TP-Link UH720 USB Hub, 7-Port Docking Station with Extra 2x 2.4A Ultra Fast Charging Ports, 10x Data Transfer Speed up to 5Gbps, 1m USB3.0 Cable, Compatible with Windows, Mac OS X and Linux systems

I have been using TP-Link products for many years and they have proven very reliable, so I'm sure this new USB powered hub will be just as good. There are cheaper 'no-name' hubs on sale but I'm glad I paid a bit extra for this quality TP-Link hub.Some of the USB ports on the front panel of my old PC were getting a bit unreliable, with the plugs getting a bit wobbly and one or two not connecting reliably. I was able to plug the TP-Link 7-port hub into a spare USB 3.0 connector on the back of the PC and the supplied cable was long enough to set the hub on the desk at the side of the PC tower. After plugging in the reassuringly chunky power supply, the power LED on the hub came on and my devices all worked perfectly. At the moment I'm using 5 of the 7 ports and I'm also able to charge my phone and iPad from the two power outlets on the end of the hub.The power on/off switch on the hub is surprisingly useful as it means I don't have to unplug any devices after I shut the PC down for the night. My old powered hub would leave them powered on all the time so I had to unplug them which obviously isn't good as regards wear and tear on the USB sockets. Now I can leave them all plugged in and simply press the on/off button on the hub.

I bought this hub because I was running out of space for USB's to be connected to my PC, and I'll tell you what after mounting this hub on my desk it has been a game changer. I always have a slot free and as a bonus its powered so charging things from is is a dream. Its the perfect size to mount somewhere and it not get in the way or look out of place. I normally have 5-6 things plugged it to it all the time and it handles it perfectly, no random disconnects or issues. The little indicator lights that tell you when something is plugged in and working is great, as well as the power on/off button which comes in very handy.All in all, great product and no complaints.

I have several of these as they are the best value and most reliable powered USB3 hubs I've found to date. They can also be powered by the upstream USB host but this limits the power available for downstream devices of course. The only slight niggle with them is because of the design, they are quite long compared to some hubs that orient the USB sockets perpendiclar to the case. On the other hand, this means the case is quite slim & even bulky USB dongle-type devices have plenty of room and they wall-mount nicely using Command Strips or the like. Each port has a status LED showing whether there is an active USB connection which can be useful for troubleshooting. There is also an illumiated soft power button which, when mains powered, can disconnect all the downstream devices at once although I struggle to think of a use case for that. Thankfully, this remembers its state over power cycling so can be ignored if not needed.Topologically speaking, the hardware actually consists of one four-port hub connected to one of the ports on a second four-port hub which then connects to the upstream host. Therefore devices connected to the rightmost three ports are one hop closer to the host than those on the other four so it's probably better to connect high throughput devices like USB3 drives or DVB-S/T/C devices to the three and less critical devices like keyboards, mice & printers to the other four.

I have a hell of a lot of usb devices and always having to swap ports on PC, so I purchased one of these as a "Maybe this'll work" and it worked perfectly !Have 4 external small portable drives hooked up to this and it all reads through 1 usb3 port.I have seen no real speed loss, plus I can charge controller and headset.My PC has never had so many free usb's :)Even have a external SSD drive working through this, not seen any real slowdownsGreat Product, works out the box !

I will state the "bad" points first but would also like to clarify these are minor annoyances, some by my specific preferences and usage and will not apply to many. I also am not reducing the star rating as, for the price, there was no "better" alternative that I could find, at least not from a trustworthy brand - I have owned TP-Link products for over a decade and always found them reasonable quality (apparently they're one of the few manufacturers who continue to make everything in house instead of rebranding other manufacturers equipment).The cable supplied may be a little short for some setups. I have a relatively small desk and it is located toward the front at the side of the desk. The desktop PC it is plugged into is below it, the cable running around the back of the desk. It is long enough for this to be comfortable, but if the computer was the opposite side, I would require a longer cable. The power cable does not suffer this issue.This is a powered device but also has a separate on/off function which activates/deactivates the entire unit. I am not an electrical engineer but when powered off, this disables all functionality. It might be preferable to have a port or two still run from the host USB power alone. In addition, this means it is an extra device to power on and off with the PC as there appears to be no auto-power function. The manual seems to suggest that it can be powered from USB alone but that this will disable the charge ports, I am also uncertain if this could power higher demand devices from the ports alone - without the separate power adapter I do not think enough is supplied for my phone data transfer, a slimline bluray drive and a card reader to be reliable but I have not tested the limits, only noticed the LEDs seemed to blink.The charge ports do not provide any data passthrough, they are purely charger ports. It does also provide limited charging with the data ports, but at a slower rate. I would personally prefer they paired the charge ports with data.It is too light. This might be a ridiculous complaint to some but as I intend to have this on my desk, permanently, I would like it to feel more securely in place. Thick USB 3.0 cables being moved will also move the hub.The plastic is shiny piano black which attracts finger prints and dust immediately. A matt option would likely have been better for me, but would also look less attractive.The positives are that it looks professional, feels well made and is very small and relatively inconspicuous. The cables attached are more of an aesthetic issue than the device itself.It seems to be very fast when powered - my USB devices are detected in windows faster than if plugged directly into the motherboard and significantly faster than when plugged into the front IO on the desktop machine.It has small LEDs to show when devices are plugged in and active. These are bright and obvious, but small enough not to be annoying in a dark room. They also slightly illuminate the actual USB port, though this does not seem to be by design as there is some crossover to the ports either side. Regardless, I prefer this subtle little quirk to not having anything.Overall I give it 5 stars despite my complaints. Fundamentally it does exactly what it's designed to do and looks reasonably nice. I could have spent more to address most of my complaints, or less for a less reputable brand, but this fit a good balance and solved my issues with insufficient front IO without being inconvenient.

Works just as it should on our media player.