiting for 5 minutes when it boots.

    Having said all that, I use ANKOR Hubs. But you are not facing a hub-quality issue.

  • I tried two large HDDs and the Pi could only power one as the other started to click.

    I think I have found a solution to the back feeding. I bought a 20cm extension cable and cut the 5V cable. The cable between the Pi and is now only transmit, receive and ground so the external power supply to the hub cant send 5V back to the Pi. I used an extension so I can still use the hub elsewhere without external power if needed.